We had a house fire early Monday morning. Still assessing the damage but my home is uninhabitable. We were able to rescue the cats, some of our clothes and thats about it. We have secured an apartment and will be moving in sometime Monday. No internet until next Friday at the earliest so my phone w…
First, a big thank you to everyone who showed up to my panel on Saturday. Anthrocon, as usual, was if not anything else, entertaining. Rolled into Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon, endured the line that never seemed to move at preregistration. I got up early on Friday to get my wet plate gear set up a…
I'm hosting a panel Introduction to Wet Plate Photography 9am to 10am Saturday July 1. Anthrocon programming has accepted my Wet Plate panel again this year. Only one slight draw back, they have me in the Westin Fayette room. Now, I don't mind a little air conditioning but I'm assuming that there i…
I'm hosting a panel on Tin Types at AC this year. It's Saturday, July 2 9:00am - 10:00am. So if you're interested and you can shake off your hangover I'd be glad see you there. A companion outline for the panel is available on my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4arJ6EA3nSjQ1N…
This Friday and Saturday I will be doing tintypes at FurTheMore. You can check my gallery for examples. I'll be posting on my twitter feed (@velantianqx) with info on exactly where and when I am shooting. There is no charge, but, if it's a really great plate, I keep it and I may have you sign a mod…
Gertrude Käsebier: Portraits of Native Americans who performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West -1898 https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/03/30/portraits-native-americans-performed-buffalo-bills-wild-west-1898/ Looks like some great examples of early dry plate.
... before the kindle, before the nook, even before e-ink there was the ETI2. I'm in a bout of cleanup and tossing, something best done when there is nothing else to do. In one of my boxes was an old e-book reader. A Gemstar ETI2. This was one of the early e-book readers. Weight - 18 ounces (0.51 k…
"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." Milestone birthdays, some you dread, some you don't and some are well, very personal. My fathers side of the family has been in this country a long time. Like salmon they left home when…
If you are in or near Frederick, MD tomorrow you must stop for the Clustered Spires High Wheel race. http://www.highwheelrace.com It really is the only bicycle race of it's kind anywhere. The winner is determined by how many laps they complete on a times course. The cycles range from vintage to new…
Anthrocon always kicks my butt. Many more bad plates than good ones, sorry about that. In my defense i'm still learning, and this is practice. I think I need to run a couple hundred more plates before I can really start getting the results I want. This year my goal was to get brighter plates, that…
How much does it cost? You? Nothing, other than your time. This is part of an ongoing personal project. If I really like the plate I’m keeping it, (that’s the -ish part) otherwise it’s yours. If I decide to keep a plate I will offer you the chance to have a second plate taken if you and I have the…
Well, another FurTheMore come and gone. The new venue made a difference. There was more space but it was more of an indoor con this year. Good thing too because it was hot and muggy all weekend. I had major problems with my chemistry so the wet plates were pretty bad. Well, awful actually. I had a…
I'll be setting up my portable darkroom and shooting in front of the Sheraton tomorrow from around 10am to 1 pm and planning on Saturday from 11 until 2. This is part of my on going tintype furry project. So if you're at FurTheMore and have the time stop by.
I plan to try some more wet plate photography at FurTheMore this weekend. I've never been to the new venue in Tysons so I have no idea of where I will be setting up. I will be shooting Friday and Saturday afternoon. I'll post here and on FA when I find a good spot. Looking forward to the con and ho…
I am looking for a used wheelchair for a project. I just need the large wheels and maybe the frame. So if you're anywhere near the mid Maryland area and have an old wheelchair you want to sell cheap let me know. Thanks
As most of you know, this thing of ours is not new. The Japan Society in New York is curating an exhibit The Life of Cats featuring 120 prints from the Hiraki Ukiyo-E collection. The prints from the Edo Period Japan will be on display until 6/7/15. Catalog and preview is on line: http://www.japanso…
I just confirmed that I will be able to get time off for Fur The More this year. I don't know the venue so I'm not sure if there is an appropriate place to do any wet plate but I'm going to lug my gear out there anyway. So it's time for a spring tune up. I'd like to try a photo shoot sometime in ea…
Juliia Cameron was an amateur photographer in the truest sense of the word. The body of work she produced in the 1860's and 70's helped shape what we think of as photography today. Many of her images have an iconic property that is still relevant 150 years later. The Getty has released a free catal…
A new book is about to released: http://feralhouse.com/american-grotesque/ Finally, a retrospective of the work of William Mortensen. Mortensen was arguably the last and greatest artist of the pictorialist movement in photography. Ansel Adams called him ‘the antichrist’. I ran across Mortensen’s ph…
Zippy has announced this years Mummers Parade! See details: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6106236/ Last year's was a good time. Be prepared to walk though, the route is rather long but the crowd is amazing. If you've always wanted to be in a parade, this is a good one, hope to see you there! C…
I had a blast. I didn't get to mingle or enjoy much of the con up to now but I had two great days shooting wet plate. I shot over twenty plates on Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow I'll be giving them a final wash and varnishing. I hope to get them all scanned before I have to get back to the real worl…
My Wetplate gear is set up on the balcony of the convention center. Right near Con Ops. Stop by and say hello.
Committed to going to AC this year to do some wet plate. I had been in contact with one of the AC staff about getting a spot on one of the balconies but I have not heard back. I sent an additional follow up e-mail a couple of weeks ago but I have not received an answer (I know those guys are really…
Well, another busy FurTheMore. Committed much photography and hung with and met many awesome people. I'll be posting more photos as I sort through the digital dross for a few more quality shots. I'll be posting the plates as I scan them. Thanks to everyone who was patient enough with me to sit for…
All of my chemistry has arrived. Some time next week mixing the collodion and salting will begin. I was considering building a dark box but once I used Garrett’s tent all ideas for a dark box disappeared. I ended up ordering a Quickfish ice fishing tent to use as a portable darkroom. Constructing t…
Just confirmed my room for the con. I will be there Friday, Saturday and most of the day on Sunday. If the weather is good and I can get my kit finished I would like to try some tintypes this year. I will be shooting large format again in any case. If you want to 'sit' for a portrait at FurtheMore…
I updated the first file to a better scan so you may want to refresh 'Hey Snake' to get a better view. The workshop this weekend was a good time and I got a couple of good plates. I'm going to varnish them today. Just not enough time this weekend.
I just got a seat at a collodion workshop with one of my favorite wet plate artists. Mark Sawyer I've been gearing up for wet plate for a year or so. I had intended to try to go it on my own but there is so much technique involved. When I saw that Garret Allen and Mark Sawyer were holding a joint w…
Our home is an old, 1850's old, house. It's also small. The basement is a dirt basement, root cellar really. The ceiling is too low to stand up straight, and did I mention that it's been wet down there for years? Well, this summer we did some work to improve the drainage around the house. The basem…
It's so strange, I am thirty years older than I ever expected to be.
... And I'm still here :) I never ran much with the cool kids.
We had a great time at Zippy Coyote's birthday bowl at Seven Ten. It was a small group, but a great time. My only regret was that my wife and I were not able to join Zippy and Wanda back at the house for cupcakes afterward. Of course my bowling is crap, but at least I broke 100 a couple times.
Nice article over at The Atlantic Krampus: Saint Nicholas' Dark Companion. And yet another event I will have to add to the bucket list.
If I can, I'd like to drum up some interest in a photo shoot for suiters some time in the next six weeks or so. I'd like to shoot large format and in the Victorian and Edwardian style (http://www.rogerco.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk). I'm currently scouting an indoor location in the Frederick, MD area. I h…
As far as I am concerned Baltimore's first con was a success. This was my first furcon so I don't have any reference for comparison but there was no overt drama and everyone I met seemed to have fun. I drank too much, stayed up way too late and met more people than I can put names and faces to. I s…
I'm in the midst of a project to create portraits of fur suiters in the style of Cabinet Cards. I will be shooting at Fur The 'More in Baltimore in April. So if you're going to the con stop by and say Hello.
