It seems like a scratched lens would produce poor images, but as Markus Hofstaetter shows, it can be hard to tell when looking at the photos themselves. Scratched lenses are typically relatively cheap to purchase second-hand, and they can represent a fantastic bargain.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter's wet-plate work often features big, ultra-fast lenses. However, Hofstaetter recently acquired a very tiny lens that has caused him some massive problems.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter is back with another unique photography project: he created a high dynamic range (HDR) tintype using a super-fast 120mm f/1.0 lens.
Years ago, photographer Markus Hofstaetter purchased a 140mm f/1.0 lens designed for projectors. He recently found the right opportunity to pair this unusual lens with an ultra-large format camera.
A photographer has renovated his 100-year-old 8x10 large format film camera after its original bellows began leaking light.
Photographer Corrine Gretton-West booked a wet plate workshop with me before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Two years later we were finally able to do it.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter took it upon himself to bring a giant 73-kilogram (160-pounds) ultra-large format flatbed scanner back to life, a process that took three full months.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter recently acquired a Zeiss 300mm f/4.5 lens, and although it produced beautiful results, the process of getting to a finished image was filled with numerous obstacles along the way.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter -- known for his collodion wet-plate photography expertise -- decided to try something different and used the 170-year old shooting process to capture incredibly detailed high-end food photos.
Although large-format photography may be an intricate and slow process often shot in a studio, it doesn't mean that it can't be taken outdoors with a little ingenuity.
Well-known wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter recently purchased an old wet-plate camera, repaired it to a working condition, and added two lenses to it with the help of his 3D printer.
After an accident that left an otherwise well-built Linhof tripod in a bad shape, watch as photographer Markus Hofstätter brought it back to life with full functionality.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter discovered a family of swans and, over time, gained their trust enough to approach and photograph them. Eventually, he decided to do so with his large-format camera and an expired Kodak Readyload film.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter has been looking for what he calls his "dream lens" for some time, visiting flea markets and using his contacts to try and locate the Dallmeyer 3B Petzval lens, circa 1876. Thanks to one of his friends, he finally found one in shockingly-good condition.
With the current state of affairs, photographers have been coming up with unique ways to exercise their craft remotely. Photographer Markus Hofstaetter decided he wanted to make a portrait with a friend and came up with a way to do it despite the vast distance between them.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter just completed an ambitious project in which he spent 6 months working to shoot stereo 3D photos on large format wet plates.
Passport photos on wet plate collodion aren't legally compliant, but you're guaranteed to have fun making them. I shot wet plate collodion passport photos using a Polaroid Miniportrait camera.
Normally I use videos to document my work. This time the video is the main outcome of my work -- I shot an ultra-macro video that shows how the crystals/salts change during the wet plate collodion process.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter often gets asked about how he acquires the plates he uses for wet plate collodion photography. To answer that question, Hofstaetter made this 7-minute video showing how he has them custom cut on a 75-year-old machine.
After I recently saw cherry blossoms on my tree, I wanted to shoot one of them with my wet plate camera... while the blossom is still high on the tree.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstaetter recently tried his hand at tackling an unusual project: he wanted to shoot wet plate portraits handheld.
Austrian photographer Markus Hofstaetter recently captured this fiery wedding portrait, titled "Love on Fire." It's a single exposure that can be shot with a much smaller budget than you might think. And no, you don't need a gigantic flaming explosion.
For a recent project, I was tasked with shooting a hot rod. It was exciting from the beginning, because this particular kind of car is pretty rare here where I live. The owner also requested that their dog sit on the car's fender, and for the photos to be huge -- 100 megapixels were too few.