Wet Plate in the Field
My first attempt at making a tintype with the help of Kent Staubus
My friend Kent Staubus from South Dakota is a photographer that shoots a variety of cameras, from digital to film to his more recent hobby of tintype wet plate collodion photography. He had been wanting to come up to North Dakota to make a tintype of the Hurricane Lake Church north of York, ND, and finally got a chance to do it. I’ve read about the wet plate process and have admired the people that can pull it off, but I’ve never seen it done nor have I actually tried it. After watching Kent make a tintype he let me try my hand at it. The result wasn’t bad, certainly a lot more successful than if I had just been trying to pull it off on my own.
Kent checks out the Hurricane Lake Church
Kent has built a portable dark tent in for the back of his car allowing him to do this type of photography in the field. He hasn’t tried glass plates yet but has done tintypes in 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. Though referred to as tintypes, they’re actually aluminum plates used for trophy engraving. The advantage is the emulsion side is covered with a plastic film so it stays clean right up to the point you remove the film, unlike glass which requires very careful cleaning prior to accepting the collodion.
To create the tintypes requires pouring collodion onto the plate then immersing it in a silver bath for four minutes. Once it comes out of the bath it’s sensitive to light and must be put in the film holder in darkness (though unlike modern film complete darkness isn’t required, you can use a safelight). From there it’s put in the camera and exposed. To determine exposure he does a test plate, exposing different parts of the plate for longer and longer time intervals, similar to making a test strip when printing in a darkroom. He can adjust the exposure based on the test. After it’s exposed it’s back into the dark tent to remove the plate and pour developer over the plate. It then goes into a tray of water to stop development and can now come back into the light. The plate goes through a few water rinses before being put into fixer. After this it’s more water rinses followed by a longer, more thorough rinse at home. The plate can then be varnished, making it archival, or at least archival enough that it will outlive any of us!
Kent’s modern 4x5 but with an 1880s vintage lens. He’s making the test exposures here. Since this lens is over 140 years old there’s no shutter, so he places his hand over the lens to “close the shutter.”
Kent’s dark tent in the back of his car. He’s pouring developer over the plate.
Pouring water over the plate to stop and rinse off the developer. Kent said occasionally he hasn’t brought enough water along and has resorted to getting some out of a slough to use, “just like those old guys had to do in the field sometimes!”
Pouring collodion onto the plate. This part is tricky, because you have to make sure the whole plate is covered evenly, and once it’s poured you can’t touch the plate or it’s ruined.
Waiting for a cloud to move so that the plate can be exposed under the same conditions as the test plate.
Rinsing the developer off of the plate.
Kent’s tintype after several rinses.