Make a 35mm Daguerreotype

In this episode of Darkroom Magic, Historic Process Specialist Nick Brandreth shows us how you can use make a 35mm daguerreotype without any of the dangerous or expensive chemicals or equipment.
Generous support for this demonstration provided by Art Bridges.
This demonstration has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: NEH CARES.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

[@fredricgreenblott4169]

For those of you wondering what the proportions of fixing chemicals and gilding chemicals to use: For fixing - 15 grams of sodium thiosulfate dissolved in 500ml of water. Store and use as needed. For gilding: 1 gram of gold chloride dissolved in 250ml of water, and 2 grams of sodium thiosulfate dissolved in 250ml of water. Store separately, and combine the gold chloride to the sodium thiosulfate in the amount you want and give it about 12 hours for the solution to mix. *NEVER ADD THE THIOSULFATE TO THE GOLD CHLORIDE - ALWAYS ADD THE GOLD TO THE THIOSULFATE.* About 4-5ml of solution is required to form a proper meniscus on a 35mm plate. Also, be very careful about heating up the plate before the gilding process. Becquerel daguerreotypes are extremely sensitive to heat and too much will fog the image, making it all but invisible. Practice makes perfect! It took me a couple tries to get it right!!

[@lewinberninger]

Hello there, since you already seem to know a lot about this process - do you by any chance know how the mixing of silica gel beads and elemental iodine works ? And in what proportions it has to be done ?

[@RogerHyam]

Wow! I don't know whether to thank you or not. I'd ruled out ever trying Daguerreotypes on the grounds I would never have access to a fume hood for the mercury vapour. Now you've shown me a way to do them without mercury! I'm going to have to add another technique to my bucket list.

[@taymur0804]

Your great Nick of showing this old photographic process :)

[@filmwolfs]

Amazing, thank you.

[@garge7676]

If you don't want to spend money on the silver plates, you can alternatively use a mirror of all things! Apply paint stripper to the back of the mirror until it removes the back layer. Citri-strip apparently works the best as it lacks volatile substances. Wait until the back layer rises and wrinkles, then remove the copper layer. Try to avoid letting the stripper touch the silver layer Instead of buying iodine crystals, iodine tincture for cuts and wounds can be used. It's slightly less harmful to breathe in but, still exercise caution. It takes longer this way as well, but it is cheaper. About 45 minutes to an hour. Development can be done the same as done in the video Fixing the image can be done in a solution of 2.5g sodium thiosulfate and 2.5g of sodium sulfite in 200mL of distilled water It's a bit more fragile and slightly less detailed than using a true silver plate and actual iodine crystals, but it is far cheaper and a good entrance for those interested in daguerreotypes.

[@JakubJanNemecek]

thank you!

[@wreckedboy9667]

Regarding iodine dressings, pour iodine dressings into a glass and place a silver plate over it? mirror part I still don't quite understand. But do you mean normal mirror or silver mirror? I'm really interested in it and want to do it myself.

[@garge7676]

​@@wreckedboy9667 I believe regular mirrors. The older, the better (The mirror I had the most success with was taken from an old dresser from the 80s-90s). Be gentle since the stripper agent can remove the silver as well. It might take a bit of scraping to reveal the silver layer, just take your time. If you have access to silver mirrors, I am sure they will work as well. The iodine dressing is used the same as the iodine crystals: placed in a container and then the silver plate (in this case, your stripped mirror) placed just above it to let the fumes form silver-iodide on the surface. It takes longer than the crystals, about 30 minutes to an hour.

[@wreckedboy9667]

@@garge7676 What if I use a silver-plated copper plate? Will it take a long time as well? Well, I'm not sure if I can find an old mirror like that. Because I'm not sure what materials are made of today's mirrors. from what i understand Old silver mirrors were worth more than modern mirrors. Honestly, I was curious to know what to prepare because it would be really fun to make. Some things, some materials, if you can suggest where to get them that would be great.

[@lajoswinkler]

Modern mirrors don't use silver, but vapor-deposited aluminium, so this won't work.

[@Stop4MotionMakr]

Wow didn't know there was a non-toxic way to make daguerreotype. Adding this to my photographic bucket list :D

[@mhaustria]

Thanks a lot for this, I like it a lot and will try it maybe sometimes!

[@stephaniem9904]

Fantastic!! Thank you so much!!!!

[@sarahp007]

thank you

[@Cameraville]

Dude wow. Any idea of the equivalent iso of the plate? And how to adjust it?

[@yellowchino3883]

A little late, but the iso equivalent would be about 0.1 to 0.7 No idea how to adjust it though

[@xander9564]

Brilliant. You really clarified, and helped de-mystify, the process. Now if someone would only explain how to make 35 mm autochrome film.

[@fabianrose3688]

Oh my! I had never even thought about developing the image that way, thank you so much for making this process so much more practical! Anybody interested in buying my surplus mercury? (the last bit was a joke)

[@CameraEd1]

That was pretty dang cool. I want to know more about the silica beads and the iodine.

[@the_art_doctor]

I started this way 17 years ago. It takes a longtime to get good at it. Spent two years perfecting my technique. Cheapest way to make plates are dead soft .999 silver sheet from rio grande jewelry supply. They come 6" by what ever length you need. Just order a 6" strip to whatever length you want and cut small plates from it with a paper sheer They work great but are soft. If you are careful you can polish them and not bend them. If you are a bit clumsy epoxy them to brass sheet as its stiffer. You will never polish through these like a clad plate. Don't try .925 the copper reacts with the iodine and makes funny patterns. Getting used to iodine fuming takes some time. It is temperature dependent, will change with iodine volume, distance to plate, level of polish, ect.........keep a log book. Base exposure for neutral subject in full bright sun 30sec at f2.5. Don't worry about reciprocity if you have a slower lens. Adjust from there. Ive ruined many a good plate gilding, not really required but when it works boy is it awesome. I have many not gilded and they are fine. After you master this try cold mercury in a vacuum.

[@stefancoisson9969]

I'm really curious to see your results!

[@the_art_doctor]

@@stefancoisson9969 cdags.org/galleries/daguerreotypes-larry-shutts/ I have not made any in a longtime.

[@stefancoisson9969]

@@the_art_doctor The portraits are beautiful!

[@npc6817]

is it possible to develop an already shot film onto the plate?

[@the_art_doctor]

@@npc6817 Yes, you can do a contact print. But in camera is where you want to get to. Why intercede a less accurate, more grainy middle man into the mix, it is wasting one of the great positives of a Dag, near perfect realty with no visible grain.

[@mistergreeen]

thank you bro, this was more informative on the daguerreotype process than my college text

[@jaceleroy402]

Have you scanned any of these plates? If so, do you have a link where the digital scans could be veiwed?

[@alexhill5079]

This is amazing! Would love to try this. That was sodium thiosulfate that I heard at the end with the bath where you want to avoid a line forming, correct?

[@snallkriminell]

Question about the plates: Is there any reasonable way to store prepared plates? Say, you fume the plate and then store it for later use. Of course you'd have to store it where light can't get to it, but what about the chemistry itself, does it oxidize or degrade over time?

[@SinaFarhat]

Nice!! :)

[@dividedjoy8257]

Love the video！How long should the fuming takes？

[@TheVisualCenter]

Great video! We are so going to try this! Any ideas on where to find plates?

[@butlaoctu4464]

Most probably you'll need to buy polished steel plate which is easy to find and send it to someone who will cover it in silver

[@philippegervaise4857]

Sorry, question unrelated to photography: what is the background music?

[@topsportschool]

I see you're gilding the bequereldag's. Is that necessary for the bequerelproces ? Thx

[@lewinberninger]

Does anyone by any chance know how the mixing of silica gel beads and elemental iodine works ? And in what proportions it has to be done ?

[@rahandulcaspatal5276]

Hello nice work .its work a normal red filter for camera ?

[@MineCedi]

So if I understand right, I could also expose the silver plate under a UV-light machine (like it is used for cyanotypes) and make a contact print from film? And when using slide film, I'd even get a positive image.

[@the_art_doctor]

Yes, exactly. Just have to be careful that you do not scratch the iodized surface when you put the slide/negative in place. Many folks have use digital negs printed on mylar or acetate. But honestly the fun is in making an in camera image.

[@fr.marklichtenstein8892]

The plate is opaque and that was one of the reasons Dag's were quickly made obsolete by the wet-plate process. Opaque plates were impossible to copy. These days you can scan the plate and do all kinds of things like make a digital negative and re-print as cyanotypes etc.

[@BenSmithMGH]

Probably a very silly question but when you fume the silver plate to make it light sensitive does this need to be done in a darkroom under safelight?

[@calvinf9218]

Yes. Do it under red light

[@fstisted]

Any idea what ISO it would be to expose it at?

[@davestelling]

Modern-day magic!

[@lichtmaler]

what iso would you rate the plate?

[@ashrafthegoat]

How long do you keep the shutter open?

[@minusisa]

Bye! Has anyone tried plate-impression with a negative (as with cyanotype)? If so, have you worked out the exposure times and then fixing with red glass?

[@WatchMeSayStuff]

A few questions. 1. What sort of exposure times can one expect with this specific process? Assuming a cloudless sunny day shot with a 50mm at f8? As I understand it ISO ratings are pretty much useless for this medium. 2. What sort of shelf life do the prepared blanks have after fuming? Could one in theory prepare multiple plates in advance and swap them out in the field (with proper measures to protect them from incidental exposure.) Furthermore do they need to be developed immediately after shooting, or can they be set aside in complete darkness as in the aforementioned scenario?

[@GeorgeEastmanMuseum]

Great questions! Reach out to [e-mail] and Nick can help you out.

[@the_art_doctor]

f2.5 EV 16 I shoot at 30 seconds for a neutral subject. Yes, you can prepare and bring several plates along, but you should start developing immediately. I shoot 4x5 and have a developing screen for each film holder and start in the field.

[@butlaoctu4464]

@@the_art_doctor Does listing exposure times make sense here? Glass blocks uv, so I'd guess that you'd have lil different results with triplet compared to tessar for example, of course it's not like cyanotype or physautotype where UV is the only light sensitive thing but still I'd guess it would vary, not even talking about lens coatings.

[@the_art_doctor]

@@butlaoctu4464 It is an orthochromatic process, UV and blue/white only with ever so sight yellow green. Your thinking too hard, the speed is so slow that minor corrections do not matter. Old lenses without coatings work fine as do most modern coated lenses. 2-5 seconds on a 30 sec exposure is not a big deal either way. You can use filters and longer exposures 20-30 minutes to get some better details but shake is an issue then. See Mike Robinson's work on this, you have to hunt for his presentations and publications as he does not give away secrets for free. Soot with a Kodak transparent print scale inserted between plate and lens to get your timing for each lens, write it down, a log is essential.

[@terrywbreedlove]

Freestyle has wet plates for sale but they have a black coating. Which gives a good normal image. I wonder if this will coat those plates and work the same ?

[@Ryan-lc4bl]

No, daguerrotypes are done on silver coated plates, usually on a copper sheet, but if you can get aluminum plates and coat them with silver by electroplating, then they will work. Plain aluminum or black coated aluminum plates won't work at all, it has to have a silver coating.

[@fr.marklichtenstein8892]

The "magic" is in the silver iodide being light sensitive. Wet plate tin-types look superficially the same, but in that case the chemistry is different. It still depends on silver halides (silver plus 1 with either chloride, bromide, or iodide all are known as the halides to chemists and in this case will have minus 1 charge)) dispersed in the nitrocellulose matrix instead of the silver zero (solid silver, not dissolved and subsequently precipitated) as in dag's. As was said earlier, it must be a silver surface to work. Even B/W gelatin emulsions depend on silver compounds to work. There are a number of advantages to using soluble silver then precipitated, one of which is using a LOT less silver and saving money.

[@drewgehringer7813]

No, those plates are for wet-plate tintype photographs, a kind of wet-plate collodion photograph that gives you an opaque positive image (light areas are silver, dark areas are black) rather than a transparent negative (light areas are silver, light areas are transparent)

[@CalebPetrus]

Where did you find those tiny frames?

[@butlaoctu4464]

They don't look like tiny frames, 4x6cm? Just with additional black cardstock to place the plate.

[@theamazinwaffleninja]

What speed would this film be?

[@jaceleroy402]

Less than 1.

[@Ferda1964]

Fuming process doesn't require red protective light?

[@MelanieKing]

Are there safety precautions for using iodine vapour? I've made a half plate Becquerel daguerreotype before and I remember having to use a fuming cabinet for the iodine step.

[@fr.marklichtenstein8892]

A fume hood would not be a terrible idea, but unless you are allergic to iodine, the small amounts here are probably safe if you are working in a room with reasonable ventilation.

[@lilianneschneider7571]

Would you write all the list of materials used ?

[@GeorgeEastmanMuseum]

Feel free to reach out to [e-mail]; Nick can answer any questions about materials!

[@richardjones2054]

@@GeorgeEastmanMuseum I tried to get further information. The email listed here is dead and comes back as undeliverable.

[@plannerjohn]

Any suggestions on where to source said materials?

[@jmtubbs1639]

Just found this UK source of silver plated copper sheet www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product/silver-plated-copper-sheet-080mm-4x4/zbzr49/ Possibly similar US jewellery supplier

[@GeorgeEastmanMuseum]

Reach out to our team at [e-mail]; Nick can help you!

[@fr.marklichtenstein8892]

chemicals at photographer's formulary in Montana.

[@liandragon]

Hello, I am passionate about photography and I am very interested in Daguerreotype. I found the video excellent, but I would like to know where to find or how to make the silver-covered plates. Is it possible to make them at home?

[@CrewBiggs]

You can get them from Mike Robinson at century dark room. That’s where I got mine.

[@alonebysunset]

is it just me or are the plates impossible to find?

[@JeffCowan]

Gold chloride could be expensive. Any substitutes like selenium?

[@TheStockwell]

This isn't the first time Nick has made an after-the-fact, casual reference to $75.00 for 50 mL gold chloride. Still, it's useful in other processes (salt printing!) and evidently a little goes a long way. I'm going to contact the fine folks at the Eastman Museum and give this a serious try. Itty bity, mercury-free daguerreotypes? How can you NOT want to try it out? ☺

[@nickbrandreth]

Unfortunately you need to use gold chloride for the gilding solution. This is not like toning a print. The gold bonds with the silver to help make the image more permanent and less like to deteriorate over time. The gold is only 1 part of the gilding solution and very small amount goes a long long way.

[@nickbrandreth]

​@@TheStockwell I buy my gold chloride in 1 gram ampules for $45. The gold is only one part of the gilding solution AND just like salt printing a little bit goes a long way with your gold in the gilding solution. Sadly the silver clad plates are the most expensive part of this process. However you can wipe them off and reuse the plate until you have an image you're happy with or you buff thru the silver haha.

[@TheStockwell]

@@nickbrandreth Thank you for the additional information. ☺ I will, in fact, be getting myself some gold chloride. If I ever have a showing of these miniscule delights, it might be a selling point; "There's gold in them thar daguerreotypes!"

[@nickbrandreth]

@@TheStockwell I'll never be able to look at a daguerreotype now with out say that in my head. HAHA!

[@slave_planet]

That people figured this kind of thing out almost two hundred years ago makes me appreciate how retarded I truly am.

[@jasperkrebs4097]

Wauw, but where to get that stuff?

[@nobutoneme1325]

Anyone knows how to make those iodine infused silica gel beads?

[@GeorgeEastmanMuseum]

Reach out to our team at [e-mail]

[@johnramalhete5365]

Where do you find plan silica gel and pure elemental iodine

[@GeorgeEastmanMuseum]

We would be happy to share information about where we source materials. Contact us at [e-mail].

[@the_art_doctor]

silica gel from Talas in NYC iodine on ebay/Etsy as crystals/flakes or prills (which is lass resort as they need to be crushed first). Otherwise hard to get as it is a DEA controlled substance as its an ingredient in METH. I don't use the gel for iodine, not necessary. BTW, most only use silica gel with mercury dags for bromine

[@imanuelyonatanfreudian]

this daguerre only potrait? can not landscape?

[@sonyviva308]

I learned this from Mr Jefferson's class

[@user-xk2jl7gc8k]

the iodine is very expensive her in the philippines

[@sergiovasquez2797]

Using a Pentax in a Eastman museum? Ironic 😂

[@michael5089]

📸📷👍😂

[@fidelcatsro6948]

wow imagine going through all these processes in 1840s ...like nuclear physics and chemistry..the only chemical i have at home in this modern era is bleach 🤔

[@user-xk2jl7gc8k]

i need iodine