I really like these thistles. I planted them several years ago after someone at the nursery told me local bugs like them. They are popular with wasps and some black and yellow hornet-looking guys; I was surprised no one stung me when I cut a few to put into the vase.

Thistles, F8, 10 seconds, shade, hot day. Reh’s new generation collodion

Thistles. F11, 20 seconds, Reh’s new generation collodion, shade, hot day.

Thistles. F11, 20 seconds, Reh’s new generation collodion, shade, hot day.

Thistles. F3.5, 1 second, Lea’s portrait collodion, shade, hot day.

Thistles. F32, 80 seconds, Lea’s portrait collodion, shade, hot day. In the top-right corner you can see where the collodion started to dry out – it was thinnest at this spot, and the 80-second exposure was cutting it close in such hot weather. In the lower-left corner is a smudgy area – the plate got dirty before I poured collodion and I tried to clean it off with a paper towel that already had other chemicals on it – developer and silver solution, mostly…

Bluish-purplish flower in my backyard. Maybe some kind of echium? Bohemia collodion, f3.5 or f4, about 3 seconds, cloudy/rainy (the black spots are from raindrops that hit the plate after I’d poured the collodion but before I sensitized it. Regular developer, 15 seconds. I’m not crazy about the composition, but I was in a hurry because it started raining pretty hard. As soon as I had put everything back into the house the rain stopped and the sun came back out.

Allium, direct late morning sun. f3.5, 3 seconds (flowers moving slightly due to very light breeze. Bohemia collodion, sugar developer 12-15 seconds.

Shot on black aluminum plate, 13x18cm (5x7in). It is hot out this weekend, supposed to hit at least 32c today (about 90f) so I used sugar developer, which slows down development, because my normal developer has been working very fast lately anyway, resulting in overdeveloped plates. One aims for 15 seconds developing time, and for previous plates with normal developer the midtones were out after about 8 seconds, and if I went longer I ended up with fogging etc. The sugar in the sugar developer mechanically (I believe) slows development, useful in hot weather.
The two plates I shot today of the allium in my back yard took 12-15 seconds and were, overall, of satisfactory quality, at least no overdevelopment.
The only two problems I ran into this morning, besides something or someone spilling a small beaker of developer (the cats were around, and someone was watering the garden) were: 1) there was a slight breeze, which resulted in the long-stemmed, heavy flowers swaying/moving and so blurring during the 2-3 second exposures. For the second plate, shown here, I stopped the largest flower with my hand before shooting, but it still moved a little.
2) The second problem was the plate itself. There is a scratch at the middle of the left edge. I would assume I had done this removing it from the silver bath, or in the plate holder, but other plates from the same source also have this scratch. Also there is a sort of texture to the plate, that kinda grid pattern on the right side, which I think is connected with the protective plastic layer over the plate, or something else from the production process. If this turns up with many more plates I shall find myself forced to contact the seller.
Otherwise, I am happy with the image.

Initially I wanted to take a picture of the rosebush in the flower bed in front of the house, but it was too windy – the roses would have blurred too much with a 2 or 3 second exposure.

So I picked some roses, put them in a vase and took pictures of them on a table against the wall of the neighbor’s shed, which is white-ish stucco.

I tried a couple different collodions. The first picture uses a newer collodion, which is quite a bit faster than that used for the second picture, it being both a different formula and about a year old – normally, I believe, one uses collodion up after a few months because it gets slower over time and also maybe unstable, but I’m not sure.

I’m just trying different things out. It went well today, I was happy with the first picture, which was only a test really. Less happy with the second, which came out a little dark. They will both get darker again when I varnish them tonight.

Roses from the bush in front of the house, in glass vase on grey table in front of white wall. Bohemia collodion (IIRC), f3, 2 seconds, aluminum plate, partly sunny.

Roses from bush in front of house, glass vase, grey table in front of white wall. Partly sunny. f4.5 or so, 3 seconds, Old Workhorse collodion (about a year old).

Bouquet, Bohemia collodion (new batch), f11 at about 6 seconds, full sun

Bouquet, Lea’s portrait collodion (new batch), f11 at about 7 seconds, full sun.

Linnaea amabilis, Lea’s portrait collodion (old batch), f11, about 8 seconds, shade.

Barbecued for lunch today. Tried chicken breasts stuffed with feta and garlic, was good although maybe too much garlic.

After lunch it rained for a while, then when it stopped I set up all my wet plate stuff and shot a few plates. Learning from past mistakes, I went slower this time and got a couple plates that I think are okay, of a bush and a bouquet. Was too windy to shoot much, the bush is blurry as you can see. Too windy for portraits, which was good because the family currently is unwilling to pose for portraits. Not even the tortoise holds still long enough.

I’m eventually going to need a new camera, brass parts are starting to fall off the one I have. Nothing essential yet, but it’s only a matter of time…

That was my first mistake. Hurrying summons the fuckup elves. Never hurry, I know that, but I forget sometimes. Let’s see, what were my other mistakes this time around? First picture of the kid, the plate turned out black and she asked me if I had remembered to pull out the slide (a mistake I made with her in the past). I had not. Second picture turned out better. Third also. Fourth, with her sister and mother, turned out poorly due to hurrying with the posing etc.

I will not post that one.

Finally, putting stuff away, I hurried again and dropped two plates, one of which scratched – my favorite one.

Also, although I made a test plate, and exposures were better this time, I still either over-exposed or over-developed. I mixed new developer last night and it might have been that.

Someday I look forward to having the whole day to shoot in leisure. Maybe someday soon. Anyway here are the two pictures of Tess on her 18th birthday. I had fun. Thanks for being patient and a great assistant, Tess, not to mention great model.

f5.6, 3 seconds, overcast day. maybe overdeveloped? also dropped to the floor, scratched.

f5.6, about 4 seconds, overcast day. overdeveloped? overexposed? also dropped to the floor, but a little luckier.

It was very sunny today, and I am beginning to think overcast days are better for wet plate. Four finally, sort of, turned out and are posted below, from best to worst (IMO).

I am beginning to get tired of shooting pictures of flowers, and looking forward to going somewhere and doing landscapes or portraits.

Kerria japonica, full sun, 4 seconds at f11. 13x18cm (5×7 in) black aluminum

The photo above is the kerria japonica bush in my back yard. I have always loved kerry bushes; my uncle, who lived next door, had one near the hole in his wall the honeybees flew into, and I spent many hours sitting there watching them. I love how this picture turned out. It has fewer specks in person, a lot of the dirt is from the scanner, I think.

Bush, full sun, f11 4 seconds. 13x18cm black aluminum.

I was hoping the contrast would have turned out a little stronger with this bush (above), I like the patterns and the potential for creepiness. (Actually, the more I look at it, the better I like it.)

Roses (dry), aluminum foil background, full sun. f11, 4 seconds. Wet plate collodion on black aluminum, 13x18cm (5×7 inches).

This picture is my first experiment with aluminum foil. I was hoping it would turn out blurrier in the background, but I guess 4 seconds were not enough. I have seen photos by other photographers who move aluminum foil around during the exposure for a misty or smokey or glow effect. In this picture, it just looks like a piece of aluminum foil stretched between two rods…

Roses (dry), full sun, f11 4 seconds. 13x18cm (5x7in) black aluminum.

A picture of roses in a vase a friend invented – it is basically a plastic collar you screw onto a pickle jar and voila, vase. I think it’s brilliant. The vase. The photo less so. Oh well.Fail better, right? Thanks, fuckup elves!

Shot today: Valentine’s bouquet. Old Workhorse collodion, 14 seconds, f4, overcast day.

Shot today: Valentine’s bouquet, Lea’s Portrait collodion, f4, 7 seconds, overcast day.

This is the second plate I took of the same red-and-white roses that day – in a glass vase on a table in front of a wooden fence. Outdoors, drizzling and wintry and starting to get dark, so the exposure on this one was 90 seconds. Same wooden German travel camera from sometime in the early 20th century, Carl Zeiss lens. (I guess I can stop writing that since this is the only camera/lens I currently have.)

f3.5, 90 seconds. Lea’s Portrait collodion #2, ordered from Mamut in Prague, and the first time using homemade developer (I spilled the last dose of store-bought developer I had). Black aluminum plate 13x18cm (5×7″).

This picture is a lot softer than the previous one, which is largely due to the different collodion recipes used, I think. It has a lot of streaks on it, which I am assuming are from the new developer I am using – maybe a different formula? Could also have something to do with the temperature, it was getting cold and although I poured everything indoors, the plates were outside for a minute or so each.

Weather is grey and drizzly and no one in the family wants to sit still for the minute or so it currently takes for an exposure in those conditions. These are some dried red/white roses in a vase on a table in front of a wooden fence. Taken with a wooden German travel camera from sometime in the early 20th century, Carl Zeiss lens. f3.5, 75 seconds. Old Workhorse collodion (IIRC), and the second-to-last dose of developer I ordered from Mamut in Prague. Black aluminum plate 13x18cm (5×7″).

Dried flower wreath, full sun, f5.6, 8 seconds. Old workhorse collodion.

I also did my first glass plate today, a portrait of my wife. It turned out reasonably well. Collodion lifting a little here and there around the edges, not sure why, maybe insufficient cleaning of glass before pouring.

Woman: (rings doorbell) [Insert doorbell sound effect here]

Man: (comes around corner from back yard) Oh hi. Beta’s out for a walk with her mom. Dunno when they’re going to be back. You can wait for them if you want, or I can give her a message.

Woman: Hi! She was going to loan me a backpack. I can come back later.

Man: Ok. I’ll tell her you stopped by. See you. (goes back to messing around with antique camera in back yard)

Woman: Ok. Bye. (leaves)

Oh, also organize a light-proof cloth, and darkroom equipment and supplies. So, five or so things.

But I have been concentrating on the tripod lately.

The problem is, the base of the camera has two screwholes, not just one. Meaning any normal tripod with a single screw is not going to support this camera stably (which might explain why the wood around each screwhole is cracked).

So no normal tripod would work, unless I interposed some sort of two-screwhole plate between the head of the tripod and the camera.

I browsed the Internet seeking a solution. Large-format tripods are expensive, even on ebay. I found a video on youtube showing a fellow apparently making a wooden tripod on the concrete floor of a garage somewhere in India, using only a hand saw. I found another site selling plans for wooden tripods for wet plate cameras.

He wanted eighteen dollars for the plans. The good thing about this tripod was that the top part was sort of a wooden plate, a little table top where the camera sat (instead of the usual modern tripod head), with three legs.

It would be easy to drill two holes in the appropriate place in that top and mount the camera. But I am too cheap to buy plans. Instead, I stared at the photo on the website for a long time and thought about what the design needed in order to be 1) stable and 2) adjustable. There is nothing that is more fun than figuring out something like that. This was a few weeks ago. I bought the wood I thought I’d need and started tinkering with it.

It’s mostly done. It needs to be sanded and painted, then assembled. I need to get different-sized screws for the legs (the first ones I got were too fat). Most of all, I needed the right screws to fix the camera to the top plate.

I looked at the hardware store first, but they didn’t have screws that fit. The thread was all wrong. Too coarse. Maybe not metric. The salesman recommended a professional screw store. I drove there but they weren’t open on the weekend, nor at any other time that worked for me.  But I had an important piece of information: there is such a thing as professional screw stores.

So I found one in Vienna and went there today.

I called first to see if they were open at lunchtime, which was good, because a gravelly-voiced man told me No, they are not open at lunch. So I went there after lunch. I walked around looking at graffitti, and calling my wife, and texting my daughter until the shop opened up.

On the phone with my wife, I made screw jokes, then she made screw jokes, then explained to me that she had been making screw jokes because she thought I wasn’t getting her screw jokes and hadn’t noticed that I had made screw jokes too.

That’s how subtle I am.

Then I went in the screw shop which was awesome. It was a normal-sized shop, full of shelves. You walk in and there is the counter already and maybe room for two or three customers to stand and the rest is shelves of boxes of screws.

And a woman who looked to be about eighty. She ignored me when I came in the shop because she was doing something important behind the counter. I don’t know what, she got lower and lower and then was out of sight for a while. Finally she stood back up.

I need screws, I said.

The woman had a wart on her nose and a white hair was growing out of the wart.

I have an old camera. I need two screws to hold it to a piece of wood. This is the base of the camera, see the screwholes? I said.

She shook her head. Those don’t look metric, she said. (She also had a gravelly voice, but it was not the voice I had heard on the phone.) What did you say it was, a sewing machine?

She had some of her lunch around her mouth, caught in hairs, and was eating more of it, with a spoon, out of a small plastic container. It looked very much as if she had made it by gelatinizing small children with lye.

The piece of wood is 1.8 cm thick, I said.

Sewing machine, she said.

Camera, I said.

You could be in luck then, she said. Tripod screws are normed.

She went to a shelf and brought a box of screws that fit, on the first try. How long? She said.

Well, the board is 1.8 cm thick.

Here, measure them, she said. She handed me a folding yardstick thing. Sewing machines aren’t normed. They take all different screws.  They could be any size, she said.

I told her I needed longer screws, she brought me some, I paid for them and here I am with two screws in my pocket.

Actually, they look like bolts, but screw is more fun to say.

Now all I need are bolts for the knees of the tripod legs, and I’m set. The world is my oyster.