8x10day!

Another beautiful day for wet plate work. Sunny, but not crazy hot. New batch of silver nitrate mixed up the other day, and “excited “ . This just means that a glass plate was coated with colloidian, and placed in the silver bath, but rather than pulling it out after four minutes, as one would normally do, it is allowed to remain overnight.

All chemicals topped off, and away I go. Not far though. Still staying close to home for now till I get the hang of the new set up.

Happy with the first plate of the day, though I did scrape the surface whilst getting out from under the dark cloth. Need to be more careful.

A few more 5×7 plates to get the exposure down, and then time to do an 8x10plate. The same process, just larger. I cleared out the dark box of 5×7 equipment, and made the switch to 8×10. Larger back for the camera, and a decidedly bulkier plate holder.

I did a few dry runs before coating a plate just to see how things would go in the dark box. A little crowded, but not half as bad as I imagined it would be. Time to pour a plate,

Not to bad. A little more practice doing a colloidian pour perhaps. Maple syrup works as a cheap practice substitute, and has the advantage of being edible. The exposure looks good, but I need to realign the back of the camera to square up the image a bit.

Now time to try out another lens. A vintage barrel lens made in Paris a few hundred years ago. Good glass. Curious as to how well it will cover the larger format.

Another plate poured, exposed, and developed. The old lens created a nice image, but unfortunately it does not cover a full 8×10 plate. Switch to my regular lens to do a few more 8x10s

Back home now. Plates being washed, as well as the rest of the gear. Cleanliness is critical. The silver nitrate is rather caustic, and can easily destroy the wooden film holders$$$, and the metal parts of the camera as well.

Once I get the plates varnished I’ll post some images. Take care. Like, and share.