Do You Follow...

The Family Acid on Instagram? If not, then you should! All photos are by Roger Steffens and curated by his daughter Kate Steffens. This is one of my absolute favorite feeds and Roger's photography is a huge inspiration, especially his double exposures. Each photo has detailed descriptions which makes it even better.

There is so much more amazingness so go follow now!

♥ anne

Tintypes

Hi everyone! Today I thought I'd share some of my recent tintypes. My love for this type of photography grows more and more. It's so different from how I photograph with my Canon or my phone. Actually it's the exact opposite! With my regular camera I enjoy candids and unposed pictures but with wet plate it's very posed and planned out. It requires a whole new approach which is pretty fun.

I've also done a few portraits-

I can't wait to get out and pour some more plates! I also think it'd be cool to do a video showing process. We'll see if I can make that happen. Anyway, have a great day!

♥ anne

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful comments! It was very inspiring for me to read what you all said and reminded me why I love blogging. Thank you for being here and reading, it means so much to me! Oh, and I replied to all the comments :)

This is recent tintype I took of Alex. I'm really pleased with it so I thought I'd share it!

♥ anne

Wet Plate Collodion

It's now been a year since I first became interested (obsessed) in the wet plate collodion process and I am finally at the point where I am able to start practicing this amazing, fascinating and complicated art.

Last February I took a two day workshop with Will Dunniway where I learned about the entire process from mixing chemicals, pouring plates to developing, fixing and varnishing. It was intense and it solidified my desire to move forward with this art.

I have slowly been acquiring all the necessary things and it's taken many months, lots of patience and a ton of help from family and friends and Will. My dad has helped tremendously and even though he doesn't read here I can't fail to mention him and all his encouragement and financial aid.

This is a plate from the workshop taken on Will's camera by the master himself.

With this type of photography the whole thing must be done while the plate is wet which means you need a darkroom close by to develop. Our friend Erick made me an awesome mobile darkroom for my birthday! You can't see the outside in this picture but it's really pretty!

This last weekend I poured my first plates. I had some major chemical problems but I was able to get a few decent plates. I have a lot of practice ahead of me but it is a dream to even be at this point!

Our friends Mike and Vanessa. (Vanessa moved which is why she is blurred)

Ruben

After Ruben had sat for 5 photos he made me sit for one. We call this one "Dust Bowl Annie" hahaha! The camera got moved while the plate was being exposed so I'm blurry.

My daughter Alex had the best shot. I'm pretty pleased with this one. I'm still working on getting a perfect focus but again...practice, practice, practice! 

That's what I've been up to! If you are interested in seeing how the whole process works, HERE is a detailed video. It demonstrates the process on glass instead of plates but the steps are still the same. 

I hope you enjoyed this post because there will be more like it in the near future!

♥ anne

Polaroid Land Camera

I thrifted this Land Camera at an estate sale many years ago. I thought it was broken but after I watched a few youtube videos I realized it just needed a new battery. It's been really fun taking pictures with it, frustrating but fun. Most of them are out of focus but for some reason they still are pretty awesome. Yesterday I finally got a good picture that was in focus and all (it's the one of Shane on his bike)! Here are some of the pictures I've taken over the last year.




The film is even reasonably priced at about $9 for 10 exposures. I use Fuji fp100c. I'd like to try out some black and white film but it costs quite a bit more so I'll be sticking with color for now. If you come across one of these at a thrift store or online and you like taking pictures, I'd highly recommend getting it!

Walking

With such nice weather, we've been outside a lot lately. Last Sunday we went to visit my sister with my mom and on our way we stopped by the Poppy Reserve. There weren't too many poppies yet but it was still very beautiful.



We've also been exploring near home much more and have been discovering all sorts of cool places.







A while back Mary posted about owl pellets which I found very fascinating. We have lots of owls in the area so I figured it might be somewhat easy to find some. After walking around the base of several trees hunched over, I managed to find a couple. I know some might find it kind of gross but I was so excited! I was hoping to get a whole skull but ended up with random bones and what looked to be like a section of a jaw bone. I think the kids will find this interesting and can't wait to find more.

And here's a cute picture of Maggie. I don't want you to leave here grossed out :)

♥ anne

A couple weeks ago Ashley came over and shot a video of me featuring my macrame and wall hangings. It turned out so nice! To watch the video and read a short interview, head over to The Ma Books and check it out!

And if you're in the Southern California area and are looking for an amazing photographer, do yourself a favor and get in touch with Ashley (her website is right here). You will not be disappointed!

♥ anne

MOON

Today was pretty cloudy and as the evening progressed I was afraid I'd miss the harvest moon but thank goodness those clouds parted and I was given a brief but spectacular view! Below are two images taken on different settings. I have no idea why the clouds aren't visible in the second shot but that's because I don't really know how to use my camera. Anyway, get a load of the clouds! They looked so amazing!

Pretty epic huh?! Did you get a show too? I hope so!

♥ anne

Have you seen...

the awesome photos from Nahanni Reforestation (@nahannireforestation) on Instagram? The brief bio says, "Nahanni Reforestation was my dad's (Dan) treeplanting company when I was a kid. These are his slides I am sorting. Kickstarter project coming soon...".

If you enjoy these as much as I do, make sure to check out the full feed here.

♥ anne