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What are the visual differences between a dry plate ambrotype (gelatin) and a wet plate collodion ambrotype when both are photographed with the correct exposure?Which one has brighter highlights when both are photographed on the same subject.?(I am talking about making positive, not negative)Also, Is a dry plate gelatin ambrotype considered panchromatic?Thank you!

@AJG Thank you very much for your answer. Yes. now it is clear. I've been thinking the answer is obvious but I started to think whether there might be a hidden issue when my light meter started working properly.

Do two 2400ws strobes (using one head for each generator at full aiming at the same subject) produce the same amount of light created by one 4800ws strobe (say Speedotron) or the equivalent of the light produced by 3600ws strobe? I need a lot of light for the wet plate photo shoot. Sorry if this question has been asked before. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for letting me know about it. I wasn't sure why I sometimes got a shorter URL. Now it became clear. Thanks.

Indeed. It might be a bit too small especially for 8x10. Thanks for the comments!

Has anyone seen, used or owned this Chinese made tent for the wet plate photo purpose? The main purpose of this I assume is for changing large format films but the description also mention wet plate photography. I shoot 5x7 but it would be great if I can handle 8x10 in this tent. Thanks in advance! https://www.ebay.com/itm/224570422287?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3D3534072f0bee49d3aff7bd4e05d1b6ae%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D264891550610%26itm%3D224570422287%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuAspectsV202110NoVariantSeedKnnRecallV1&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A2245704222873534072f0bee49d3aff7bd4e05d1b6ae|enc%3AAQAHAAABEMFr2e4EmAnM%2ByHZkULYKDIJ4L66fOjNL0iupgt%2BzO1%2F3AE1t3mNirUYB96NktMCicMagiS6mbeTl0xquGODv9kOJE%2FM0RcAP6%2BpsYgkZ4ZaJMBUJVT%2BpFkrzvdPpKWXPGBHs8OuOoBKMYj9tvN%2FLM9PITz%2F4ucjTpfEHDnyvcBc%2FZgGY73z%2FUUB01S9n16%2F9hxmz5atfipkzquk9%2F35F1Zu7XvvPm%2B37o2KL1Qb8NDFlwTjmjhrOrwUl1eRCTaM1RjQsJRZ8G1FcEZtRw6WsAZPU%2FWpC5t6xoL8bz7u09ON4uaDE%2BNeqIIJ5uigIJxL%2FWOKOAVmCbnG0cAxoP%2FqKR25YYFtAphq4CoNU0VlruJ1|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675

Thanks for the interesting story about tintype. There is a photographer in NY or SF who does a similar street tintype service on the street. I don't know if he still does it, but I think that's great.

Hi Everyone and James, Thank you for all the replies. I really appreciate it! I actually increased the development time by 60 seconds, but with ambrotype, it seemed like it didn't work as films do (I developed many sheet films in the past so I see what James is talking about here.) As time increases the entire image became a bit denser equally (from shadow to highlight) which made the images look rather flat. Hmm. But I managed to shoot on aluminum plates yesterday, and the image has much more contrast than ambrotype with a nice tonal range. I kind of like how it turned out.

Hello, I am a new wet plater in Tokyo. It took me two months for all the preparation, and finally, I got my first plates a week ago. Today I had some test shots and would like to know how I can improve my technique. I am asking this because I rarely had a chance to see real ambrotypes. The only time that I saw was when I took the workshop on wet plate photography. If you can check my test result today (below), I’d greatly appreciate it. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=QTgxeURnZDBZRlBUYlZONld1eVJWcmw0Tk1haDV3 #2 seems to be the best exposure, but to be honest, I was expecting to get a much nicer tonal range. The photos were shot using only natural light. All the developments were about 15sec. The size of the plate is 5x7in. Just so you know, I didn’t make any adjustments when I scanned them (the lid opened with reflection mode). Although I highly appreciate any comments, I do have two questions: 1. What are very fine streaky lines going diagonally that are visible all over the plates? I circled a spot in red where the streaks are clearly visible although they are everywhere (much clearer on my original scan though). Please zoom in to see this problem. 2. Is it possible to get the highlights in the pictures a bit brighter, in a general sense, without losing the details? This photographer’s portraits are great, have a wider range. I think mine looks flat. http://www.collodion.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12106&title=two-portraits-from-this-week 3. #3 looks underexposed, but it has more contrast than the other two. Do I get more contrast if I underexpose a plate in general? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your replies! Now I understand that placing a blue gel on the light won't contribute to the formation of images. I guess I need to find a more powerful strobe or try to come up with some other ideas shooting outside.

Hi. I am new to wet plate photography. I am hoping to get some advice about how to make studio portraits using artificial light. I’ve understood that collodion is sensitive to blue/green wavelengths but not so much to yellow/red wavelengths, and some say that strobes and LED lights are not effective for wet plate photography. Here are my questions: 1)I have Profoto Acute2 2400. Would this be too weak? 2)Another light I have is Yongnuo YN-900 LED Video Light(900 LEDs, 5500K) . If I use a blue filter over the light would that help? Any tips or technical advice is greatly appreciated!

Just out of curiosity… I like contemporary photography, and I especially like types of work that artists focus on creating powerful and unique images by collaborating with models or friends(?) in somewhat staged settings. I’ve been wondering if these artists usually pay money to the participating models. I imagine it’s different from person to person, but when I read interview articles of the artists I like, they don’t seem to talk about this topic. The artists just come to mind now are Pieter Hugo, Ren Han, Roger Ballen, Ryan McGinley, and Asger Carlsen. I assume that photographers who take a documentary approach don’t give any compensation to their subjects in general but what about photo artists? I would appreciate your thoughts and opinions. Thanks.