Collodion du jour - 122

Backyard

Yesterday was the beginning of the first decent snow of the season in Broomfield, CO. I couldn't resist getting my camera out and shooting a couple images.
One might expect that living in Colorado would entail snow for months on end, but unlike the mountains, the Denver metro area doesn't get that much powder and when it snows it usually doesn't stay on the ground for more than a few days. It's quite different from Iowa, where we lived for a few years.

Collodion du jour - 121

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 120

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 119

White Ranch, CO.

Collodion du jour - 118

White Ranch Park, CO.

For a while now, I had been hoping to take the trailer for a spin and give another try to collodion landscapes, but I was having trouble with my chemicals and the weather wasn't cooperating either. Finally this week-end everything came together (the temperature soared into the 50's; after troubleshooting several of my chemicals, I changed formula for the collodion and got good results), so here is a view of White Ranch Park above Golden, CO.
I had a few different goals for the trip: I wanted to test my new collodion formula outdoors, get more practice processing plates outside the house and see how much difference the recycled kitchen counters I installed in the trailer would make.
Well from what you can see the collodion worked great. And I got more practice. And the counters tripled my working area, which made everything so much more pleasant.
I can not wait for Spring and take my collodion landscapes to the next level.

Collodion du jour - 117

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 116

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Wilson-Roussel Family.

Enora, Elaiza and Rachel would like to join me and wish you the best of time for your end-of-the-year celebration. We hope that 2011 will be a great year and that it will bring the happiness that you deserve.

Collodion du jour - 115

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Adventure in wet-plate collodion

I was happy to hear Todd Vinson stating that wet-plate collodion is 10 times harder in the field as in a studio. It is certainly close to the way I feel, except I might have said "twenty times harder or a hundred times harder'. Anyway enjoy the video

Collodion du jour - 114

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 113

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 112

Untitled.

Collodion du jour - 111

You say ..., I say:

This song has always dumbfounded me for which ever way I try to say "patato" it sounds the same: always off and with a noticeable french accent. So here is my visual version.

Collodion du jour - 110

Pamplemousse.

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Citrouille.

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Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 107

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

As time goes by...

The Teal Art Gallery in Breckenridge, CO will be hosting, starting mid-december, an exhibition entitled "As time goes by...". Artists were invited to explore the notion of nostalgia and create modern artwork that would "capture the viewer's heart".

I am pleased to have one of my collodion photograph in the show.

If you're planning to spend some time in Colorado high country this December and January, don't hesitate to stop by the gallery and check the exhibition. It is bound to be a great show, plus the gallery is superb and Stephanie (the owner) is a very gracious host.

For more information, visit Teal Art Gallery

Denis

Collodion du jour 106

Untitled ambrotype.

This is my first ambrotype of the past 4 months and my 5th attempt at this process.

Ambrotype vs alumitype.

If you've watched the video from the J.Paul Getty Museum on wet-plate collodion, you have followed the different phases of the production of an ambrotype, or wet-plate collodion photograph on a piece of glass.

When I very started experimenting with collodion, my first 4 attempts were done on glass. And all things considered the first results were not too bad. However they were so many new things I needed to master that when I discovered you could use aluminum I was more than happy to get pre-cut aluminum plates protected by a plastic film. This eliminated all the steps needed for the preparation of a glass piece and allowed me to concentrate on  the crucial steps of the collodion process (from pouring the collodion, to finding the proper exposure, to develop and fix the image).

As a result most, if not all, the photos you've seen so far in this project are alumitypes. Such as this one:

I am expecting that most of the pictures to come will also be done on aluminum, however once in a while you might see an ambrotype pop up.

There is a magic to them that is wonderful: depending on the background it is placed in front of, an ambrotype might appear as a negative image or a positive image.

The photos don't do it justice, but give you an idea of the effect.

Collodion du jour - 105

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".