Beginners Guide to Tintypes · Part 3 of 3
If you have read about collodion, silver baths and large format cameras and wondered where to begin, start with seeing the process in person. You do not need prior photography experience to join my wetplate workshop. Curiosity is a good starting point.
My Beginners Guide to Tintypes brings together the stages, equipment and materials involved. In a workshop, we connect those explanations to the camera, the plate and the work at the bench.
Learn one-to-one
The workshop is four hours of one-to-one tuition with me in Grantville, Victoria. We cover plate preparation, pouring collodion, sensitising, camera setup and lighting, followed by developing and varnishing.
Working one-to-one gives us room for questions as we go. If you are fascinated by the camera, curious about the chemistry or simply want to experience making a photograph by hand, there is plenty to talk about.
Understand the setup before building your own
The equipment list in the manual includes a camera, a suitable plate holder, a darkroom or darkbox, processing trays and the materials needed to make and finish the image. Seeing how those pieces work together is useful before you plan a setup of your own.
Preparation is part of the craft. The plate travels between the bench, the holder, the camera and the darkroom while still wet. Having the next stage ready helps you concentrate on what you are doing.
Build good working habits
The manual gives chemical handling its own section for a reason. Learning wetplate includes understanding the materials, the working space and the care each stage needs. During practical learning, those considerations sit alongside the creative decisions about light and composition.
A written guide is especially useful for revisiting the sequence after a demonstration. You can return to a stage, recognise the equipment you used and make notes about the questions you want to explore next.
A glimpse of the workshop
This short film gives you a taste of the experience. You can also see my Instagram post about Saurab’s visit to the studio for a familiarisation session.
Take home a plate and a starting point
You create your own tintype to take home, with a complete user manual to support the next part of your wetplate journey. There is something satisfying about leaving with an image you have helped make and a much clearer idea of how it came to exist.
Visit the workshops page for the current details, or get in touch to discuss a suitable date. Tell me what has caught your interest and what you would love to learn.
Explore the beginner series
1. What is a tintype?
2. From first pour to final plate
3. Your first wetplate workshop — you are here