I did a Studio Q Show LIVE! video on this process in October of 2021. If you’re interested, you can watch it here. He published his book in 1866. This process never really caught on because of the time of exposure, the length of development, and a lot of “extra” preparation. After all, you had the wet collodion negative process available.
This is Mudd’s recipe and methodology. I’m adjusting it a bit for my own purpose/reasons, but the heart of the process remains the same. Why am I bothering with this dry plate process? I have to get access to places I will not be able to drive or pack a dark box into. In fact, most of the areas that I want to make plates in will require dry plates. Moreover, this is supposed to be “the king” of negative making. You get the sharpest, cleanest, and most printable negatives of all of the processes. We’ll see if that holds true here. I want to test making negatives and then adjusting exposure and development for Platinum Palladium prints. I suspect the POP (printing out) version will be what I end up using. Although, the DOP (develop out - KOx) process is beautiful. The Platinum Palladium printing process is a perfect match for collodion negatives, wet or dry.
This is all in service of my next project. Places and objects that once were sacred and special to the Ute Indian. They were the first tribe here (in Colorado) and have a long history (thousands of years) in this area, the Tava (Shining Mountain) (Pike’s Peak) region. In fact, the Ute believe they were created in the Garden of the Gods. I will do a series of plates in that place soon.
CHEMISTRY
Collodion
130 ml Ether
130 ml Alcohol
2.5 g Cadmium Iodide
2.5 g Ammonium Iodide
2 g Cadmium Bromide
240 ml Plain U.S.P. Collodion (4%)
Potassium Iodide Bath (KI)
1000 ml DH2O
2 g Potassium Iodide (KI)
Iodized Albumen
280 ml Albumen (Egg Whites) - about 10 large, fresh eggs
70 ml DH2O
3.2 g Potassium Iodide
.65 g Potassium Bromide
7.4 ml Ammonium
Silver Bath (regular for wet plate)
1000 ml DH2O
80 g AgNO3
Aceto-Nitrate Bath (for albumenized plates)
1000 ml DH2O
65 g AgNO3
62 ml Glacial Acetic Acid
Developer(s)
1000 ml DH2O
4.4 g Pyrogallic Acid
1 g Citric Acid
Developer Citric Acid
500 ml DH2O
9 g Citric Acid
Developer Silver Nitrate
500 ml DH2O
33 g AgNO3
Dry Pyrogallic Acid
1 g Pyrogallic Acid (dry - mix with DH2O right before use)
Fix
500 ml DH2O
100 g Sodium Thiosulfate
THE STEPS TO PREPARE A PLATE
Clean the plate - you can also flow diluted iodized albumen on the plate to prevent blisters - after cleaning.
Collodionize the plate - this is the regular negative collodion - Mudd suggests using an iodide only collodion, I’m using a tiny bit of CdBr in mine.
Sensitize the plate - this is done for 2 - 5 minutes in a regular 6% - 8% AgNO3 bath.
Wash the plate (DH2O) - it’s important to wash the “free silver” from the plate.
Place the plate in a bath of potassium iodide (KI) for 10 seconds.
Albumenize (iodized) the plate - after the wash do this step while the plate is wet. Do it at least twice - flowing the iodized albumen over the plate to break the DH2O surface and get the albumen on the plate.
Dry the Plate - I recommend letting them stand and dry. No heat or no hair dryers. Give them a few hours or a day. They will store forever in this condition and are NOT sensitive to light.
Sensitize the plate (aceto-nitrate bath) - 1 minute - this is a highly acetic bath, be sure to evenly and quickly submerge the plate into the bath.
Wash the plate (DH2O) - this is a critical step - you may want to use two trays of DH2O - you cannot wash too much.
Dry the plate and it’s ready to use. I recommend letting them stand and dry. No heat no hair dryers. Give them a few hours or a day. They are ready to use (wet or dry) and will store like this in a dark cool place for two to four weeks - longer in the winter or cold weather
EXPOSING THE PLATE
Exposures that I’m going to experiment with may be very different from yours. I will run four (4) Half Plates at f/16 starting with 3 minutes, then 4 minutes, 5 minutes, and 6 minutes. All exposed on a bright sunny day, the same scene, etc. This is where the 19th-century literature talks about a 14” lens with a 1/2” stop on a “bright day” a landscape would be an f/29 lens and a 10 - 12 minute exposure on a 9” x 11” plate. And a 7” x 5” plate with Dallmeyer triplet stopped to X (about f/16) for 3 - 5 minutes. I’m somewhere between and have a lot more UVA/B where I am.
DEVELOPING THE PLATE OR “BLACKENING UP”
Keep good notes. What the time, date, temperature, RH, exposure time, scene, etc. was. It’s important to document everything in order to replicate it or know what to expect with development.
After exposure, remove the plate from the holder in the safelight/redlight. Use some DH2O and wet the plate - allow the water to sit on the plate for 30 seconds to a minute.
Use 0.3 grams of dry pyrogallic acid and mix with 60 ml DH2O. Dissolve it in the DH2O and then pour it on and off the wet plate - continue to do this until you start seeing the image form. Pour it on and off, not letting it sit on the plate. When you see reflected details in the plate, you’ve gone fast enough. Don’t go too far, and yet get some of the detail in the image to show via reflection. You can look at it in the light. Think of this step as getting an “outline” or weak image. A starting point.
Use 60 ml of the Pyro/Acid Developer and add 6 (six) drops of the Silver Developer and start the process again - on and off, on and off. This is where the image will start to strengthen - you will see what they call “vigor” come onto the plate. Go as far as you need or want to - this will be your final development.
FIX THE PLATE
After development, wash the plate in tap water to get any residual chemistry off of the plate. Place the plate in the fix and allow it to dissolve all of the unexposed silver. This may take 2 - 5 minutes. Let it clear and then clean it with a cotton ball.'
WASHING THE PLATE
After fixing, wash the plate with running water (or frequently changed tray water) for 30 minutes.
VARNISHING THE PLATE
You can print from these without varnishing. If you are underexposed, it will help. If you are overexposed put a coat of varnish on the plate. Again, no need to varnish if you don’t want to.