Victoria Will - Portraits on Tintype....

RedRobin

RedRobin

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Robin
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Love collodion images... especially tintypes.
 
Surely there's a plug-in she could have used with Photoshop to get that effect. :D
 
Dave.. please tell me you're joking... LOL
 
Me or the other Dave?

I have no interest in using them myself (I can't even be arsed with film these days), but I understand why people use old processes in the way some people fish with bamboo rods when there are much more efficient carbon rods available.

Although it can be pure affectation - or a marketing strategy. ;)
 
Thanks for that. Was fun to watch.
 
That was cool. Cheers for that!
 
Ed Sutton said:
but I understand why people use old processes in the way some people fish with bamboo rods when there are much more efficient carbon rods available.
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I don't - get the current proper gear if you can, if not, then use 'olden day' stuff

Same with steam trains, antique furniture, vintage cars, old women - they've all had their day of being useful so what's the point of keeping them going ??? :D

Dave
 
I am all for photographers and artists using whatever tools they want to express themselves and these images by Victoria Will are to be greatly enjoyed.... BUT....

....I wonder what our opinions of these 2105 created portrait images would be if they were just ordinary people and not famous actors etc who know how to behave in front of any camera and who are invariably interesting and attractive to look at in one way or another.

Put it this way : Many of you here are wedding photographers - What would the typical bride think if you presented her with this style of pictures?
 
DG Phototraining said:
I thought that :D

People do like to over-complicate things don't they, and for no good reason as far as I could see - but then I'm just not that arty lol

Dave
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I know where you're coming from and there's a strong gimmicky element, but she's come away with 300 unique portraits of lots of famous people.

Imagine if she'd said to Robert Redford, 'I want to take your portrait with an ordinary Nikon, the same camera that everyone else uses, then I'm going to mess around with them in photoshop'. Not quite so appealing! And nobody would have bothered to link the vid either.
 
That was a interesting video and the resulting portraits were very good. I guess you would need to see the original print to really get the full idea.
 
RedRobin said:
I am all for photographers and artists using whatever tools they want to express themselves and these images by Victoria Will are to be greatly enjoyed.... BUT....

....I wonder what our opinions of these 2105 created portrait images would be if they were just ordinary people and not famous actors etc who know how to behave in front of any camera and who are invariably interesting and attractive to look at in one way or another.

Put it this way : Many of you here are wedding photographers - What would the typical bride think if you presented her with this style of pictures?
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Victoria Will would probably get as equally good portraits out of ordinary people. Yes, the actors have had practice, but a good photographer would know how to interact with anyone to get the result they wanted. Avedon comes to mind when photographing both the famous and the ordinary.
 
FruitFlakes said:
Victoria Will would probably get as equally good portraits out of ordinary people. Yes, the actors have had practice, but a good photographer would know how to interact with anyone to get the result they wanted. Avedon comes to mind when photographing both the famous and the ordinary.
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....I think you are absolutely right, Lloyd.
 
Popped into Fox Talbot Platinum exhibition at lunchtime. Was very busy around there being holiday time and sunny.

Some interesting famous prints reprinted
They're supposed to have the greatest tonal range of any chemical method, but I'm not sure some of the images selected were appropriate to show off the range, however some worked very well, with detail in the blacks especially and Frank Horvats Paris Givenchy has graduations in the white hat I've not seen before.
Baileys image worked well,
https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/h...=473f96cc74f9929ef8023059847b4e55&oe=55B1F6DD

A very stylish image of Darcy Bussell by Bryan Adams and a very good set of work by David Bruce
http://www.31-studio.com/photostroud_david_bruce_boy_with_lizard.html

Would have been interesting to have a comparison of a single image to emphasise the differences.
 
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DG Phototraining said:
I don't - get the current proper gear if you can, if not, then use 'olden day' stuff

Same with steam trains, antique furniture, vintage cars, old women - they've all had their day of being useful so what's the point of keeping them going ??? :D

Dave
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I think you're missing the point. You can't appreciate a tintype on here... like daguerreotypes, then need to be seen in real life. They're beautiful things. No digital process can replicate it.
 
Pookeyhead said:
You can't appreciate a tintype on here... like daguerreotypes, then need to be seen in real life.
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Yep I can understand that

Pookeyhead said:
No digital process can replicate it.
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I can understand that too

Pookeyhead said:
They're beautiful things
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This though, no I don't agree with in the same way I don't like most fine art paintings nor antique furniture; but I wholly believe those that like like kind of stuff do find them beautiful

Dave
 
The Drawn By Light exhibition at the Science Museum had some tin types, daguerreotypes and I'll agree they do have to be seen.
 
Kitteh wet plate by SteveGam, on Fli:sneaky:
ckr
Elli wet plate by SteveGam, on Flickr

Wet plates of my daughters. These are not as sharp as the Victoria Will ones as they were taken in normal lighting so needed something like a 15 second exposure. They had head braces to help them kept steady. The originals look beautiful. Even the imperfections of the process look great. They are sitting on a shelf at home on little easels.

I can und er stand why some people used to believe that having their phot taken stole their soul, as there is a depth and beauty to these images that makes one think that you are uncovering the soul or the very being of the subject..the id. There seems to be almost a human frailty to these images, perhaps due to the lengthy exposure where we find it hard to maintain a mask for that long, or to the human imperfections in the process...A fingermark here, uneven liquid there, a bit of grit causing a comet trail, making each one unique, just as we are al unique as individuals. The thought of trying to replicate such imperfections such as fake finger smudges in photoshop seems wrong.

Apologies in advance to dg for the arty b*****ks :sneaky:
 
Steve said:
Kitteh wet plate by SteveGam, on Fli:sneaky:
ckr
Elli wet plate by SteveGam, on Flickr

Wet plates of my daughters. These are not as sharp as the Victoria Will ones as they were taken in normal lighting so needed something like a 15 second exposure. They had head braces to help them kept steady. The originals look beautiful. Even the imperfections of the process look great. They are sitting on a shelf at home on little easels.

I can und er stand why some people used to believe that having their phot taken stole their soul, as there is a depth and beauty to these images that makes one think that you are uncovering the soul or the very being of the subject..the id. There seems to be almost a human frailty to these images, perhaps due to the lengthy exposure where we find it hard to maintain a mask for that long, or to the human imperfections in the process...A fingermark here, uneven liquid there, a bit of grit causing a comet trail, making each one unique, just as we are al unique as individuals. The thought of trying to replicate such imperfections such as fake finger smudges in photoshop seems wrong.

Apologies in advance to dg for the arty b*****ks :sneaky:
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Have you posted those before Steve? Fantastic.
 
People who just say "There's probably a photoshop filter" do not get it.

Look at the above portraits again... there's something about the intensity. I find this on the few occasions I've messed with wet plate. As the exposures are so long, you get this intense gaze you never, ever get with another medium. THAT can't be replicated with a photoshop filter.
 
Nice, I doubt the photos do them justice. The ones I have seen have a real depth to them as you say, then the need to hold a pose for a long time gives that glare. I really like those, reminiscent of old image.

Makes me wonder if you could repeat the process with digital, how difficult it would to even get somewhere close. Long exposure, print onto different medium such as the titanium lustres or pearl papers. There's an exhibition at Lacock at the moment of Platinum prints that have a depth of tones.

You'd never get exact but somewhere?
 
ISO 0 to 1. Thank goodness we've got the option of faster speeds nowadays.

I think Victoria would be able to produce a good image with anything. She understands her medium and her subject as well as lighting.
 
Nguss said:
These are links to some from a Flickr contact, the brides loved them I think.

https://flic.kr/p/oDDJMJ
https://flic.kr/p/nY4CFf
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....Certainly different. And did the mothers-in-law like them I wonder. You see my point - They are wedding images which would only appeal to a very creatively open and less conventional mind.

I'm not knocking them but only putting this particular strong style into everyday context and suggesting that they won't be every bride's (and her mother) cup of tea.
 
RedRobin said:
....Certainly different. And did the mothers-in-law like them I wonder. You see my point - They are wedding images which would only appeal to a very creatively open and less conventional mind.

I'm not knocking them but only putting this particular strong style into everyday context and suggesting that they won't be every bride's (and her mother) cup of tea.
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Definitely, I agree. Doubt my wife would be impressed if this was our wedding album, but I would be!
 
Nguss said:
Doubt my wife would be impressed if this was our wedding album, but I would be!
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....Vive la differance! :D

Actually I spelt the French word wrong as it's the same as in English but it sounds better if you say it.
 
Pookeyhead said:
People who just say "There's probably a photoshop filter" do not get it.

Look at the above portraits again... there's something about the intensity. I find this on the few occasions I've messed with wet plate. As the exposures are so long, you get this intense gaze you never, ever get with another medium. THAT can't be replicated with a photoshop filter.
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There is a special beauty associated with wet plate work that even comes across when victoria uses high power instantaneous flash.
There are a lot of strange things going on, not all related to the "Ordinary" blue sensitivity of the process. Even the eyes have that strange look in the flash shots. There is a woman with freckles on her site that is fantastic.

The totality is something digital and photoshop can not approach.

I am not sure how the historical workers achieved such perfection, with few if any runs and other imperfections, but they still retained that special character.
I am wondering if they used a simple spinner to spread the solution, as we did with early Lithographic plates, It only takes a few seconds, and avoids all drips and runs.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Have you posted those before Steve? Fantastic.
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Thanks Steven. I think I posted them in the talk film and conventional section last year.

I think David is right that the intensity of the gaze caused by the long exposure gives the unique look and as the old saying that the eyes are the gateway to the soul creates the impression for me that we are seeing something of the inner self.

And as Terry says the sensitivity of the process gives us odd results...my daughter was wearing red that has registered black and her blue eyes look oddly pale....all adding to the mystique.

I understand that in the USA, wet plate portraits are very popular with civil war re-enactment groups.

In the UK there would maybe demand from the steampunk crowd....this would surely be right up their street?
 
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