Notice:
5/23/2008 - I now also shoot modern digital images...just obtained a nice digital SLR, so for models looking to get some stuff in their portfolio, I offer a little more diversity. Message me if you need portfolio work and maybe we can work something out.
I specialize in Alternative processes, mainly wet-plate collodion photography. The image is hand made from start to finish using a 19th century method that yields results unlike any modern process being used today. You get to see your images develop before your eyes when you shoot with me. I believe that people with an "alternative" style photograph well in this process, and it has a way of capturing the person's personality in the image. I think a person's eyes are the most important part of the shot and I like to utilize a shallow depth of field to bring attention to the eyes.
Take a look at my sample images as well as my website (
http://www.richmondaltphoto.com) to get a better feel for what I can do for you.
***Notice: I will also add that I prefer to do portraits. I also would rather guide the model to their best angle instead of pose them like a puppet. I want my images to be believable, so I prefer to look thru the ground glass of my camera until I see you do something interesting, then we try and capture it on film. The process I use can be brutally honest. If you aren't comfortable with how you look without makeup, then I'm not for you. Makeup can do weird things with this process because of how certain colors are rendered in the finished image. I don't do any Photoshop work to my images except a little color correction and removal of the dust captured when they are scanned, so what you see when I develop the picture is what you get.
Paid projects are very welcome, but I will do TFCD work if it is mutually beneficial. Feel free to message me to discuss any projects that you think I could help you with!
** Some Notes on the Wet-Plate Process:
The Wet-Plate image was the polaroid of its day. The process consists of several steps. First you coat a glass or tin plate with collodion (the photographic emulsion). Next, the plate is made light sensitive in a bath of silver nitrate. The plate is loaded into a film holder and exposed by removing the lens cap (no shutters...long exposures in natural light only!). The film processing must be completed before the emulsion dries. After exposure, the plate is developed in a ferrous sulphate developer and then fixed in potassium cyanide (bad stuff!). The plate is dried over a flame and finally varnished with a lavender oil based varnish (smells nice too!).
The Wet-Plate Collodion image contains the second most elemental silver in the print behind the daguerrotype (a silver plated piece of copper is the film in that process...). Negatives can be made on clear glass that yield prints finer in detail than modern films. This is because the size of the silver particles making the image are smaller than modern films (almost no grain).
Upcoming Shoots:
You can also find me here:
AIM: J0BUE
Yahoo!: J0BOO
http://www.facebook.com/p/Andrew_Richmond/50302799
http://www.myspace.com/richmondaltphoto
