VIDEO: Ambrotypes at Elk Island Nationsl Park

Went to Elk Iland today to make Ambrotypes. I arrived a bit late 215pm and started shooting at 315pm. I made pics till about 7pm.

Broke the first 2 plates but it went well after that.

Note* I used the AC for the first time but it only ran for 2 hours 20 minutes. It dropped the temp in the trailer from the 27s Celsius to the 24s Celsius. It did not seem like much but it helped quite a bit. The short Jackery timeline is an issue. I have 2 units of the same size but tff gd at only gets me to 5 hours or so and then both batteries are dry.

Note** I also used honey  u for the first time in the field. It worked well but I think I need to make more mixed in the bottle before pouring, then do a better job spreading it on the plates to avoid drying.

Backup Camera

Added a new tool to the rv-darkroom trailer driving combo. A wifi-solar backup camera. Not sure how I lived without it the last 5 years. A must have type thing. Backing up becomes way easier. You have the peace of mind that you’re not going to hit anyone or anything!

The 7 inch monitor sits in the dash hooked up to 12v cigarette lighter, with a on/off button. The camera is 47 feet back on the bottom of the trailer. The camera is held on with a magnet, the wifi signal works well, even over 47 feet!

Driving became easier and backing up way easier!!

It was Fun to be Back on the Road Again

It’s so much fun to be back on the road again with the motorhome FANNY and the darkroom trailer FREDDY.

So many people in the world do not have this opportunity I think back to the families in the Mae Sot dump or to the people living under the freeway in Khlong Toei slum. They will never have the opportunity to camp in nature like I am. Never have the chance to make art in the wild. Never had a chance to see the animals and wonders outside cities and garbage dumps.

Yet I can, for me it is normal. People in 1st world countries rarely understand how fortunate they are.

Note* Diesel was $1.60 CAD a litre. 

Gull Lake, Alberta

VIDEO: Rain?? No Problem!!

 

Cleaning Glass In Nature

Glass plate cleaning is tedious at the best of times but doing it in nature helps!

Cutting First Free Farm Glass

Cutting the first of my FREE farm glass. I will make ambrotypes of Gull Lake tomorrow on them. 

Cut it to 11x14 inch, 14x14 inch and then cut the scraps to 4x5 and 5x7 inch, not much wasted!

Somehow it seems more pure, more rewarding to rescue material like this and then create art on it! I also like it as a tribute to the old farmer who saved it all these years. It would be so cool to go from his barn to a major Canadian Gallery!

“Ain’t Photography Grand!’”

Claude Monet Influence

I picked up this thrift store book today for $4. I love one image (detail) near the back of this thin volume. I keep thinking wha it may look like as a Ambrotype. I do that often with JMW Turner paintings, now it is starting with later Monets.

Snow Storm, or Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth, is a painting by English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner from 1842.

A Ton of FREE GLASS, Got to Love It!, $5000 CAD?

I counted up some of the FREE glass I got today. There are about

4 large sheets of 3mm

14-15 large sheets of 4mm

and a dozen so smaller sheets of 3 and 4 mm.

Most of this glass (unscratched),  I can use to make  Ambrotypes on, Glass up to 24x24 inches. With the 4mm thick glass I will have to take the back of the holders to prevent light leaks.

There is also some textured glass in various sizes that is not as useful but that I can probably cut down and paint, to use as background substrates for framed works.

I am unsure how much this glass is worth new but my guess is $4000-$5000 CAD. The glass is far from new, muddy, scratched and some broken but still a wonderful find for the AMBROTOS KANATA project.

 I had some positive Karma today!

Thank you Elizabeth and Keith!! 

 

I hope I can turn some of your fathers glass into works of art, worthy of collecting. Something that can be shown in a museum 1 hundred years after we are all gone.

In the barn

On the truck

Got My FREE Glass

Got my FREE GLASS!! 4-5mm thick, many very large sheets, small sheets. A variety of other glass as well. Will use it for the AMBROTOS KANATA Ambrotype  project. 

Thank you Elizabeth and Keith!!

The FREE glass locked, wrapped in carpets, locked down on the back of "THE BEAST" 1 Ton

Free Stuff

I have taken to getting FREE stuff Facebook marketplace. Picked up 2 large metal shelves for the carpentry room and a slightly abused picnic table last week. 

Going to get a bunch of glass tomorrow for the Ambrotype project. All FREE. If undamaged will use it for plates if scratched will use it as a blackened substrate to place behind the Ambrotypes when framed.

FREE picnic table, before and after a repair and 1 coat of grey paint

The 2 FREE metal shelves, added to the carpentry room

FREE glass I will pick up tomorrow

Nice Used Find

Got a lightweight, smaller, aluminum folding scaffold today. Delivered to the house, cost was $75 CAD. A lot more expensive, new online ($366).

Bought it for work around the house (painting etc.) but I might be able to incorporate it into the AMBROTOS KANATA project as well. Camera support? A raised sitting position? Inside a tent as a shelf? Not sure just yet how I will use it but the light wait and functionality gives me options.

VIDEO: AC Unit, Setup and Working!!

I have the 12v AC unit setup and working, connected to the Jackery power supply.

I am hoping it will provide a consistently cooler workspaces allowing for both myself and all the wet plate chemistry to keep working consistently well. 

Temperature is such an important part of the process. Let’s hope this works. The AC unit is a $500+ gamble.

Note* I did a test run and I  think I can get about 4 hours of cold air out of the unit at the coldest setting. 

Note** I have 2 Jackery 1000w units.

Note** I can recharge the Jackery a number of ways. Via 110 power, 12v power or through 2 solar panels.

Scrap Wood Cabinet!!

Made up a scrap wood cabinet today. Not the nicest looking thing, a bit crooked but it should serve its purpose well and it is strong n sturdy.

The plan after painting is complete it to place it at the front of the darkroom trailer under the counter top. It will hold my new 12v AC unit along with the Jackery 1000 watt power supply.

I did a test run and I  think I can get about 4 hours of cold air out of the unit at the coldest setting. 

Note* I have 2 Jackery 1000w units.

VIDEO: First 11x14 Selfie

Here is a video of the 11x14 selfie I did a few days back. I have grown to like it. Will continue to work along these lines.

Working Out My Ambrotype Portraits

So much wet plate photography done in the modern era is just plain bad. The photographers get so filled up with the process and the techniques that they forget to make good photographs, especially in portraiture. There are so many bad, boring, mundane portraits made by wet plate photographers , that it becomes a painful just to look at them all!

I want to create unique Ambrotype portraiture. How to do that? How can they be more than a fancy old process? How to create work that speaks to s different level of thought and awareness. Something that reaches past the humdrum and ordinary? 

It will be very difficult to do something unique. It is doubtful I can do chase down my pretentious hopes and do more, but I can at least try make the imagery more thoughtful and visually unique. Then from that point, maybe something deeper can eventuality be attained, with lots of hard work and the right sitters.

First attempts, will try more tomorrow.

11x14 inch Selfie, May 27th 2026, age 63

 

A New/Old Safelight

Found an old safelight in my old gaaragee. There were two like this in the box. I had bought them years back, but never used them. Now I am! One for the traiiler darkroom, one for the house darkroom. Its strange how these things you bought and forgotten in the past become important in the present.

attached security with 2 screws to the wall. I need to attach the red dome better.

Best of the Day

 

I will continue to work on my portraiture, this is the best of thee day. Out of focus but has a feel to it. I might have to bring in a flash at some point. Trying to manage things in available light, working with different lens now, trying to figure out what works best.

11x14 Selfy

Back to Wet Plate

Setup making my first Ambrotypes in over 1 years time. It is all coming back to me! Trying to do 11x14 self portraits in available light.

 

Trying to get the portrait look I see in my minds eye. I have not done much wet plat portraiture. Got to get good at this, got to be able to do STRONG ambrotype portrait work!!!!!

 

My portable AC unit has not arrived yet. 27.5c inside the trailer.