Silver Plated Studio

One of my practice shots of from last year before the expo. Had a snafu with the collodion pour, but his eyes turned out super cool. I'm so sad I'll be missing this year's expos. We spent so much time and money fixing issues, getting better equipment, learning as much as possible, only to get knocked back down because of things we couldn't control. This is something I love and I know I'll be back, it's just discouraging when I can't dive in deep.

Silver Plated Studios is in a short hiatus right now due to some bad chemical issues. Our chemicals that we received were not working well with our equipment and apparently the weather in Texas. 🙄 In the art of chemical mixing, we're still rather new, so we're working with some veteran photographers and professionals to get everything we need worked out before we can move on with any shoots. I am so frustrated and bummed right now to be putting some people off. We WILL be back and better than ever, but it's going to take some time. Lord, give me patience. 🥺

One of the Spirit photos we were able to pull off at the expo even with all the technical difficulties. I did have to do a little editing for the digital as we learned when the "ghost" is closer to the light, they need to spend less time in front of the camera. Also, if the "ghost" is wearing light colored clothes, put up a dark background for more whispyness. 😆

This is a woman I did not want to disappoint! She told us when she showed up at our booth that she had been looking for us since she heard we were going to be there and had planned her clothes for textures that would look better with wet-plate, and of course she had my haircut! Part of me, the not-so-confident side, likes it better when people aren't expecting much from me. I can much easier blow them away or pleasantly surprise them, but rarely do I disappoint them when they don't already have high hopes. 😆 THEN I find out that she doesn't even take selfies that often! And she trusted me with her portrait! I seriously found it an an honor to be able to have her sitting for me. I hope I get to have her in my booth again when it's not so hectic. I have so many ideas I could try with her. 😊 We decided to try for "a little moody" and of course, Ralph had to get in on the action.
Model: Courtney Lindenthal

Some great shots of a fellow vendor, from this past weekend at the Expo. Unfortunately, their first plate got scratched due to a mishap between a hot oven and a certain assistant that will remain nameless... *Cough* "Reilly" *cough, cough!* He felt super bad, but she and her husband were so awesome about it and took time out of their busy day to sit for us again. It's not easy, guys! The lights are super bright and right in your face, and the least amount of movement for at least 20 seconds in that atmosphere is ideal. That means, "Try not to blink or breathe!"
Check out her instagram page and follow!

It's done! My first Expo is in the books! Dallas was so awesome! Of course, being the first one we've attended, we learned a LOT about what to do differently. Chemical issues because of temperature... one of our static lights quitting in the middle of a shoot... not enough room because the boss underestimated how much room three people take up... and more. However, we had very sweet and patient clients sit for us, got some amazing plates, and still had a ton of fun. We're exhausted, and even after two days, we're still recuperating, but we're definitely doing it again! My only regret is that I didn't have time to look at a lot of the other booths. Hopefully I get to meet some more of my fellow vendors next time!
This self portrait was made with two homemade static lights in a clamshell setup and exposed for 12 seconds on my Toyo large format camera.

Before Covid, we would try to get together with friends every Friday night for game night. This particular game night we decided to do wet plate photography with Mike's wet-plate camera, Big Bertha.

This particular type of wet-plate is called an ambrotype. It is a treated piece of glass that turns into a negative once processed. In order to see the picture, you must place it on a piece of black velvet or paint the back a dark color.

Model, actor, and strange personality: Kelley Garland - long-time friend of Mike's.

My one and only and the reason I will never be skinny again. This kid's definitely changed a lot from the first wet-plate to now. The first time he sat for us, he had a Doctor Who t-shirt on that said "Work your adipose off". It bothered him so much, he wanted to take it again but in "period" clothing. Period clothing is not a requirement, but if it makes a 10-year-old happy, who am I to disagree? Now he's 13, and is working hard to get the "smolder" down.
Model: Elijah Martin

This is the type of photographer that I esteem to be in wet-plate. I could look at this photo for hours. The subject: Epic. The photographer: GENIUS.

Texas has been blessed with a number of gifted local/community photographers over the years. Traces of Texas reader Deanna Hines graciously sent in a whole passel of photos taken by her great uncle, the celebrated Basil Clemons of Breckenridge, Texas, whose work I have highlighted here. This is one of the many glorious portraits that he took and features one Uncle Tom Harris. I'll bet this man saw some things and could tell you some stories.

As I've mentioned in the past, you can see a bunch of Basil Clemons' photos in this amazing collection: https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery/collections/basil-clemons-photograph-collection

Thank you, Deanna. What an amazing photographer your great uncle was!

The oldest boy, Reilly, with his first wet-plate that I helped Mike with and then his headshots from the beginning of the year that he let me practice on him. I still do my other Photography and REALLY hope my Real Estate Photography gets off the ground, but portraits will always be my first love.
Model: Reilly Willingham .in.financial.trouble

When you're learning something new, of course you use your family. 😁 I've been doing Photography officially for 11 years now since my first Senior Portrait shoot in 2009. I shot a lot of family back then as well. The next few posts are of the Michael and my kids when we first started shooting wet-plate Photography and then when I was practicing headshots at the beginning of the year before the lock-down. Quite a bit of change in just a few years! Why do they grow so fast?? 🥺 We're missing the eldest as she's an old married woman and lives in another state from us. 😉 This beauty is our youngest girl, Brooke.

Test shots of My Mike while learning my camera. The third photo, I had staring at me from my desk because that's the look he gives me when I'm not getting my work done. 😆