A behind the scenes look at a recent portrait with Jess.
There is a considerable amount of preparation that goes into making just one wet plate collodion portrait.
My preparation starts weeks before the proposed shoot with the acquisition and manufacturing of the chemicals involved in making an image.
Once the chemistry is sorted or in progress, I turn my attention to the sitter. Based on their most current image they send to me or on their public social media images, I start to create concept or mood board for the type of image I feel will suit their face for a portrait. I will often do this via Pinterest, although I usually keep upcoming portraits locked as private, only sharing them with the sitter or my creative collaborators.
After creating a shortlist of images, either based on my preference, the sitters preference or my creative collaborators preference, I start deconstructing the lighting, then re purposing it for my own vision.
Check out the BTS images Feel free to leave comments.
Sitter: Jess Lowcher
Collodionist:Paul Alsop
Creative collaborator:Ani Fourie
BTS Photographer: Justin Aitken