Cyanotypes lab at Translight Photography/CMG

Monday Oct 15 was a lab day for my History of Photography Class (At New York Film Academy it's called "Ways of Seeing"). We went to the Brewery, the largest Artist's Colony in LA and maybe even the world, to do some Cyanotype Printing. At CMG Photography, a rental lab formerly known as Translight Color, we set up the darkroom and got busy makng prints. Cyanotypes are a simple Iron and water based photographic process invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The tones are rendered in beautiful shades of Prussian Blue, and they are simple and easy to make.

Upcoming workshops in Yosemite National Park and Hollywood!

For those interested in learning the Wet Plate Collodion Process, I have two upcoming workshops:
First, in October, a travel workshop at Yosemite National Park in California. We will be walking in the footsteps of the masters! The workshop is for those interested in exploring an antique technology in a place of stunning beauty. Participants of various skill levels are welcome. We will be using half plate ( a little bigger than 4 x 5" ) and 8 x 10" cameras to document places like Half-Dome, Bridal Veil and Glacier Point. Processing will be done on-site in darkroom tents. We will be making tintypes (images on aluminum, actually), ambrotypes (images on glass) as well as glass negatives. This is a messy, smelly, slow process, but the results are very unique and gratifying.
 The itinerary is somewhat flexible, but plan on long days.  The workshop is offered through the Julia Dean Photo Workshops in Hollywood. For more information, please visit the link below.

http://www.ssreg.com/juliadean/classes/classes.asp?courseid=22516&catid=1802

For those interested in individual, one on one tutoring at my studio, please contact me at:
info@allanbarnes.com.

Living by Lynne, the socially conscious gallery at 1627  Montana Ave, has agreed to host the “Overprotected in Santa Monica” project this weekend, just in time for the Montana walk!!

We are meeting at the gallery tonight at 6:30 for anyone who wants to help  glue, hang, and eat  of course!! We are also in need of volunteers to be at the Gallery over the weekend, for anyone who wants to  talk the talk and discuss the cause! The event is from 10-6 on Saturday and Sunday. 

The artworks are 3 feet wide by 4.5 feet tall. They will also be exhibited at Cafe Bolivar later this summer.

Info will be posted here. 

World Wet Plate Day, May 5th 2012

May 5th, 2012: World Wet Plate Collodion Day was also day one of the 15th* Allan Barnes Wet Plate Collodion Workshop! An amazing crop of pictures was the result! Thanks to our amazing assistants Semantha Norris and S.J. Dunbar as well as the Julia Dean Photography Workshops! 
*approximate number. Note: last two pictures were made on day two!
More info on World Wet Plate Day: http://www.wetplateday.org
(World Wet Collodion Day honors the life and work  of Frederick Scott Archer, the British Artist who patented the Wet Plate Collodion Process in 1851. It was the first of many leaps forward in technology that made photography faster, cheaper and easier). 

•                                  Cesar and his 8x10 glass plate of course assistant S.J. Dunbar.

heating the plates for varnishing (above).

              The craggy face of the Maestro, as photographed on 8x10 glass plate by S.J. Dunbar

8 x10 black glass ambrotype by Jennifer Reeser