Modern ambrotypes

[robopro]

The scan looks better, trust me! I think it did some auto correcting or something, and it didn't get the edges so you can't see the marks made by the clips holding the negative in the camera. I also think one reason it doesn't show the uneveness of albumen on paper is that it is on glass so there was no 'absorbtion' problems. I also used masking tape to make a shallow 'tray' out of the plate which allowed me to get a more even coating cuz I didn't have to worry about the albumen dripping off the edges, and I used 4 coats instead of the 1 or 2 you would use with paper. I just wish I could get my exposure times down -- at 1 hour this one was actually fast! I hate to think what's going to happen when I increase the focal length on my new camera...

[robopro]

To give you an idea of the variation in quality I'm getting with albumen, here's another one I made last summer printed on Kodak paper. Don't remember the exact exposure time (I need to start taking notes), but you can see it's a lot darker (meaning the negative was lighter) and lower contrast. Also there wasn't a cloud in the sky so the variations you see in the sky are from the albumen. I don't really like this photo so I never made a second print, but if I did I think I'd lighten it up a little.

[htmlguru4242]

Robopro; this is quite interesting, and albumen is something that I've wanted to try; i think that itd be an interesting entry into emulsion making.

Would you mind sharing some of the details on how you make the plates, or point me in the direction of some good information?