24 Feb
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, Zebra Dry Plates

Coating Ultra-Large Plates: Expert Tips and Techniques

I often get asked if coating ultra-large plates—like the impressive 20x24 inch pieces—is much harder than coating smaller ones. The answer? It’s both yes and no. When you’re working on a plate of this size, every step of the process demands extra practice and precision. Spreading emulsion evenly across such a vast surface isn’t as simple as it sounds. For instance, using a syringe coating technique means you might need to stop and refill your emulsion cup three or four times while maintaining a perfectly level plate to avoid messy...

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19 Feb
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, PRINTING PROCESSES, Zebra Dry Plates

The Art of Contact Printing on Zebra Dry Plate Tintypes

Adrian Anderson has been using Zebra Dry Plates for quite some time now, and he absolutely loves them. While he plans to use a camera to expose them eventually, the cost of large-format photography has led him to explore an alternative approach: contact printing. This method allows him to produce beautiful positive plates using digital images, and I want to take a moment to appreciate Adrian Anderson’s invaluable contribution to this process. His meticulous research and experimentation have provided a solid foundation for anyone looking to try this technique. Thanks to Adrian’s work,...

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Building-Darkroom-Drying-Cabinet-for-Dry-Plates-build-guide
29 Sep
DARKROOM BUILD, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, Zebra Dry Plates

Building a Darkroom Drying Cabinet for Dry Plates: A Comprehensive Guide

Following my last video, many of the viewers and my followers were interested in knowing more about my Darkroom Drying Cabinet for drying dry plates, so I have decided to put together another video and this blog post to give you a better insight into how the cabinet was built and how it performs after two years of heavy use. At the bottom of this blog, you can also find a detailed list of materials as well as links to the STL files for the 3D-printed parts.

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Sabbatier-effect-Step-by-Step-Tutorial
27 Oct
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, OTHER

Sabattier Effect – Detailed Step by Step Tutorial

In this tutorial I would like to explain and talk about a very interesting darkroom phenomenon that I came across recently and it absolutely stunned me with its beauty. But let's start at the beginning... A few days ago while scrolling through Facebook I was shocked by a direct positive Zebra Dry Plate that was shared by one of my customers. I had to ask him how he did it and he responded that he had no intention of making a positive but it was all just an accident. He told me how he made...

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How to make Silver Gelatine emulsion
28 Apr
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, OTHER

Basic Silver Gelatine Emulsion

Introduction There’s something deeply rewarding about making your own photographic materials by hand. In this tutorial, I’ll take you through the entire process of creating a basic silver gelatin emulsion completely from scratch. Whether you're a curious beginner or a seasoned alternative process enthusiast, this guide will walk you step by step through everything—from the tools and materials you need to the tips and tricks I’ve picked up over years of experimentation. Together, we’ll demystify the process and unlock a piece of photographic history that still has so much to offer.

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Reuse-scrap-dry-plates-large-format-film
24 Apr
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, OTHER

Reuse scrap Dry Plates & Large Format Film

If you shoot analog on a regular basis you know how much film gets wasted due to experimenting, failed exposures and so on. In a very short time you are left with a stack of unusable film. I have the exact same problem with dry plates and because nature already has enough weist on its shoulders I would like to show you how dry plates or even modern film can be recoated and reused. Types of base / support ? Emulsion can be coated on different...

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14 Feb
EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, ON THE FIELD, Uncategorized

Large Format Landscape Photography in Pouring Rain

Two weeks ago I launched commercially available hand coated 4x5 glass dry plates meaning I spent a lot of time in my shipping container darkroom producing, packing and sending them all around the world. It's an incredible honor to be able to bring some history back and produce light sensitive materials that others can make images with. If you would like to try them out they are available in my Store. I really love doing it but I also love to be out in the field and explore the nature. It has been a while since I packed...

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Reverse-developing-dry-plates-to-positive-foma-emulsion
01 Feb
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, OTHER

Reverse Developing Glass Dry Plates To Direct Positive

Introduction After being quite busy in the last few months doing exams and practical work for the acadAfter months of being buried in academy work—exams, practicals, the whole lot—I finally have some breathing room. And you know what that means: time to dive back into the darkroom and explore. One technique I’ve long wanted to revisit is reverse developing dry plates into direct positives—a magical process where the final image appears directly on glass, ready to be admired without printing. My earlier Autochrome research demanded similar...

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Lumiere-History-autochrome
18 Jan
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, OTHER, PRINTING PROCESSES

Unboxing Package full of Lumiere’s legacy

A few days ago an interesting package arrived at my door. It turns out it was sent to me by a very friendly guy from Paris, France who is a collector of old photographic materials. Right around Christmas we have been discussing through messenger about my work with old photographic techniques especially dry plates. At the end of this discussion he told me that he might have something for me and all I have to do is give him my address. All he said was that I will probably have a better use of it than him.

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Kodak-Browni-No.3a-Oak-Panorama
13 Dec
DARKROOM BUILD, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, ON THE FIELD

Getting soaked in a Mystical foggy forest with Kodak Brownie No.3A

The last week after all the snow has melted has been extremely foggy and rainy. I live very close to the forest and enjoying its peacefulness by long walks is part of my daily routine. I admire nature and learn something from it every day. It just amazes me how complex and yet genius it is. Everything is connected and working in complete harmony just like the finest swiss clock. Specially trees are the ones that seem so static and not doing much. But remember nature is extremely dynamic, always on the move!

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