Nothing like a weekend to move things forward. I decided yesterday that I wanted to go see some Daguerreotypes for inspiration. I spent some time yesterday trying to find a museum that had any on display but I completely struck out. Apparently I am going to have to reconcile myself to the fact that I am far more interested in Daguerreotypes than 99.998% of the rest of the world. I was still surprised though that something that was being produced in America at a rate of three million in one year (at one point in the past) was so hard to find. I finally decided to visit a sort of “Antique Superstore” here in San Francisco to see if I could find one. This place is a big warehouse with modest spaces for about 250 dealers. I kid you not, I looked at every space and found one Daguerreotype. There were antique photos galore, but only one Daguerreotype. I was surprised.

Well, I did the natural thing – I bought it. I really have no clue here, so I have no idea if it was a good deal. I paid $65 for it and I think it is a sixth plate. The leather case is in good condition, with some very minor damage at the base of the hinge. The photo is of a young man and his cheeks are lightly tinted pink. He looks somewhere between stuffy and naive. I absolutely love the picture. My memory of the look of this technique was right – there is something magical about the depth and resolution of these pictures. While it is clearly a taste I share with a rather small group, I feel the rest of of the world just doesn’t know what they are missing.

I will have to make a digital copy and post it soon.

Other progress today – went to a local hobby store to price hardwood for making a camera, and also discovered a resource in my own library that I had forgotten about Primitive Photography by Alan Green. Nice sections on building cameras although it is mostly about using the Calotype process.

And finally I decided to send an email to Charlie Schreiner asking if he minded my using TheDaguerreotypist as the name for this website. I decided that I would pick another name unless he gave me the go ahead. My first try bounced – I had used the  email listed on The Daguerreian Society web page. I googled him and came up with a different address. I probably told him more about myself than he needed or would want to know, but -fingers crossed- we will see what he has to say.

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