Collodion du jour - 30

Untitled diptych.

Well, this is day 30 of Collodion 365. Only 335 more photographs to go...

As I am still discovering so much about this process, every image so far has been a challenge to overcome. Which is wonderful!

I hope that you have been enjoying the photographs and discovering (at the same time as I am) the possibilities of wet-plate collodion.

Collodion du jour - 29

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 28

Untitled

Collodion du jour - 27

Elaiza.

After a few frustrating days in my journey into wet-plate collodion, everything seemed to come together for this image of beautiful Elaiza. I am excited about this photograph and thankful to my daughter for agreeing to model once again.

Collodion du jour - 26

Libellule.

Collodion du jour - 25

Tournesols

Collodion du jour - 24

Rachel

Collodion du jour - 23

"Je prends mon pied" with wet-plate collodion

Collodion du jour - 22

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 21

Elaiza et Enora

Collodion du jour - 20

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 19

Untitled alumitype

Collodion du jour - 18

Untitled landscape

I finally got enough figured out to start taking collodion photographs in the field. Although this image is a bit underexposed, I was very happy to get a plate with good resolution. I should be soon on my way to document colorado landscapes.

Collodion du jour - 17

Untitled still life

I am still getting used to the way wet-plate collodion "sees" color. Although the images that I produce here are monochrome, their subject is not. Colors in the objects that are photographed are translated into different densities of silver - into different shades of gray.
The photo on the left surprised me very much. To help the delicate orchid stand out, I had set it on a vivid blue background. The white on blue jumped at me when I was setting up my shot. Little did I know that wet-plate collodion is very sensitive to the blue range of the light spectrum, rendering the background in the final image almost as white as the flower itself. On the other hand collodion has very little sensitivity to red hues, rendering the tomatoes in the previous untitled still life completely black...

Collodion du jour - 16

Enora

Another photo shoot with my beautiful daughter Enora. This is the second image of the day (she laughed nervously in the middle of the first exposure...) and as you can tell from her expression this was to be the last. So here it is.

Collodion du jour - 15

Untitled still life

This is the first successful image I got out of my portable darkroom.
As I mentioned I am planning to shoot landscape wet-plate collodion photographs. This requires to have a portable or mobile darkroom in which you prepare the plate and quickly process it in the field. I had to try mine at home first.
As I haven't found yet a school bus or a trailer to transform into a mobile darkroom, my fancy darkbox is for now made out of cartboard... photos to come later.

Collodion du jour - 14

I have tamed the beast!

I love how bugs can be at the same time so fascinating and repulsive.

Collodion du jour - 13

Joe and his camper

Collodion du jour - 12

Céréale from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 11

Joe

This is my next door neighbor, Joe. You might not be able to tell from this photo, but he is a super nice guy.
Joe is also a great sound engineer and the proud owner of San Luis Sound, a home based recording studio.