Making Tintypes

[GWL420]

That is so cool. It really is like you are an alchemist. I love historical photography and think it so cool that people are still doing it today.

[melitte01]

boo, the metal to make tintypes (blackened aluminum) is cheaper if you order alot. Glass can be had from any hardware store or frame store if you are just starting. Ambros are a little harder to clean but the technology / exposure / chemistry is exactly the same for both.

[picaticatara]

boo

[yuexiachou29]

ambrotype, tintype, which one is more expensive to operate? Like around???

Thank you,

[madhatterstamps]

very poor volume

[Grainne7C]

Thank you so much for putting this up! So helpful, would love to try this myself some time soon!

[XtalQRP]

Wonderfully informative, thankyou.

I have a victorian dryplate camera I shoot and develop at home, but this is a far more involved process. You have a lot of talent.

[4Firearms]

Umm...Hey lady. They have Digital Cameras and Photoshop now!

You might want to step into 2011.

[netando]

@4Firearms yeah, but this is art, not that there's anything wrong with digital or photoshop, but this stuff is allot of fun too. Newer isn't always better.

[melitte01]

@4Firearms dude, I do that for a living. Believe me I know. But imagine, instead of being a digital photographer you get to be an alchemist. 

[rubbers99]

@4Firearms Theres zero comparison when your talking a century old process compared to modern digital. Only an complete d bag would print fake digital tintypes from photoshop. Pull your head out of your ass fuckface.

[kbtownsend]

LOL, I think appreciation of the skill, patience and art of wet plate are beyond what most people can recoignize. There are few people around who have mastered this process (Sally Mann is a favourite) and even less who build wetplate cameras (save those who modify film holders). If you want to even begin to appreciate what wet plate is, try large format - you'll think long and hard about every composition and exposure when at $1-$2 and 10-15 minutes developing time per photograph.

[whoaitslu]

How much would something like this cost to do?

[kbtownsend]

@whoaitslu I photograph on glass plate (similar process, different substrate) and spent around $200 on chemicals for around 15 plates (silver nitrate is expensive, hydrogen cyanide is poisonous), I use a 4x5 Busch Pressman which was $400 and a DIY modified 4x5 film holder.

[whoaitslu]

@kbtownsend Thanks!

[Kamellya2U]

I turned up my speakers all the way and can't hear this well enough. Would be great with better sound.

[Rachulie]

i've ALWAYS wanted a tintype of myself. not those sepia dress-up photos you see at fairs. sigh. i guess this is one dream that can never come true :'(

[meebee2beebee]

beautiful images at the end. Thanks so much! I'm taking Intermediate Darkroom in school right now and always wondered how this process was done. Going to ask in class tomorrow if we could do some experimental stuff like this!

[welder6g]

How do you do this witha Digital Camera?

[AAnneC]

@welder6g you don't. 

[343GuiltysparkHALO]

@AAnneC actually you can with a devere digital enlarging system

only problem is it costs like 20,000 dollars

[AAnneC]

@343GuiltysparkHALO I think what I meant was that you should NOT do this with a digital camera. Thats the problem with today. Everyone wants a quick and easy solution to fast production. My husband shoots tintype and every way that he shoots from lighting to developing to the actual camera are all of the time period. The reuslt is a beautiful photograph that digital can absolutely not touch. Its gorgeous! I love tintype! Wish I were alive in that era.

[travis903]

if you mention collodion an digital in the same sentence, fox talbot will haunt your dreams

[digitalArtform]

Very interesting. I'd love to see 3 shots of the same subject respectively filtered R, G and B at shoot time, and then combined digitally to make a 'full color' tintype.

[Flubb0r]

@digitalArtform I'ts prety much red blind and very little sensitive to green , so that would be pointless, as you would get a blue photograph

[digitalArtform]

@Flubb0r Take a digital photo of a subject. Separate the photo into R, G and B channels. Roll the hue of the G and B channel until it is red. Photograph all three different but now red channels as separate tintypes. Scan the tintypes. Roll the hues of two of them back to green and blue. Combine them digitally. Color tintype.

[awkpidgin]

@digitalArtform I've done this with regular black and white film and it was quite interesting. You can complete the process chemically if you're highly motivated.

[edisonphonographs]

So when you are ready to make an exposure you put the plate holder in the camera close the back and then pull out a pice so that when the lens cap is removed the light will hit the tintype? Very interresting video!

Thanks

[aperturius]

Actually, tintypes were hardly ever printed on tin...they were typically made on sheets of iron.  The name "tintype" probably came from the tin snips used to cut the iron plates.

[summersings]

Yeah, that's where "Ferro" in "Ferrotypes" comes from.

I've heard the reason they were called tintypes was because the plates were so inexpensive.

[nancyburns]

great video - just with the volume were better-

[ChenteTv]

Kick Ass!!

[damookie]

thank you so much, this is so wonderful and reminds me why i got into photography in the first place, before megapixels and all that.

[AntiqueTintypes]

This is a great quick demo. The wet plate process is so much easier to understand with a video as opposed to just reading about it. Thanks for sharing this with us Melitte!

[ZoneIII]

Excellent video. Since I am already a largeformat photographer, it's nice to see that I really don't need any more equipment to try this. In fact, it looks like you use the same 8x10 camera that I use. Thanks for posting this.

[chickaka007]

easy to process. look great, thank for video.

[ColonelCuster]

What a great video.

This is the type of camera I have always wanted.

Seeing this video is really great!

[kliveo]

Thanks for your video, I'd really like to try this process but I may have problems finding the materials in the UK, I'll do a little research and hopefully find what I need.

[sscb1]

you make it look easy

[RCAldrich]

Very nice intro to the process.

Tintypes are great.

Thanks