Shorter days. less light – cold and gloom. The holidays are not always conducive to creativity. In fact I find it hard to fight off a sort of lethargy at this time of year. That is why I look for opportunities to motivate myself when I can and today I found two of them. Read more »
Daguerreotype Process | andy | December 20, 2008 | 
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artist, case-making, castle, Contemporary Daguerreotypist, daguerreotype, daguerreotype process, inspiration
I had a fair amount of time this weekend to work on things daguerreian and I made small progress on a number of fronts. I finally created a lens board for my camera – amazing how quick something can go when you have the right tools. Version 1 was made using a wonky old backsaw and didn’t fit right. V2 was made with my new Ryobi portable table saw and looks to have 1/32″ tolerances. Read more »
Daguerreotype Process | andy | October 26, 2008 | Comments (5)
8x10, camera, castle, daguerreotype process, fan, fume hood, lens, photography, Plate preparation, Plates, polishing, silver, speed control
Many of us have heard in the news that the USA is in need of a major infrastructure rebuild. I decided to do my part these last two weeks and have completed two crucial upgrades to Castle Daguerre – power and a fume hood. (Well you didn’t expect me to build a bridge did you?) :) Read more »
Daguerreotype Process | andy | October 12, 2008 | Comments (3)
camera, camera construction, carpentry, castle, charcoal filter, electrical, fan, fume hood, GFCI, speed control
I started to write this post with a complaint about how little free time I’ve had lately, but quickly realized that wasn’t much of an exciting lead in. Instead I am grappling with the fact that I am going to have to write more about what I don’t know about daguerreotypes than what I do know if I am going to keep this blog alive. Read more »
Daguerreotype Process | andy | September 14, 2008 | Comments (6)
castle, daguerreotype process, fume hood, lost in space, Plate preparation, Plates, polishing
Creating modern daguerreotypes is often a long, slow, painstaking process – there is much to learn along the way before you ever get to make an image. The many steps and the time and expense involved can lead to a sense of discouragement at times. That is why it is great news when a fellow beginner makes a first image. My friend Jon Lewis has posted his first creation.
Jon is at early stages too (albeit clearly ahead of me). He and I have exchanged a number of emails sharing precious knowledge gleaned and friendly encouragement. Jon has also generously shared some of his supplies with me. It is good to have fellow travelers when the road is long and demanding. I congratulate Jon on this exciting milestone. His progress makes mine seem more possible.
Back to Castle Daguerre.
Daguerreotype Process | andy | August 31, 2008 | Comments Off
artist, castle, Contemporary Daguerreotypist, daguerreotype, encouragement, first daguerreotype
Courtesy Lib. of Congress
Found an unidentified large lens on eBay for about $9 per pound. The glass appears flawless and it seems to have a focal length of around 12″ and an exit diameter of about 3.5″ making it in the neighborhood of f 3.4 crudely calculated. Might work for 8×10 based its apparent coverage circle (once I [...]
Continuing my progress on preparing to do 4×5 daguerreotypes. The camera currently only has a “hat shutter” so I have been looking at available shutters for my large lens – the only new one available seems to be the Packard shutter. This item, still made by the son of the creator is available for $850 [...]
I was going to write a short post about today being the anniversary of the first announcement of the daguerreotype, but a half hour of research revealed that the real story is more complicated – announcement today – perhaps first printed tomorrow, possibly unpublished circulars from earlier dates, first english language announcement, etc., etc., etc. So [...]
Did some testing of liquid bromine on various kinds of plastics today. Only PTFE was non-reactive as far as I could tell. Have plastic samples now sitting in a container with iodine crystals.
Was doing some research on Rubylith and added a very short article about it to the CDags Wiki. I need to find more people to help add articles to the wiki, it is still pretty threadbare…
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