24th Birthday

     The fixer box was a complete success and is leak proof.... one issue though... do not have enough silver bath to fill it. Such a lame mistake to make, but that is OK. On my birthday I did get to photograph my sister for her Vintage Valentine's Day portrait. Her and I always have so much fun dressing up and working on creative projects. She recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz and has her bachelors in Art History, and she works at the MAH in SC.

Through the ground glass. Love this picture of my sister!

Make-up shot. She is wearing my wig and her lipstick is Cyber by MAC. Foundation Christian Dior Forever and Clinique gel black liner.

Color photo of the make-up and wig

Here I am holding the first plate of the day. It is my second favorite from the shoot, but to modern for what I had in mind. Totally love the look in Rachael, reminds me of when we were itty bitty kids.

 There is my new camera being used with the 4x5 reducing back and my chemicals set to the left. Used my trooper to give us some privacy because we were shooting in my drive way.

Hands down my favorite plate of the day. Describes everything I was going for. Elegant, timeless, and just a lovely portraits of my sister to show to all her friends and one day her kids.

  
Screen shot of my screen editing the images of Rachael. I am so behind on my editing, but things keep coming up. For these images I plan to try something that was discussed by Mark Osterman on the Wet Plate Collodion facebook page... burnishing and using finely ground pastels to apply color before varnishing. Lets say burnishing...from what I have experienced.... is awesome. I tried it tonight using my finger and cotton balls and it made a huge difference. I was trying to scan the plates and use my cellphone camera to capture the metallic effect and it just is not working right. What I am holding in front of me does not compare to what is showing on the screen. Burnishing is something I plan to continue experimenting with. I am no pro, but the effects I got with just trying it a few moments ago was really beautiful.