Vines in Franklin

[alexgard]

5.5 x 14" black glass ambrotype

5min 20sec exposure

[Mick Fagan]

Alex, this looks interesting, however when I click on the image to see a larger view, I'm redirected to a site where the image is 12-13 MB or something like that. As I'm running on a mobile phone set-up at the moment, I pulled the plug.

Any chance of a smaller version hosted on this forum, for viewing a larger image?

[Maris]

I'm looking at the 12.9 Mb version of this picture on my nice big desk monitor. Alex, I see a a treasure trove spilling a cascade of glittering leaf-shaped jewels. Wow!
I wonder if the magic lies in the short dynamic range of the emulsion you used. Or is it the blue /violet sensitivity of the ambrotype that cause the specular highlights to pop. Either way, or neither way, the effect is still enchanting.

[alexgard]

Thanks Maris. Given the photo was taken under the canopy of trees, and I "metered" the shot during overcast light, perhaps the sun breaking through for the last minute or so of the exposure caused the highlights of the leaf tops to blow out like that, it's not what I had planned, I ran out of chemicals and was unabl;e to try another shot. But still a nice surprise and it is a delight to see in person, the chemical error to the left is a little annoying and I'm doing my best to make clean plates. I don't like the "wabi sabi" attitude of chemical imperfections.