Pinhole and Wet Collodion?

[Dave Wooten]

Kerik,

Are there any publications available pertaining to the safety cautions necessary in working in this process in the classroom environment?

As a former college photography instructor this was the initial lecture and handout which had to be signed and returned by each student before continuing to work in the darkroom even with "traditional" black and white chemistry.

Thanks
Dave in Vegas

[colrehogan]

Most chemical manufacturers can supply you with an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), or you can search at www.msdssearch.com

[Kerik]

Kerik,

Are there any publications available pertaining to the safety cautions necessary in working in this process in the classroom environment?

Hi Dave,

I don't know of anything specific to collodion in print, but I would suggest Googling "MSDS (insert name of chemical)" for any chemical that you're looking for hazard and handling information. (MSDS = Material Safetly Data Sheet). These documents list the physical, chemical and toxicity characteristics of chemicals and provide suggestions for proper handling, personal protective equipment, first aid procedures, etc.

Kerik
www.kerik.com

[Quinn]

Nice pinhole photo!!

My 4x5 homemade pinhole camera has an aperture ratio of f/280 and it takes on average about 15-20 seconds to expose Ilford MGIVRC paper (iso=6) on a sunny 16 day. How does that compare to the speed of wetplates?

Thanks John. This was 4 minutes in bright sun. Collodion's ISO (if you will) is somewhere between .5 and 1 ISO - it all depends on age, mixture, etc.

[Quinn]

Quinn,

Cool! What is the f/stop of your pinplate camera? Also, I'd be interested to hear about your techniques for keeping the plate from drying too quickly. Love your work, BTW!!

Kerik

Hi Kerik,

Thanks for your kind words concerning my work.

F/STOP: I'm making an educated guess here: f/256 - f/384 - could be wider. My intial tests were at 15 mins and turned out to be good negative exposures - the Ambrotype exposures were between 4 - 6 mins. This is all in BRIGHT SUNNY weather.

KEEP THE PLATE WET: I wrap the back in a wet, cold cloth (insulating/almost freezing it), I keep the plate FLAT, collodion side up and I DO NOT wipe excess silver from the plate when pulling from the bath. Using all of these methods, I can go (easily) 15 minutes in the winter/cool weather.

[Kerik]

KEEP THE PLATE WET: I wrap the back in a wet, cold cloth (insulating/almost freezing it), I keep the plate FLAT, collodion side up and I DO NOT wipe excess silver from the plate when pulling from the bath. Using all of these methods, I can go (easily) 15 minutes in the winter/cool weather.

Quinn,

Thanks for the info!

Kerik
www.kerik.com