Topic: another convert to the collodion collective

[Suzi Livingstone]

I won;t be able to post anything to the next weekend thread so I thought I'd share a couple of images from my collodion workshop with John Brewer (http://www.johnbrewerphotography.com) from a few weeks ago - it was arranged by the fantastic Film's Not Dead (http://www.filmsnotdead.com/) peeps..

Well, needless to say, I LOVED IT.. I used up my last rolls of 120 in China and I won't be in a rush to buy any more instead I'll be buying wet plate chemicals and converting an old box brownie 6-20 to take quarter tin plates  

John usually runs his workshops from his darkroom in Manchester but he did say that if there was enough interest for another London one via Films Not Dead he would look into arranging it this summer.

NB The male portrait is legendary B&W printer Klaus Kalde whose darkroom we used  
(Female portrait is on black acrylic and male portrait is on tin)

[sapata]

Ah... they're beautiful Suzi...!

I won't be in a rush to buy any more instead I'll be buying wet plate chemicals and converting an old box brownie 6-20 to take quarter tin plates  

That's pretty much what i'm planning to do...

[astrobeck]

Very nice Suzi, and how exciting to do this!
I think you have a very promising future with this technique.   

I'd like to know more about the six-20 conversion.

[gary m]

Very nice, would love to try this.

[SLVR]

i wish i had the space/resources to do this! looks like fun!

[Suzi Livingstone]

Ah... they're beautiful Suzi...!

I won't be in a rush to buy any more instead I'll be buying wet plate chemicals and converting an old box brownie 6-20 to take quarter tin plates  

That's pretty much what i'm planning to do...

We'll be SAVING $$£££!

[Suzi Livingstone]

Very nice Suzi, and how exciting to do this!
I think you have a very promising future with this technique.   

I'd like to know more about the six-20 conversion.

It was great fun. I'm really hooked. The conversion is pretty simple to do, and is a very cheap way to work with tin plates/collodion as no plate holder needed, the back of the brownie becomes the plate holder. You just need to spray the inside of the brownie to stop the chemicals corroding it and cut tin to the exact size plates to fit. That's pretty much about it! I'll do a photo step by step to document the conversion.

I decided not to work with larger plates as I don;t want the expense of buying a large format plate camera or even the hassle of lugging one about. Small and cheap is my motto! 

[Photo_Utopia]

i wish i had the space/resources to do this! looks like fun!

I'd love to do this too, with your nickname you could do tintin plates :-)

I like the look of the process, everyone I've seen here's results are great, and I've long been an admirer of Mr Radfords work.

Edit typo

[sapata]

I decided not to work with larger plates as I don;t want the expense of buying a large format plate camera or even the hassle of lugging one about. Small and cheap is my motto! 

Suzi... in addition to the Brownie, consider getting either the Crown Graphic or the MPP 4x5 without the lens.

I've done a few shots using Carl's MPP camera with the darkslide converted to take the plates and it was great! He had a Petzval lens attached to the camera, but you could easily fit any cheap lens...  think about the possibilities of all the 4x5 camera movements

That was my plan when I went to the photographica last month.  I bought the Crown Graphic instead which is even lighter and in terms of LF, really easy to carry. Didn't have any money left to buy the MPP darkslide but I'm sure I can find it somewhere... won't be using in the near future anyway with the whole moving thing

[Suzi Livingstone]

I decided not to work with larger plates as I don;t want the expense of buying a large format plate camera or even the hassle of lugging one about. Small and cheap is my motto! 

Suzi... in addition to the Brownie, consider getting either the Crown Graphic or the MPP 4x5 without the lens.

I've done a few shots using Carl's MPP camera with the darkslide converted to take the plates and it was great! He had a Petzval lens attached to the camera, but you could easily fit any cheap lens...  think about the possibilities of all the 4x5 camera movements

That was my plan when I went to the photographica last month.  I bought the Crown Graphic instead which is even lighter and in terms of LF, really easy to carry. Didn't have any money left to buy the MPP darkslide but I'm sure I can find it somewhere... won't be using in the near future anyway with the whole moving thing

Yeah I saw your Crown Graphic and it is lurvely.. want want want.. def will want updates on how you get on so I can pick up tips.. are you back in Brazil now?

[sapata]

I decided not to work with larger plates as I don;t want the expense of buying a large format plate camera or even the hassle of lugging one about. Small and cheap is my motto! 

Suzi... in addition to the Brownie, consider getting either the Crown Graphic or the MPP 4x5 without the lens.

I've done a few shots using Carl's MPP camera with the darkslide converted to take the plates and it was great! He had a Petzval lens attached to the camera, but you could easily fit any cheap lens...  think about the possibilities of all the 4x5 camera movements

That was my plan when I went to the photographica last month.  I bought the Crown Graphic instead which is even lighter and in terms of LF, really easy to carry. Didn't have any money left to buy the MPP darkslide but I'm sure I can find it somewhere... won't be using in the near future anyway with the whole moving thing

Yeah I saw your Crown Graphic and it is lurvely.. want want want.. def will want updates on how you get on so I can pick up tips.. are you back in Brazil now?

Not yet... being confined in my flat packing since I stop working... God, so much to do!! It will take me sometime until I get some results back home... I'll probably see yours first!

[ChristineHickey]

These are fabulous!  I've been wanting to try it ever since I saw the documentary about Sally Mann. 

[Diane Peterson]

this looks to be my next obsession..just need to find a way to take a class...Your work is delicious Suzi!!

[charles binns]

These are lovely.  Have wanted to do tintype & colloidon for a while but have nowhere to put a dark room.  Maybe I'll persuade Mrs Binns to buy me a place on e workshop for Christmas.

[Sandeha Lynch]

Not something I can organise just yet, but my No2 Brownie may receive a calling at some point.   

Is aluminium as good as tin for this?

[Francois]

I know some use aluminum for the image substrate.

[Suzi Livingstone]

Thanks all, I can definitely recommend doing a workshop - in UK a 2 day one is approx £300 which is pricey but it was definitely worth it. I would say if you're new to collodion then a workshop first is a must, or you will waste a lot of time and chemicals trying to figure it out on your own - and you will get expert guidance on the dangers of some of the chemicals you will be using. Another plus is John made it clear that his tutorage doesn;t stop when the workshop ends and he is there for follow up help - I'm sure once I get started I will be on the phone to him with a lot with lots of niggly problems 

Not sure about aluminium.. trophy tin is what John recommended. I preferred working with tin and acrylic rather than glass. Glass was a faff and I shall be avoiding it until I'm further down the learning line.

[Suzi Livingstone]

this looks to be my next obsession..just need to find a way to take a class...Your work is delicious Suzi!!

You gotta try it Diane, you WILL be hooked 

[sapata]

... trophy tin is what John recommended.

It's exactly what Carl recommended me... It can be easily cut to fit any camera.

[Suzi Livingstone]

... trophy tin is what John recommended.

It's exactly what Carl recommended me... It can be easily cut to fit any camera.

Yep, I think John and Carl use the same supplier and the company will cut it to exact size for small fee. I will order mine in bulk as soon as I convert the 6-20. To use acrylic I'll need a different camera and proper plate holder but I loved working with the black acrylic too.

[Suzi Livingstone]

I decided not to work with larger plates as I don;t want the expense of buying a large format plate camera or even the hassle of lugging one about. Small and cheap is my motto! 

Suzi... in addition to the Brownie, consider getting either the Crown Graphic or the MPP 4x5 without the lens.

I've done a few shots using Carl's MPP camera with the darkslide converted to take the plates and it was great! He had a Petzval lens attached to the camera, but you could easily fit any cheap lens...  think about the possibilities of all the 4x5 camera movements

That was my plan when I went to the photographica last month.  I bought the Crown Graphic instead which is even lighter and in terms of LF, really easy to carry. Didn't have any money left to buy the MPP darkslide but I'm sure I can find it somewhere... won't be using in the near future anyway with the whole moving thing

Yeah I saw your Crown Graphic and it is lurvely.. want want want.. def will want updates on how you get on so I can pick up tips.. are you back in Brazil now?

Not yet... being confined in my flat packing since I stop working... God, so much to do!! It will take me sometime until I get some results back home... I'll probably see yours first!

Good luck with your move!

[sapata]

Thanks Suzi...

Some interesting videos in here:
http://www.scoop.it/t/wet-plate-collodion