{"id":4385,"date":"2020-05-30T21:24:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T20:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyam.net\/blog\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2020-05-30T21:31:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T20:31:06","slug":"backpack-collodion-expedition-to-the-end-of-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyam.net\/blog\/archives\/4385","title":{"rendered":"Backpack Collodion: Expedition to the end of the … garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My three month old iodising collodion finally got to me. Today I mounted an expedition to the bottom of the garden to make some collodion negatives. I’ve often wondered whether it would be feasible to do backpack collodion – to head for the hills with all that I need to make a few plates and return having left nothing but footprints. When I started making ambrotypes this seemed totally feasible. When I learned a little more it became totally farcical. Now it feels like a doable thing again. Perhaps the past ten weeks of lockdown are getting to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The picnic blanket is essential. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I used my Voigtl\u00e4nder Avus<\/a> as it is the smallest but maybe not lightest 4×5 I own. It was an rag bag collection of bits that wouldn’t fit in a backpack today but with some ingenuity maybe one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The collodion is very slow so I found I was making quite acceptable ambrotypes but had to give it really long exposures to approach something like a negative. I used my regular positive vinegar & sugar developer. There was little fogging even with thirty seconds of development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is before toning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The results were not thick enough for alternative printing processes but my plan was to only get them good enough to scan. Rather than redevelop as is traditionally done I gave each a minute or so in Ilford Selenium Toner (1+3) which boosted the density and contrast somewhat. I’ve never heard of this done with collodion negatives before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I scanned them in black and white on an Epson 800 resting on rubber tags a la Ben Horne<\/a>. In Lightroom I gave them minimal tweaking and added a split tone. Overall I’m pleased. It was a pleasant way to spend the day. I discovered that making some 1\/4 plate or 4×5 acrylic plates in the field and then scan them to produce reasonable size exhibition prints might be a feasible way of working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n