Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
Handmade Portraiture – Rita Newman, a Tintype Story
More than 8 years ago I decided to go down this path.
Creating all the chemicals I need by myself, refurbishing cameras and lenses by myself, and sometimes creating new parts/recipes myself. This path can be very rewarding and enriching, but there are also dark moments that take a lot of energy. In these 8 years I have experienced and learned a lot.
But while working with this process I will never stop learning, it is a constant problem solving and listening to your gut feelings. I think that is also one of the reasons why I love doing portraits with it. Taking a lot of time for a single portrait is another reason.
People who have been portrayed by me will certainly be able to name many other reasons why this kind of art is so inspiring.
In today’s video you will get a better impression of what I have written.
It was a pleasure to immortalize you on pure silver dear Rita
Wednesday, December 28th, 2022
Denis Krieg – Inspired Series
I’ve known Denis for a few years now and over time a nice friendship has developed. We met for the first time during the Camera Obscura Festival in Germany, but we were in contact several times before that.
From Denis I bought my current large format camera and some lenses. Also one of my more important lenses – the Dallmeyer 3b which I use a lot for this series is from Denis. Read more in this post https://blog.markus-hofstaetter.at/2021/03/inspired/
His knowledge of historical equipment is fascinating. His craftsmanship and restoration skills are also second to none. Check out his website here www.wetplatedreams.com.
Denis keeps historic history alive with his work.
I also captured a portrait with Denis and his Wife Sybille that I like a lot.
Wednesday, December 7th, 2022
Preserving History – Renovating a 100 Year Old Camera – Bellow Edition
My good old Century No.2 camera has about 100 years behind her. She still works great, but her bellow is leaking light. Thats why I needed to repair it. I thought it is easiest to explain everything in a video, so it is easier to understand for you guys and hopefully also helpful. It took me a long time to put everything together. Why? Because it was important for me to reuse as many original parts as possible to preserve the history of this camera. I think this is a very important part when you consider to renovate a piece of history! Underneath the video are all links for the parts I needed.
Bellowmaker: ecbuyonline@hotmail.com – email is the best way to communicate https://www.ebay.com/str/ecbuyonline2008
Large Caliper International: https://amzn.to/3W7OvHt Germany: https://amzn.to/3VBaHJZ
Liquid Rubber: International (similar) :https://amzn.to/3H4tfOq Germany: https://amzn.to/3Pf4b9D
Glue for mounting the Bellow: International: https://amzn.to/3ixkdPI Germany: https://amzn.to/3F8YiWS
Ifixit essential tools – they were very helpful: https://amzn.to/3UpEqnO
machinist square International: https://amzn.to/3Vvly8j Germany https://amzn.to/3B8Kt9n
Cutter https://amzn.to/3P1JsWl
Screenprinting paint and cold fix: https://www.siebdruckladen.de
Video for building a mobile darkroom: https://youtu.be/hnrtywCfQRk
Video for sandarac varnish: https://youtu.be/wj2nPTYyFQ4
Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
David Kriesel – Inspired Series
David Kriesel is a data scientist from Bonn – Germany. He was born in 1984 and is self-employed from 1998 on (at the time he was 14). Find more details here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kriesel
You might know him in connection with the Xerox bug he discovered in 2013. (German version here)
David also does a lot of talks. The combination of data science and talks may sound boring to some of you. But this is only because you never watched one of David’s extremely entertaining and very interesting talks. He will explain a specific topic to you, that you probably never thought will be of any interest for you. After he finished his talk, he for sure has convinced you otherwise.
There is a quote that I like to mention from one of his talks, that made me think and smile: “Mathematics know no mercy” and that reflects for me what his talks are about. There are no shortcuts, behind every of his projects is a lot of hard work. But with that comes a lot of fun stories.
I am very grateful that David took the time to fly over from Germany with his Dad to be my sitter in front of my wet plate camera for the inspired series. I also enjoyed talking to his dad a lot, he is a wonderful person and I can see now where David got his humour from. It was great meeting both of you and so much fun. Thanks again for your time!
We chose this pose to express a sceptical moment of his projects
This is an interesting one. I underexposed the portrait on purpose to overdevelop it.
Normally this brings out more grain, but in that case it brought out some interesting silver waves.
Collodion has sometimes its own ways to express things,
maybe this is the process showing all the things that go through the mind of David.
I like this one a lot. I think it reflects perfectly the great energy these guys have.
Friday, November 18th, 2022
Wet Plate Strobe Calculator with Light Modifier Comparison
How much power do I need for my wet plate setup? I get this and similar questions asked a lot. Thats the reason I build a calculator for that. With the calculator, there comes also a knowledge base. Because there is much more to know about strobes and the wet collodion process. This is exclusive for Patreon supporters (Tier 2). With tier 2 support you get, also wet plate troubleshooting, access to recorded Patreon videos, early access to videos and much more. Link to this Patreon posting: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wet-plate-strobe-74548519
More about the calculator in this video:
Wednesday, November 9th, 2022
Inspired Series – Jonathan Hetzendorfer
I eat mushrooms as a meat substitute more often these days and once I started to buy specialities like oyster mushrooms from Jonathan, it was like a game changer. I knew his shop long before his first TV appearance, but never met him in person before. When I talked with him for the first time it was inspiring to see how much passion Jonathan puts in his work. I also remember when I ordered a mushroom dish in a restaurant and saw the menu that said “Fresh oyster mushroom from Jonathan”.
You can tell he does something right, when gourmet chefs buy exclusively from him. Enjoy the video and if you are interested in a beautiful fine art print of that mushroom, just contact me here: https://www.markus-hofstaetter.at/pages/kontakt/
