Gosh on Saturday I tried to make 20x24 Ambrotypes for the first time. They are as expected extremely tougher to do. When I went back to 8x10 plates on Sunday, it seemed so easy in comparison, still difficult do but in comparison so much easier from a technique/physical point of view. When you go large you have all kinds of extra working system problems. I hope to eventually shoot 35x35 inch plates, a lot to learn before then, possibly 3 or 4 more years of struggle before I can attempt it.
Shot for 2 days, one day 20x20s, the next 8x10s with 1 swing for the fences 20x20 at the end of a 12-hour working day, followed by 2 hours of clean up and 5 hours of driving, with a 3-hour nap). I work alone, it's only my 59-year-old me, myself and I!
So, some of the mistakes and some of the solutions.
- holder issues, could not load a 20x24plate (broke it), could not remove a dark slide. Switched to a 20x20 size, so the glass would fit the holder.
- Could not open holder after picture, Cleaned the plates of extra Silver better, that lessoned the suction factor on the dark slide. Added a wire handle to the plate holder, this allowed me to pull it out easier in the darkroom trailer.
- flowing the plate, big messes at first, mostly a result of under pouring. Later things went smoother. I used more collodion and developed a system of support for the plate that worked.
- loading the plate in the camera issues. First time using the holder, had it in backwards, plate fell into the bellows. Rookie mistake figured it out and things went OK after that.
- development of the plate, too little developer, figured out how place the plate in my sink to allow for an even spreading of the developer. Developer too hot, added ice to a small cooler, stored developer and collodion there, brought things down from around 25-28c to 15-17c.
- dropped the plate a few times, no broken glass thou!
- lots of artifacts on the plates, washed the holders with bioethanol which seemed to help (instead of distilled water)
- Setting up the camera, difficult and a bit treacherous (I work alone).
- Large trays for everything, needed 2 tables, should have had 3 as I needed to wash the plate in my lap!
- The plates on Saturday were almost all a mess. The one plate on Sunday was I would say 50% acceptable. I washed and dried it to study and learn from.
- Had agitation pumps, music, exhaust fans, a me I am hot fan, lights, and timers running off various types of battery system. Drained my solar powered double lead acid batteries in the trailer, went through 9 of 10 20volt Dewalt batteries. Ran my Jackery 1000 power unit down to 30% at the end of the day.
