To start out my wet plate journey I am going to try to do things as simply and as easily as I can. To that end I will start out with a collodion with no extra ether in it called "Poe Boy". I will also try using a developer not mad with Glacial Acetic Acid but instead with normal white vinegar (a highly diluted form of Glacial Acetic Acid. As for fixer, traditional Hypo for now.
The collodion Poe Boy replaces the ether with alcohol and and the dangerous Cadmium Bromide with Potassium Bromide (cheaper and more readily available I think).
The vinegar developer uses no Glacial Acetic Acid, no added distilled water (water is in the vinegar) and uses common sugar as a restrainer.
Traditional Fixer is also much easier to get than the highly dangerous Potassium Cyanide which many wet plate folks love. Hypo (Sodium Thiosulfate) can be mixed at different dilutions, 15%, 30%, 40% and heated to give different looks. I will play with that idea for a while and see how things go. The big downside which is huge is that KCN (Potassium Cyanide fix) only takes a 5 minute wash in running water and Hypo needs 30 minutes (very difficult in the field).
The idea of having less exotic chemistry in the process is that I want to be able to buy things as needed on the fly in far off Yukon or New Foundland or where ever the project finds me in Canada. I can buy white vinegar and sugar anywhere! Having better access to all supplies at all times, has to be a good thing.
Of course if the images are not as good, if the look is not what I want, I will have to change gears and go the more traditional ways.
The collodion Poe Boy replaces the ether with alcohol and and the dangerous Cadmium Bromide with Potassium Bromide (cheaper and more readily available I think).
The vinegar developer uses no Glacial Acetic Acid, no added distilled water (water is in the vinegar) and uses common sugar as a restrainer.
Traditional Fixer is also much easier to get than the highly dangerous Potassium Cyanide which many wet plate folks love. Hypo (Sodium Thiosulfate) can be mixed at different dilutions, 15%, 30%, 40% and heated to give different looks. I will play with that idea for a while and see how things go. The big downside which is huge is that KCN (Potassium Cyanide fix) only takes a 5 minute wash in running water and Hypo needs 30 minutes (very difficult in the field).
The idea of having less exotic chemistry in the process is that I want to be able to buy things as needed on the fly in far off Yukon or New Foundland or where ever the project finds me in Canada. I can buy white vinegar and sugar anywhere! Having better access to all supplies at all times, has to be a good thing.
Of course if the images are not as good, if the look is not what I want, I will have to change gears and go the more traditional ways.
