Early morning work

A nice cool, and clear morning. Felt more like Fall than late Spring. Took advantage of it and did a quick wet plate shoot. Did not venture out, just set up on deck. One test shot, and then a finished image.

This evening, if I have time, I’ll start prepping glass plates. It is a rather simple process. First that are each meticulously cleaned, then the border of the surface that will have colloidian on it will get a coating of egg white.

The egg white was beaten into a meringue about two years ago. Strained, and put in a glass jar. Foul smelling as all get out. This will bond to the glass, and in turn the colloidian will adhere to it. This will help prevent the colloidian from lifting, and peeling away from the edges whilst it is being developed. Fixed, and washed.

A new bottle of silver nitrate arrived the other day! Now I have enough to start doing 8×10 plates. Very excited. I will also adapt my plate holder to carry a small square plate. 2×2 should do it. This is primarily going to be used as an economical way to do test plates, but can also make some sweet little tintypes, or ambrotype images.

Sold two tintypes the other day! Ones of the Brooklyn Bridge. So very rewarding to have my work appreciated. It also covered the cost of the new bottle of silver nitrate.

I am also gathering up better material for the blackout cloth that covers the box. It is a challenge finding material that will both block UV light, but also not be horribly heavy.