wetplate

BTS: Creating a Wet Plate Portrait Using an Ordinary Negative and an Enlarger

Slovenia-based professional photographer Borut Peterlin was recently tasked with shooting a portrait of painter/illustrator/author Milan Erič for influential Slovenian magazine Mladina. Peterlin decided that he wanted to create a wet plate collodion photo, but spent weeks worrying about whether he would be able to accomplish it given the tight schedule of the on-location shoot.

Mind-Bending Reflection Portraits Shot Using a Wet Plate Camera

Last week we issued a challenge asking readers to shoot a creative mirror self-portrait using an alternative style of photography. Reader Agustin Barrutia took us up on that challenge, and created a pair of wet plate photographs that take the concept of "mirror self-portrait" to a new level (they're unlike anything we've seen before). Both photographs are straight-out-of-camera wet plate photos that weren't manipulated digitally. Barrutia simply used "mirrors" (one doesn't involve a mirror, per se) and "reflections" in clever ways.

The wet plate above is a self-portrait of Barrutia shooting the wet plate. That camera in the frame is the camera that captured the wet plate.

Using a Gigantic Wet Plate Van Camera to Tell the Stories of People in America

Earlier this year, we shared a beautiful short documentary, titled "Silver & Light", which featured Los Angeles-based photographer Ian Ruhter and the gigantic wet plate photographs he shoots using a van that he converted into a massive camera. Since then, Ruhter's work has received a good deal of attention; the video now has nearly 1 million views, and Ruhter has been traveling around the country and using his special photography to tell the stories of people he meets.

He has just released the new video above, titled "American Dream." It's an inspiring look at some of Ruhter's first shoots for the project (note: it contains some strong language).

Mirror Self-Portrait Captured Using a Wet Plate Camera

Yesterday we shared an old school mirror self-portrait from 1917, captured by a young Australian fight pilot named Thomas Baker on a Kodak camera. After seeing that image, photographer Sam Cornwell decided to shoot his own old-school mirror selfie... using a 12x15-inch wet plate camera!

Civil War Reenactments Photographed with a Wet Plate Camera

At first glance, New York-based photographer Richard Barnes' Civil War photos might look like they were taken from some museum or historical photographic archive. Look a little closer, however, and you'll begin to notice things that are quite peculiar. In one of them, there's a pickup truck parked in the background. In another, a man wears a T-shirt and baseball cap -- certainly not the fashion you'd expect to see in a mid-1800s photo.

The truth is, Barnes creates beautiful war photos that appear to be from over a century ago by using the Civil War-era process of wet plate photography to capture modern day Civil War battle reenactments.

Photographer Uses His iPhone’s Glass Back as a Collodion Process Wet Plate

iPhone users who want to flaunt their inner photography geek can buy special skins or cases that transform their phone into a camera look-alike. That option wasn't awesome enough for photographer Jake Potts of Bruton Stroube Studios, who recently decided to use his phone's glass back to create an ambrotype photo using the wet plate collodion process!

Wet Plate Photography with a Giant Van Camera

Los Angeles-based photographer Ian Ruhter creates amazing photographs using a van that he turned into a gigantic camera. He uses the collodion process (AKA wet plate photography) to turn large sheets of metal into photographs, and spends upwards of $500 making each giant one-of-a-kind print.

The World’s Smallest Wet Plate Camera

Kevin Klein has a hobby of miniaturizing Victorian technology, and recently he made the world's smallest wet plate camera using 1/32-inch plywood and other wood materials. The camera is only a little bigger than a quarter, and shoots miniature 1/2-inch square plate images.