I Tried Victorian Photography with a TOY Camera! (Wet Plate Photography with a Holga 120N)

I love that Morgan is the chaos goblin in Abby's head

Morgan may not have got her explosions, but dang Abby! This was so freaking fun and cool to watch!

Clearly you once you've really got wet-plate photography down, you'll need to do a series of photos of all your costuming buddies all dressed up for their old-timey portrait.

I have a great deal more respect for those Victorian photographers who traveled around with explosive chemicals in horse-drawn wagons on bumpy roads to immortalize people in the past. Wow! I honestly thought tintypes were a lost art. Look forward to what else you create, Abby.

I love that Morgan's been embracing her inner chaos gremlin in the last few years

Abby: "I should put my safety goggles on." Also Abby: proceeds to not put safety goggles on...😬

The lab teacher in me winces whenever I see anyone playing with chemicals without starting with proper PPE or at least the appropriate MSDS around. Please be careful! However... Those came out really cool! 😊👏

I did a bit of darkroom developing in school and in college and something about the red light and the smell and the almost velvety closeness makes the process feel so tactile and provokes a more intimate connection between you and your work. Plus it's cool as fuck.

If I remember correctly you’ve mentioned having ADHD, and as someone who also has it, I found it really touching hearing you talk about your reasons for wanting to figure out the process on your own and the joy and pride you feel in having accomplished your goal, so I maybe have a sense of what a big deal it is for you. Big cheers for you!!

“I don’t need those nose hairs. It’s fine.” - That one pissed off yet pragmatic chemistry lab assistant.

Morgan wasn't even in the video and she added to it. I love this.

As a genealogist and a retired photo-journalist, Abby, I applaud you for jumping into something daunting as that. For a first try at it, you did good. I have a tin type of my cousin's wedding in 1874. You're right though, today's digital phone cameras take great photos, but I think film cameras are still a viable art from! Keep learning new things and you will never be bored. Thanks for keeping us entertained.❤

Morgan is really into explosives? She really has the particular predisposition for pyrotechnics. Good for her, not your house. Or garden. And also dogs. And maybe neighbours. #MorganaLaFire

Very cool! One tip from someone that spend hours in the darkroom with my photographer mother - tip the developer and the fixer back and forth over the image - so rock the tray a little bit and when you move from the developer to the fixer, make sure you aren't touching the image, just the sides and slide the image into the both. You also need a tray of water to put the tin in to rinse rather than using the sink. I think your pics turned out amazing for the first time doing this!

... that timer sound is from Disney's animated Robin Hood. I think.

YES TO MORE WETPLATE ADVENTURES (please) 🙌! I'm an amateur film photographer with a soft spot for really old film cameras + I've always been fascinated by really oldschool techniques (daguerreotype, tintype, etc). But giving it a try somehow always seemed a bit daunting — especially since i don't own a large format camera and never thought that DIY wetplates could be used in medium format cameras. So seeing you tackle this project was super exciting for me and I can't wait to see more content like this in the future! :) Edit: Random idea — have you considered upgrading to a more modern large format camera for your future wetplate experiments? Like an 4x5 Graflex or something similar? They were widely used by press photographers up until the 1960s, I believe, so they're fairly affordable and easy to come by! That way you could get those huge negatives/positives (and the experience of lugging around a massive camera) without having to splurge on a victorian camera straight away. Idk if this would actually work (although i don't see why it wouldn't) so you'd have to do some research, but I figured I'd suggest it anyway.

This really makes me miss all the hours I spent in the darkroom while taking a black-and-white film photography class in college. It was so meditative and ritualistic, the timing of the exposure, and the developer, and the rinse, and the drying. The different effects you could get by physically manipulating objects in the dark room, burning and dodging and changing the focus and dual exposure. I loved it so much, and I wish I had space to dedicate to doing it now.

Morgan holding dynamite while telling us to subscribe is so Morgan

That was really fun to see! Although, I was nervous for your safety when you were handling the chemicals without a mask or goggles ... Also, if you want to continue with Victorian wet plate photography, you might be interested in a collab with another costumer on YouTube who is also a trained photographer, and I believe also has experience in wet plate photography. Her name is Victoria and her channel is called Vtor Hunter. I think a costumed collodion photography session with her would make for a good video for both your channel and hers!

You need to find out where Bernadette got her green sciencey safety glassess....