I had another go at portraiture yesterday afternoon--family friends, a mother and son, kindly agreed to sit for me. We made six plates altogether, with varying degrees of success. I used the 4/9 waterhouse stop again because I was really curious about whether some of the issues I'd had with the previous portrait session would reoccur. It was a late afternoon shoot, between 4:30 and 6:30 pm, outside in open shade. In the previous session, my camera was facing east, but in this one, it was facing west. I again used the Steinheil Gruppen Antiplanet lens.
The first plate, of the pair seated, was overexposed and not framed well at all. The second plate, as you can see, is still overexposed. The extreme variation in the subjects' clothing made for a bit of a challenge.
5x7 alumitype 8/8/2015
We did a couple of individual portraits next. While the woman's portrait is still very much overexposed at 8 seconds, I rather like the silvery, almost ephemeral quality of it. I think that having a darker background would have helped a great deal.
5x7 alumitype 8/8/2015
The son's portrait was the most successful plate of the session. As the light was starting to go, I exposed this one for 9 seconds. Had a funky developer pour (I use a tray), which accounts for the weird swirls, and it seems like parts of his face are slightly out of focus, but I am really pleased with this plate.
5x7 alumitype 8/8/2015
For the fifth plate, we tried again for a group portrait, exposed for 9 seconds. Unfortunately, I jostled the camera after setting up the shot, so the framing shifted, but you know, the contrast is pretty darn nice as is the focus. I wasn't happy with the framing, so we tried again--but this plate is actually starting to grow on me.
5x7 alumitype 8/8/2015
I exposed the last plate for 10 seconds. The framing was much better and the contrast is good, but the focus isn't as clear. And somehow, I scratched the emulsion on the man's face!
5x7 alumitype 8/8/2015
The session definitely had its challenges. While the late afternoon light wasn't horrible, I think it would better to do portraits in late morning or at least earlier in the afternoon. The images didn't have quite the contrast of the previous session, and this could be a function of both the lateness of the session and direction of the light. I'm pretty sure my aged collodion is a big factor as well. I'm continuing to work on posing and framing subjects and it's clear I need additional backgrounds and/or another frame to support them. For example, in this session, sliding a darker curtain behind the woman would have helped immensely. Live and learn!