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Very old photos!

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rkep01

rkep01

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The man was an excellent photographer. Check out his tonal values, especially photo 6, no blocked up shadows and no blown out highlights. It looks like he was a proponent of the Zone System 65 years before its invention. And he did all of it on film in a rustic darkroom...no digital screen or Photoshop to help him. :bow:
 
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Wifesmainwrench

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Roger that. Not only was Sullivan's darkroom rudimentary, it was in a wagon, where he had to sensitise his (glass) plates w/ a sticky collodion solution (thinned w/ ether) on the spot, expose and develop them before they dried out. As enlarging from negs was not yet available, they had to be the size of the intended print for contact printing, the sun being the light source, so each 16x20 print required a 16x20 piece of glass, which he had to haul along. No doubt a heavy load to worry about.
 
rkep01

rkep01

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Whew! That's dedication.
 
swift6

swift6

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rkep01 said:
The man was an excellent photographer. Check out his tonal values, especially photo 6, no blocked up shadows and no blown out highlights. It looks like he was a proponent of the Zone System 65 years before its invention. And he did all of it on film in a rustic darkroom...no digital screen or Photoshop to help him. :bow:
Click to expand...


A very practiced photographer. The tonal range actually has more to do with the levels of sensitivity of the collodion wet plate substrate and a practiced eye for length of exposure. When your exposure is measured in mulitple minutes, you have a lot of leeway in seconds on the exposure.

I've produced prints from glass plates before and it is quite an experience.
 
DrEntropy

DrEntropy

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Stunning effort. Just imagining what he had to do to get his rig into position for some of those exposures gives me chills... clock's ticking, emulsion's desensitizing, climb FASTER!! And mind the glass you're carryin'. :crazyeyes:

*sheesh*

Art, craft and science. The physical effort it took. Most amazing.
 
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