[alt-photo] Re: wet-plate collodion

[etienne garbaux]

Bob wrote:

>I am asking for advice about about starting wet-plate collodian and
>Ambrotypes.
>I would appreciate any advice, links, on-list as well as off-list.
>I am very interested in printing wet-plate
>  on my  Omega DXL enlarger. I have a 4x5, an 8x10 as well as a large
>antique studio camera, and I do want advice
>about finding or adapting wooden film holders, but I am very
>interested in enlarging or digital negs.

Wet-plate collodion ("WP") tends to make negatives with a 
substantially longer density range ("DR") than the exposure scale 
("ES") of most enlarging-speed printing materials, and IME the 
process does not respond well to "minus" development (the usual 
technique for reducing the contrast of film negatives).  You have 
choices -- for example, you could make printing masks for the 
collodion negatives, but punch presses tend to make a mess out of 
glass plates (<g>) and achieving alignment manually will make you 
want to go make daguerrotypes over an open dish of hot mercury in an 
unventilated tent.  So, my advice would be to focus on solutions 
other than enlarging wet plate negs.

On the other hand, I don't much see the point of making wet-plate 
collodion negatives just to scan them or print them on enlarging 
materials -- there isn't much "look" to WP negs, aside from the long 
DR and blue [only] sensitivity (which can be duplicated with a blue 
filter).  Of course, "just to do it" is a perfectly legitimate 
justification.  However, may I suggest that you also take up Pt, 
albumen, or collodion paper printing while you're at it?  Those are 
the printing media that were in use by the folks who originally made WP negs.

Best regards,

etienne