Whole plate ambrotype (6.5″ x 8.5″) of Isabella Sophie Gerber shot in my studio recently under UV light. An ambrotype is a slightly underexposed image made on a glass plate using the wet plate collodion photographic process. It appears as a negative until placed against a dark background, which reverses the tones, rendering the image as a positive.
This ambrotype was shot using two six-tube arrays of UV lights. Each array contained five 48″ 6500K fluorescent tubes + one 48″ blacklight. I used a 19th century reproduction tailboard camera with an original 1872 brass barrel Ross portrait lens (f/4) made in London. Exposure time was 10 seconds.
