CasedImage
Forum Replies Created
-
So today I had a go at macro daguerreotypy, by fooling around with the lens elements I managed to get quite up close and abbreation laden. Not overly optimistic I used an old plate that had seen better days but was happy to get a result. The subject was a wasps nest that I had liberated from their presence. First exposure was on a white background and was not kind to the imperfections of the plate so second went black. First exposure was barely a second in very strong sunlight and the second was 5 seconds as the sun was skulking behind a cloud.
www.CasedImage.com
Does anyone know anything about these items, I’ve seen them on ebay before and wonder if some 20th century daguerreotypist was actually making them, maybe copy dags of prints or is it just the terminology being borrowed?
www.CasedImage.com
The main indicator I found that if it wasn’t looking promising in the first 10 mins then it wasn’t going to be a great plate and thus maybe not worth worrying about too much. It is hard though peering though the rubylith to decide what is underdeveloped and what is over developed. Most of my development times were one hour sometimes 2 or 3 if I was keen. I must admit so far with mercury I haven’t achieved the whitest whites that I got with Becquerel (see attached). But as the family motto says – ” Do and hope “
www.CasedImage.com
So for plate cooling in becq. development this is what I came up with for my plates, which are thin clad plates so are probably easier to cool. The frame is made of black acrylic sheets so it would have some light trapping aspects. The back of the plate remains exposed so it can cool down in the sun but because of the stepped frame, light can’t get to the front of the plate. It worked very well, though working with strange modern materials the frame itself wasn’t the most well polished production, more of a prototype.
It can’t be seen in the images but under the rubylith I bevelled back the acrylic so it wouldn’t cast a shadow. The top part of the frame that has the rubylith is two sheets of acrylic with different sized windows to give the ledge which the plate sits on.
www.CasedImage.com
Attached are some images of my darkslides. Recently I made a format reducer to shoot ninth plate in my sixth plate camera. It was a quick fix job as I was shooting on that day. You can see its just a insert of card with a window the size of ninth plate. A thin backing to that with a smaller window opening gives a shelf for the plate to sit on. I would avoid using tape inside the darkslide as residue can find its way on to the plate surface in processing, also its best to keep handling to a minimum.
The back of my sixth plate darkslide has a brass tongue that holds the plate flat in the film plane. In my larger format camera that wasn’t good enough I use thin clad plates that get warped in their production. To keep them flat I put a sheet of acrylic behind them which fortunatley works well with the depth of the plate holder. I mention the tongue and plate as with holders that are made for glass plates, the depth is an issue to be resolved and I find these solutions work for me.
www.CasedImage.com
Attached are some images of my darkslides. Recently I made a format reducer to shoot ninth plate in my sixth plate camera. It was a quick fix job as I was shooting on that day. You can see its just a insert of card with a window the size of ninth plate. A thin backing to that with a smaller window opening gives a shelf for the plate to sit on. I would avoid using tape inside the darkslide as residue can find its way on to the plate surface in processing, also its best to keep handling to a minimum.
The back of my sixth plate darkslide has a brass tongue that holds the plate flat in the film plane. In my larger format camera that wasn’t good enough I use thin clad plates that get warped in their production. To keep them flat I put a sheet of acrylic behind them which fortunatley works well with the depth of the plate holder. I mention the tongue and plate as with holders that are made for glass plates, the depth is an issue to be resolved and I find these solutions work for me.
www.CasedImage.com