Liam Smith, a photography teacher at a local college, gives a visual guide how to make tintypes.
Writer and photography / Liam Smith
I’ve wanted to have a crack at wet plate photography since I was about 16, there is something that is captured behind the eyes of a tintype portrait that reveals something about a person no other image can. Don’t be put off by the amount of time this takes, it isn’t difficult, it just takes time and patience. This is the first time that I’d ever attempted to create a wet plate photograph so I’ll document failings as well as successes.
To make tintypes you will need:
- Preferably a 5×4 camera, it can be done with 35mm, but the larger plates are easier to work with.
- Laser engraving plate – The type of metal that is used on trophies. Before ordering make sure you have measured your film cartridge properly, I didn’t and went ahead and ordered 150 sheets of 4×5, only to find out they were about 2mm too wide for my film cartridge, hence the necessary hack job coming up. Ordered from ENGRAVAMET, I called and ordered over the phone, the lady I spoke to was delightful.
- Collodion, Silver Nitrate, Wet plate developer, wet plate fixer, varnish – I bought the lot as a kit from wetplatesupplies (which have since gone out of business. Try the suppliers directory instead)
- Silver nitrate bath.
- Apron .
- Rubber gloves – Silver nitrate stains your hands black and takes about a week to come out.
- Studio lights (if shooting indoors)– This process requires a lot of light.
- Developing and fixing trays.
If you’re smarter than I and have properly measured your film holder then you can ignore the next parts. I drilled four holes into the corners of the dividing piece of plastic in the middle of the film cartridge and used a jigsaw to cut it out. This allows the tin plate to fit in snugly and remain light tight. What is important to note is that in doing this you’re moving the focal plane approximately a few millimetres farther back than it would be if shooting with film. If taking portraits, this means that you will need to compensate when focusing the image, moving the focus ever so slightly beyond the point of exact focus to achieve a pin sharp result.
Next you’ll need to prep your working area. Silver nitrate will stain everything, and I mean everything. Make sure your area is clear and if you need to, put down newspaper over your workbench just in case you spill it. Put your gloves and apron on and fill the silver nitrate bath with the silver nitrate and dilute the fixer crystals in water to create your fix bath.
Next we need to pour the collodion onto the engraving plate. This takes practice to get the flow over the plate even, thankfully you can do this step with the lights on. The engraving plate will probably have a piece of plastic film on it, so be sure to remove that first. Start by pouring a good amount ontothe plate and tilt the plate so the liquid flows to the corners. It’s a viscous solution so it wont drop off the edges, the surface tension of the solution keeps it on the plate. Any excess can be run straight back into the bottle
Place your plate into the silver nitrate bath and leave for about five minutes.
After five minutes take the plate out of the silver bath and load into the film cartridge. It should be noted that the plate will now be light-sensitive so be sure to load it into the cartridge under red lights, the following steps are donw with a blank plate for illustration purposes only. Even under a red light you should be able to see the changes in the plate, it will have changed from a black to a creamy colour.
You’re now ready to shoot.
Tintype has an ISO equivalent of 1, thats not a typo, ISO 1/one/uno. So we need a lot of light. I have used two Bowens 400rx heads on full power, these were then placed about three feet away from the subject. The camera was set to 1/60sec at f/5.6. If you’re shooting landscapes you’ll need a lightmeter as well as a device to convert the exposure readings. My light meter will only stop down to ISO 6, so you’ll need to get the books out or use a phone app. Once the exposure has been made its recommended you pour the developer over the plate under red safety lights, tray development is fine. Once you’re happy the developing has finished you’re fine to turn the lights on and transfer to the fixing tray. At this stage the plate will appear a blueish hue, keep the fixer moving over the plate and eventually it will reveal the image.
Not bad for a first attempt. the streaks as far as im aware are a sign of underdevelopment considering the loss of highlight detail on the left side of the face I’d say that this was slightly overexposed. To improve the overall exposure we moved the lights back slightly to around three feet away from the subject and repeated the process.
Liam Smith is an A-Level Photography teacher at Farringtons School in south east London. A lover of all things to do with experimental photography, from tintypes to animated digital glitch art. He is also a wedding photographer, and his business can be found seen here: http://liamsmithphotography.com.
Did you learn something?
We would like YOU to become a Supporting Member to help us keep this learning resource free and accessible to all.
An article takes 1-4 days to write, edit and publish. The research behind the article takes between one day and a lifetime. No one gets paid for this and your contributions and membership are crucial to help with running costs.
Apart from supporting our free learning and inspirational resource, you are also eligible to take part in our members-only events, all for the price of a coffee once a month.
Other ways to support us are buying our books, calendars and journals directly from us, or using our affiliate links to buy books which gives us a tiny percentage. You can also get a t-shirt, card or apron from our Etsy store earning us a small commission.
We really appreciate your support and THANK YOU to the heroes who already support us!
Recommended reading - Books on Wet plate collodion and Ambrotypes
Chemical Pictures The Wet Plate Collodion Book: Making Ambrotypes, Tintypes & Alumitypes
by Quinn B Jacobson
- Buy paperback from Amazon.com
- Buy Kindle from Amazon.com
- Buy paperback from Amazon.co.uk
- Buy Kindle from Amazon.co.uk
Covers everything you need to know about wet-plate collodion photography.
Making the Sliding Box Camera: For Wet Plate Collodion or Daguerreotype Photography
by Ty Guillory
Learn how to construct a camera in wood, dating back to the daguerreotype era.
Making the Traditional Wet Plate Camera: Suitable for Wet Plate Collodion, Dry Plate, or Daguerreotype Photography
by Ty Guillory
From the basics to more advanced techniques on building a historically-correct bellows camera for plate photography.
The Ambrotype: A Practical Guide
by Radosław Brzozowski
Rated 8,0 – based on 6 votes
- Buy directly from the author ($30-34 including shipping)
A step-by-step practical guide to ambrotypes.
The Wet Collodion Plate: 16 Steps To Making The Plates
by Will Dunniway
Rated 9,2 – based on 26 votes
- Will sadly passed away in April 2021 so this book is no longer for sale. His widow very kindly donated the book for everyone to read for free in his memory.
The veteran of collodion demonstrates in easy steps how to make plates.
Previous
Tests in blue – papers for cyanotypes
Next
Diana Bloomfield’s portfolio
3 thoughts on “A visual guide for beginners to making a tintype photograph”
I enjoyed this article, thanks Liam! Maybe one day I’ll try out some wet plate photography.
Considering the author literally says that it’s their first time on the wet plate process I think a little leeway is due, John. Everyone starts somewhere.
As for the tintype “fraud”, I mean really? Adding the asphaltum is a time consuming step in the process and if done incorrectly can ruin your chemicals.Better start easy and take things one step at a time.
Yes, a true authentic Ferrotype Tintype as they were made in the 19th and early 20th century has an asphaltum base coat, two or more that have been baked on. This gives a far superior black to the image as compared to the inferior trophy aluminum plates all the lazy hipsters are using now days. Beyond the aluminum plate tintype fraud I see some really really horrid general wet plate skills going on here.
don’t tintypes typically have an asphaltum base?
