> I am a fairly new wetplate photographer and
> have just started to do prints. I have not tried albumen paper or
> sunprinting yet but have been using modern paper and sepia toning them.
> Now for my dumb question. What is it I am trying to duplicate when sepia
> toning? Am I trying to make a new photo look like it is 130 years old? Am
> I trying to duplicate gold toning? Am I trying to make it look like a salt
> print? I want my images to be true to what they would have looked like in
> the 1860s. Did they actually look sepia toned when they were new and if so
> why?
>
As I think the main difference between a POP and a toned DOP print
-- especially from a wet-collodion plate -- is not the color but the
tonal range. Because the automasking effect of the printing out
papers the result (in optimal case) a lot of detail in the highlights
and shadows at least more and/or different than on a developed out
modern material.
The second perhaps the surface of the albumen (or even salt)
papers. The different binder material and the effect of the barita
layer in the case of modern materials resulting a basicly different
looking.
However the authentic color also can be a difficult task, but because
the large scale of the various brown(s) of the originals to see the
differency is not too easy with naked eye. (I mean: usually,
exceptions are possible).
So, the best imitation is the original (process) :-)
Bálint Flesch
Hungary/Budapest