Anyone here making Tintypes?

I've been doing a few here in Denver, CO, but have had to take a break in the last few months after moving to a new place without much room for a darkroom, etc. I find the process so fun and its one of those mediums that is so interesting because you have a unique, one of a kind physical photograph.

Here's some examples from the last year or so...


ambrotype #34- catherine by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #33 - the bartlett by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #19 - sean by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #15 - alyssa by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #13 - catherine by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #14 - Scott by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #22 - diego by slantface, on Flickr


ambrotype #20 - catherine by slantface, on Flickr

Last one is scanned/colored in Photoshop for fun
 
Those are awesome works!!

I need to pour my emulsion much thicker. I checked with the Rockland company that makes the AG-plus I'm using and they confirmed the wrinkling I'm getting is from too thin an emulsion layer, so I have to go back to making it thicker.

Here's the latest example of what happens when it's too thin: (flipped it right to left, just because we're on a digital forum)
dead_cowboys_by_christophersacry-d6yszkv.jpg
 
Pirate said:
Those are awesome works!!

I need to pour my emulsion much thicker. I checked with the Rockland company that makes the AG-plus I'm using and they confirmed the wrinkling I'm getting is from too thin an emulsion layer, so I have to go back to making it thicker.

Here's the latest example of what happens when it's too thin: (flipped it right to left, just because we're on a digital forum)
dead_cowboys_by_christophersacry-d6yszkv.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool 1952/53 Les Paul guitar with a "staple" front pick-up on the right.

How does she intonate with that bridge?
 
Pirate said:
Those are awesome works!!

I need to pour my emulsion much thicker. I checked with the Rockland company that makes the AG-plus I'm using and they confirmed the wrinkling I'm getting is from too thin an emulsion layer, so I have to go back to making it thicker.

Here's the latest example of what happens when it's too thin: (flipped it right to left, just because we're on a digital forum)
dead_cowboys_by_christophersacry-d6yszkv.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice Les Paul collection. I used to have a few LP's, but I got the Gretsch bug really severely and ended up selling most of my Gibbos and only keeping one LP Special.

I still have a thing for the P90's though. I had to retrofit my White Falcon with a custom hand wound Lindy Fralin dogear.


Gretsch White Swallow by _JDT0505, on Flickr
 
That's a beautiful Gretsch! And I love the Twin behind it, I have one of those too... I'll be doing a lot more Tintypes of my guitars, and general 4x5 work with them in the near future.

The '52 is a Les Paul 1952 Goldtop Tribute model - the ones they made to honor Les when he passed away. It's number 40 out of the 564 (I think). The bridge is an original 1952 from an ES-295 and actually intonates and sounds wonderful. I've checked it on a few different meters and each string is so close to perfect that it's not hearable to me at all (but I'm no pro), and I play blues so I'm always bending so it dosn't make much difference when I play. The Staple is a Seymour Duncan '54 Les Paul Custom model and I love it. Hardly ever play the bridge pup, it's very nasally.
 
Just developed another tin like this one. The emulsion was a little thicker so the lines are very nice in it, but I still need to pour it just a tad thicker yet. I'll scan and post this one tomorrow after it dries.
 
Wow, I would hate to sell that rig, it looks awesome!

Here is the second tin of the same three guitar shot. The emulsion was slightly thicker, and although the surface is still wrinkled, it's so much better in the image quality. Just have to go a little thicker and I should be able to get it flat again.

dead_cowboys_2_by_christophersacry-d6yuouw.jpg
 
I started shooting ambrotypes early this year. You can see some on my website under the collodion section.
www. X-rayarts.com

I'm now shooting some as a part of my commercial photo business and have a high end gallery carrying them. I shoot up to 8x10 mainly on black glass.
 

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What is black glass? I can't find any on the net.


Here's the latest. Much better. I poured this one the other day so I knew it would still be on the thin side and have some wrinkling so I mainly used it for more exposure testing. The image looks pretty good and I'm overexposed by about one stop. So now, I should have the final basis for my exposures and should be able to get things properly dialed in with pouring and exposing the next set of plates!

tin_flowers_by_christophersacry-d6yx50n.jpg
 
Any chance you can swap out glass plates for the tin? I have a 4x5 glass plate holder I made for wet plate, but never used.
 
You can shoot glass using an appropriate holder. I shoot black glass ambrotypes in 4x5,5x7, and 8x8 formats. The one thing I've noticed is that sometimes you need a spacer for tin, or a backing to keep the plate from moving around in the holder. The glass on the other hand can usually fill the holder without anything extra.
 
My tins are thin enough to slide right into a normal 4x5 holder. I need to make a proper holder for tin and glass because I would love to do Ambrotypes also! When you shoot an Ambrotype you can turn it around proper so your left and right are not switched, then put the black backing on it to get a proper picture.
 
shootar401 said:
Any chance you can swap out glass plates for the tin? I have a 4x5 glass plate holder I made for wet plate, but never used.
Click to expand...

The glass varies in thickness somewhat do it might fit or it might not. Most stained glass suppliers will have Spectrum black glass.

If you want to use a plate holder you might think about varnishing the inside with marine urathane varnish. The silver nitrate is very corrosive to the metal and will eventually deteriorate the wood. It's extremely messy and silver nitrate drips from the holder.

Wet plate is very addictive if you like seat of the pants hands on processes.

You can use clear glass if you display it against something like black velvet. Tintypes and ambrotypes are actually negative images but appear positive when viewed against black. It's due to the highly reflective silver image.
 

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