First Wetplate Outing in a Year!

Join me near Goodhart, Michigan as I make a couple plates, the first in more than a year with the Darkroom Trailer!
Please join me on Patreon for much more!
/ nlpw

[@darrelltheriault5793]

Thanks so much. Really enjoy watching the process of wet plate. I appreciate that you show the whole shoot which demonstrates the challenges of this process.

[@jayj8524]

Hi, Bill, Now this was very cool and interesting, a darkroom on tour 👍. Great job, and thanks for all your work and time invested! 👍

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Great stuff! I also guessed when you were driving to shoot a plate my brain went "He's going to the church with the white crosses".

[@lhuhnphotography]

Thanks Bill! Nice image.

[@jamesbarnes3063]

Thanks for. showing me

[@lfcacador]

Top! Great Work

[@BillSchwab]

Thank you!

[@smithsphotography1]

I know you complain of heat. I have a similar trailer that I very easily installed foil backed foam panel insulation in the roof. It made a huge difference in the heat radiating through the roof. It goes between the metal stringers. Then just screwed a few stringers the length of the trailer to securely hold them in place.

[@BillSchwab]

@@smithsphotography1 you know. That’s a great suggestion. I never thought it would make that much difference, but I recently put some insulation into an attic room and it made all the difference in the world. Thank you for the tip. I’ve also got some issues with the ceiling in the front pitting from rust on the outside. I’ve been thinking about replacing that section of the roof. I’ve had the thing nearly 20 years now and it’s in pretty good shape, but some updates are definitely in order. Thanks again!

[@ShaneB666]

Great watching you work, but were you not worried about the light from your phone when you were putting the first plate in the holder?

[@BillSchwab]

Good question. I didn’t even notice that until I was editing the video. What happens is the iPhone dim quite a bit on the 15 version. I didn’t notice it until watching the video that it shows up very well on the video because of the dim light. Apparently, the light wasn’t enough to fog the plate as there were no issues. I’ll definitely be more careful and put it further away next time just in case.

[@joecomeau6111]

Do you have a video of building the trailer? How much does it weigh? And how much money do you have into it?

[@BillSchwab]

I have some clips here and there and some photographs, but I built it back in 2007. I’ve had it a long time now. I think I paid $3500 for the trailer. I had it specially made so that it was taller, and I could stand up in it. The rest of it was done at home. I built out the countertops, put in a small 12 V pump and 2- 20 gallon tanks. One for freshwater and one for gray. I have a deep cycle marine battery in there to run everything. Simple, yet effective. I think dry weight on the trailer is about 1600 pounds. I used to pull it with first Jeep patriot, then a Ford transit connect and now the electric Ford lightning.