Good intentions, and all that
Saturday there were a few car shows around. I decided to head to the nearest one because I wasn’t really feeling it. It was cold, threatening rain, and I didn’t want to spend all day driving. Still, I wanted to take the tintype kit out and try shooting plates at a show for the first time.
When I got there, there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. I figured the weather would keep people home, but I expected a slightly better turnout.
I grabbed my digital camera and walked around for a bit. Nothing really stood out, so I didn’t take any photos. Not long after, it started to rain, with a little snow and sleet mixed in. I headed back to the car to get out of the cold and think about what to do next. A few more cars left while I was sitting there.
I ended up leaving to grab lunch and wander around. I came back a couple hours later, but not many new cars had shown up. I headed home without taking any photos or shooting any tintypes.
Sunday looked more promising. A little warmer, some sun early on, with weather rolling in later. There was another show not too far away, so I figured I’d give it another shot.
I loaded up the tintype kit and grabbed a Kodak Brownie No. 3 box camera to shoot with. I’ve used Brownies for tintypes before, just not this one. They’re simple cameras, so I figured it wouldn’t be much different.
This show was a completely different story. Cars were packed in, and there was a solid crowd. Unfortunately, spectator parking was across a busy street. It turned into a bit of a hassle going back and forth.
Getting clean shots of individual cars wasn’t really going to happen.
I walked the show with my digital camera first. I got a few shots, plus a bunch of details. Emblems, logos, interiors, that kind of thing. I went back and forth on whether I even wanted to set up the tintype gear. Eventually I figured I could at least get a few plates and see how the workflow felt in this kind of setting.
My test plate came out beautifully. Honestly, one of the best tintypes I’ve made so far. It was just a shot of the back of my daily driver, nothing I planned to keep, so I wiped the plate and moved on.
I got set up for a real shot and headed back toward the show.
On my first trip over, the light had shifted slightly. More overcast. I compensated by adding about 10 seconds to the exposure.
Back across the road, develop the plate. Blank.
I checked the camera. Everything seemed to be working fine. The exposure should have been long enough, but clearly it wasn’t.
Pour another plate, cross traffic again, find a car in a better-lit spot, and add even more time.
Blank again.
At that point it was around 3:30, and the show was wrapping up at 4:00. I packed everything up and headed home.
I’ve got the digital photos to edit and some video to put together. I’ll probably get into that tomorrow.