Craft Tintypes

Since we just tried our hands at tintypes and ambrotypes last Sunday for Craft, I thought I'd spend some time looking at more of them. I kind of stole this idea when I saw Emily's blog, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to blog about this week so she gave me some direction. I have to admire John Coffer for doing what he does. I think the tintype process would be pretty much lost without him. Yes we might have some surviving images and have a basic idea of how they work, but I think it's great that he is still working with this process and keeping it current-in his imagery anyway. He follows everything from how it was back in the day, everything is old-school and more authentic. He definitely is dedicated to his technique and work and seems to enjoy it and his way of life so he deserves credit for that. Especially after trying it myself, he seems like a pro. You really have to get the hang of the process and have patience when coating your plate with collodion. It's a much more intensive process than film printing. I was happy to get one semi-ok tintype; it's a bit dark and grainy, but I like the old-time feeling to a recent photo. It seems almost other worldly. I also tried to make an ambrotype on glass, and coating with collodion was much easier on the glass but I needed a slightly different exposure time, possibly a few seconds less to better see the image, but by this time I was at the frustrated stage. It was still a good experience though and I'm glad I did it so I can be one of the few in the group that has made images like this. So onto the tintypes that actually work and look good:

John Coffer Random ones on google:

This site has all kinds of photos: dagurreotypes, ambrotypes and cases. They're for sale, but still give an idea of the feeling of these types of images.