Adam Savage's Tintype Portrait (from Tested: The Show!)

Meet photographer Michael Shindler, who creates one-of-a-kind tintype photographs using a 19th century wet plate collodion process. At our recent live show, Michael transformed an entire theater into a dark room to photograph and develop a large-format portrait of Adam Savage. The process is beautiful and mesmerizing!
Find more of Michael's tintype photography work at www.michaelshindler.com
Shot and Edited by Joey Fameli
Promo photo by Dallis Willard www.dalliswillard.com
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Jamie Hyneman / jamienotweet
Thanks for watching!

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Fantastic presentation. Great video

[@USWaterRockets]

+NightHawkInLight I found you too, and now I subbed to you I see you are on TONS of other channels I sub to. Imagine that!

[@cryophile]

Hi, NightHawkInLight! I'm firearrow31 on Tested and cryophile on Instructables! I love your stuff!

[@bcgrote]

+USWaterRockets NightHawk's videos are awesome!

[@daniel.pendzich]

I honestly wasn't expecting the portrait to come out THAT good. Wow, I want a set of that old-timey gear for myself.

[@Ybalrid]

+Daniel Pendzich Apparently you can get your's done in SF for like $60

[@TheMod2001]

+Ybalrid You can't even get a descent film simulation in SF, and for sure not wet plate. SF is for people who have no clue what the original material looks like.

[@Ybalrid]

+TheMod2001 Well. I don't know SF. I never went there (nor the USA in fact.) but the photographer you see in this video has his studio there.

[@Crispy_Bee]

+Daniel Pendzich well then you'd better have a lot of $ to spare, because it's not cheap - at least not in Europe. The chemicals are horrendously expensive and the cameras and the plate holders don't come cheap either. Then you have to worry about the light source (which has to be extremely powerful). I took some photos on photo paper, that has an ISO of ±5-8 and still I was limited to f 5.6-8 even with a 1200W/s flash...

[@AlgorhythmKid]

@@Crispy_Bee My partner took me for a lesson with this random hippy guy in the UK. He took the shots in his kitchen and his camera was made out of and pallet and an overhead projector lens! The portraits came out amazing!

[@obliviousfafnir01]

Adam needs to dress in a civil war uniform and have another one taken.

[@Dunkingsonn]

+A5mod3us I like the way this is going...

[@timinator855]

+A5mod3us Look at @m_schindler on instagram, Adam did a Idiana Jones one ;)

[@BrandonKent136]

+timinator855 theres no c

[@groovyhippie1165]

+A5mod3us In the General Ackbar costume :D

[@brostinkles1]

+A5mod3us that's if his retinas could take another blast from its flash

[@mars37us]

I'm glad I found Tested last year.

[@daniel.pendzich]

Anyone hear that guy in the audience yell "missing an eyebrow?" XD

[@insu_na]

That really is an amazing portrait tho.

[@carlrichards5250]

Amazing to watch. Can you imagine how excited people were seeing this for the first time!

[@swsephy]

I had never heard of tintypes until the video they did on them a while back. Fell in love with them. The detail is amazing.

[@Mister_moy]

That was gorgeous. I could watch that process all day.

[@seancronen7549]

This is super awesome! Tested, keep em coming!

[@combrinckvanwyk3218]

The "am I missing an eyebrow?" comment brought back memories!

[@CoryMcCrazy]

What a stunning portrait after that process. Adam looked so cool after that. Just awesome!!! Thanks as always tested, you guys are keeping my brain filled with all kinds of new knowledge.

[@somaskanda2010]

awesome,cant wait for the rest of the show!!!

[@insanepolarbear]

I absolutely love this method of photography. Its so detalied its insane. An art.

[@ruzeenfarsad367]

What a great presentation from Mr. Shindler and a fantastic result. That was a great image!

[@Anarchy522XD]

Wow absolutely amazing what could be done before computers were the norm. Not to mention the quality that came out of it as well. That photo looks like a priceless piece of history. Kudos to the photographer.

[@toodlesX14]

That is phenomenal!

[@bcgrote]

Mr. Schindler came to several Civil War reenactments that I was at decades ago. Fascinating process, and I'm very glad he is still practicing his art.

[@sticustom]

How I would love a photo done by Michael. That was brilliant.

[@MrJeroenreyns]

that is just amazing!!!

[@Spacemonkeymojo]

Wow that was amazing. The portrait came out beautifully.

[@rreid1993]

Just make sure you watch to the end. It is so worth it. Great video

[@JordanSugarman]

Whoever yelled "Are you missing an eyebrow?" is my hero.

[@Eric_A_Beatty]

+Jordan Sugarman That was me - I just couldn't resist - it seemed so appropriate for the situation ! :)

[@onionkeeper]

I love the sense of magic in this demonstration, or rather, the awesome chemical wonder paired with the highly skilled crasftmanship. Shindler makes it look easy, like a true master of his art. Very inspiring!

[@SDcoldcorona]

That's the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!

[@grassgames7285]

I WAS THERE AND GOT A SELFIE WITH ADAM, NORM, AND WILL, AND ADDED A FEW AUTOGRAPHS TO MY COLLECTION! =-)

[@SamWilliams78]

+Grass Games7 but was it a tintype selfie?

[@saucybackport]

+Sam Williams wait for Kim Kardashian to open an exposition consisting of her tintype selfies in LA museum :P

[@grassgames7285]

+Sam Williams no, sadly it was not a tintype ;(

[@neoinfinity]

Stunning portrait, would've loved to have seen it live. Great video as always Tested.

[@SteelFlange_]

That is fantastic!

[@MikeWood]

One of the first times I have seen a wet plate done on that scale. Amazing stuff.

[@TheStockwell]

It's amazing to consider that the photographic process, introduced in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, had developed this quickly in less than fifteen years.

[@palpatinewasright]

That's brilliant, start to finish showing the process of photography as a magic show was inspired.

[@AlgorhythmKid]

Excellent final result! So amazing when it went to positive in the last step. I'd love to have this done.

[@AlgorhythmKid]

I finally had this done on my birthday with my partner and flatmate. It was an amazing experience. Our shots came out great too. Wish I could show you all.

[@Pappy_R]

That is just such a kool process, and the results are amazing with a touch of class.

[@juweinert]

Amazing work! The outcome alone makes me WANT TO DO THIS MYSELF!

[@R3tr0t]

One word.. awesome!

[@getstartedwindows]

I just realized that I was in the edge of my seat the whole time I was watching!

[@djAnakin]

So cool! Now I want to get one done!

[@cooperolm9687]

I was shocked by how detailed the final picture was! Really interesting presentation, guys.

[@MrChief101]

Ahhh, the good old days. Talk about developing by inspection! So, ah, he's either a brilliant portraitist or Adam's been in front of a camera before... Or, there's nothing like a 10-15" lens for portraiture.

[@oskarsigns]

That portrait is beautiful.

[@shod4n]

That was magical.

[@impossiblecolor]

Great portrait! Much faster than I expected

[@Spaztiq]

Stunning work and a great photograph. The slight smile was perfect and gives a nice hint of Adam's mischievous nature. :D

[@xXBedaXx]

I didn't think I was gonna watch the whole damn thing... but I watched the whole damn thing. Really fascinating stuff.

[@OnePfranz]

best video in a very long time

[@mrgsus8a2]

I fucking love how genuinely amazed Adam was

[@alshai5]

I just love this!

[@Tyrog]

Amazing!

[@jbichl]

What a great photo!

[@TarvisPlays]

That is fantastic! I would love to have one of those on my wall!

[@Devsterinator]

Wow!! That turned out great! I'm going to have to try this!

[@RyanLegros]

This was so fun to watch I wanted to clap with the crowd, and almost did! I look forward to having this done for myself some day. Very well done.

[@lucky8472]

I love doing wetplate. seriously my favorite form of photography and to see adam get a portrait done is really cool to me.

[@TylerOstergaard]

that is just amazing it makes me want a picture like that

[@princeedmunddukeofedinburg]

This is truly magnificent art.

[@ZenMuff1n]

To be honest, I was expecting something half baked. But it does look like a portrait. Well done!

[@bambino100011]

That was awesome. Photography has always fascinated me. I am still perplexed about the science in how images are captured and how these chemicals create the picture.

[@Fumwum]

What a beautiful video.

[@permeus2nd]

seeing adam in that chair i was thinking ""you know that chair looks like an electric chair, if this was mythbusters he'd be getting a shock any second now.""

[@ferris5150]

So cool! The tested show looks great, would love to go someday.

[@Chasmodius]

That was really quite interesting. I would have liked more about the chemistry and the *history* of how these discoveries were made, but I understand that it's an on-stage demonstration of the process, not a full lecture.

[@stephaneedwardson1370]

Wow! Awesome video!

[@bennettw859]

that was incredible

[@bluegreenash]

Wow...that was so cool.....that'd be popular as a poster..... Great pic of you Adam

[@penutbuttercrutch]

Wow that's really cool

[@SeanHodgins]

The part at 7:08, is there a cover on the metal at this point? or is he not concerned with the light because its so dim...? It looks like it would start exposing to the light that was turned on.

[@lylestavast7652]

he slid it into a dark box holder. When he put that holder into the back of the camera, he then pulled out a slide which opened the side of the box so the treated side of the metal plate was facing the subject, shot it - shutter closed... they turned out the lights again and did the developing...

[@voodoopepercorns]

fantastic

[@AveryDelMiller]

That's really cool.

[@AndrewBahls]

That was awesome, reminds me of taking photography in High School, and working in the darkroom. Nice explanation of the process as well, in high school they just showed us how to do it, but never talked about the actual chemical process. I remember finding a shortcut in the development process for photo paper, for when I was doing a exposure test. Normally you would do something like: certain amount of time in the developer, stopper, water wash, fixer, another water wash, etc. I found that I could dip the paper in the developer until it was fully developed, and just take it out and walk out of the dark room. I would have about 3-5 seconds in bright light to determine which exposure was good before the paper would turn black. Not "proper procedure" per-se, but it would save me about 5-10 minutes off of the full development time (and when you're in a 40 minute class, every minute helps).

[@sislertx]

that is sooo cool...

[@thx113868]

That is cool !

[@cableline012]

Very nice its good to see the old school is not lost.

[@michaelbauers8800]

Many thumbs up!

[@stressballer]

THAT was a freaking damned good portrait.

[@Theicemonkeyjr]

This is really fascinating! :D

[@irwinisidro]

The advantage to tintype and film is that it doesn't require resolutions that digital uses, it just depends on the size of plate or film you use.

[@djorgen]

Sweet!!

[@iquraishi]

@8:37 someone from the audience asking Adam about his eyebrow, a reference to Adam Savage's line "Am I missing an eyebrow?" from the mythBusters show! 😂

[@jeffreyarnim3119]

Just awesome. The camera is no slouch - at that size... Were usually done 4x5"-ish. What a great way to get back to the reality of photography and at that size? A work of art in every print. But expensive dealing with 'blinkers'... lol

[@christopher5855]

this is how adam should have all his cosplay photos taken

[@erezarbel]

I want one too!!!! awesome!

[@CrownedGaming]

Wow that end result looked incredible, the steps are so tedious and have to be done in a timely matter too! Haha, but boy is it worth it. I would love to get one of myself and my girlfriend.

[@DannoCrutch]

Dang, great photo!

[@Yeyy]

Magic!

[@banjohead66]

Michael Shindler is awesome!

[@nougatbitz]

A timeless photo. Beautiful technology. I can basically throw all of my first gen digital images in the bin today, not gonna happen with a tin type photo.

[@rud]

Are there anything you can apply to the surface to protect and preserve the picture besides from framing it. (Or is it even needed?)

[@mwiz100]

Last year's videos: the audio was clipping. This year: the audio is clipping. How come nobody's caught this two years in a row now?!

[@rosecityrower]

Now wrap your head around how Carleton Watkins did all that while in the field shooing the Columbia George, and Yosemite valley. He shot landscapes on those large plates.

[@tarametalbabe]

WoW!

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Wow, I was not expecting it to look that great. But the process and chemicals and labor involved explains why photography was limited to the very wealthy when it first appeared. Now we have cameras on our $10 disposable phones and have lost our appreciation for how much required to make it happen (not a chemical process anymore, but still amazing nonetheless). JW3HH

[@KonstantinSemakin]

Thank You!!!

[@anta40]

Awesome. Using large format camera + old school process. And here I'm still stuck with medium format :p

[@MrKmoconne]

That was actually a very good portrait he took there.

[@eatmarth]

I appreciate the audio quality in this. I remember the first set of tested the show being worse

[@Erik_Ahl]

I want one!

[@aznkidd11676]

Beautiful, I regret not doing alternative processes like tintype and cyanotype back when I went to photo school.

[@828et]

I wanted to see the full show

[@CaptainMug]

Great...now I want one...

[@yootoob7048]

Well Done.