Tag Archives: wet-plate

where have all the cameras gone II

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Short answer: to our spring fair, being held May 25th, 2025. Long answer: far more complicated. Cameras from dry plates on can be easily be found, especially at our events. Earlier daguerreotype and wet-plate cameras are much harder to … Continue reading →

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hi yo silver …

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … as the Lone Ranger called to his white steed. My buddy and I used to listen to the radio program featuring the adventures of the Lone Ranger back in the late 1940s. Which brings us to the metal … Continue reading →

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an ambrotype self portrait

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Over the years, photographic processes continuously evolved. For example, some effort was made to deliver less expensive cased images (Daguerreotype look-a-likes). One solution was to take a negative using the then new wet-plate technology and treat it to reverse … Continue reading →

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Hey! … four eyes!

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Little school kids can be unintentionally cruel. Any kid who falters or has an obvious medical issue gets an immediate ‘nick name’. For example, children who have corrective glasses are almost automatically called ‘four eyes’! In the first decades … Continue reading →

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a rare wet plate camera in good condition

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. In June of 1998 this rare wet plate camera (sans lens) resided with member Bill Kantymir. Bill Belier in his “treasure” column traces it from its manufacture in England to an Ontario collection with stops a long the way … Continue reading →

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ambrosia

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. The “next big thing” in photography, after its announcement,  was the wet plate process developed by Frederick Scott Archer of the UK in 1851. Interestingly, the new process did not ‘catch on’ with all Daguerreotypists immediately. A few years … Continue reading →

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Next Alternative Process Social (APS) talk.

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Horst Herget, a local wet collodion photographer holds monthly APS talks. This month he is hosting photographer Russel Monk at Monk’s exhibition locale, the Cardinal Gallery here in Toronto. Horst spoke with us a while back (September 2019) on … Continue reading →

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when wet-plate was king

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Of the two earliest photographic processes, most photographers chose to use the Daguerreotype. It was free (outside England), had the best resolution by far, and had good contrast. But it was limited to one plate unless the plate was … Continue reading →

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APS – Jan 16th – Tintype demos

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Horst Herget spoke with us at a  monthly meeting before COVID-19 hit (September, 2019). And I recently received an email from him. In it, Horst writes: “January’s ALTERNATIVE PROCESS Social: Tintype demonstrations “FEATURE: Horst will be demonstrating the wet … Continue reading →

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photographers’ blues on October 24, 2022

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Nope. Not a sad occasion but a happy one! A cyanotype photograph has much in common with the blueprint used before the days of cheap copy processes. Horst Herget is a collodion process photographer here in Toronto and has … Continue reading →

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