AUTHENTIC 19TH CENTURY WET PLATE "TINTYPES"
Take home your hand crafted and archival piece of artwork made using the same technique photographers from 1850-1880 (Civil War era) used. The very same style our great-great grandparents had, and one of the earliest photographic processes, the tintype (on metal) or ambrotype (on glass) renders your very essence in a unique way.
Andrew Welsh Photography is one of few tintype artists offering both in-studio and on-location authentic tintypes. Even more unique, tintypes can be offered as part of your wedding photography experience. The wedding tintype examples here were done while also working as the modern digital wedding photographer. In-studio tintypes are done in the San Antonio, TX area. Due to my portable setup, on-location and wedding tintypes can be done nearly anywhere in the lower-48 states of the US.
Each tintype portrait session begins with a brief consultation. Creating a tintype portrait using this historic wet-plate collodion process means each individual plate is hand-crafted in the darkroom immediately before the photograph is taken, and developed immediately afterwards.
It is during this hand-made, bespoke processes that each tintype takes on its own unique character. No two plates are alike.
After the plate has been exposed in the camera, and quick developing in the darkroom, the magical final phase (fixing) reveals your image.
Each unique tintype or ambrotype done in studio comes with a digital scan and varnish. On-location plates can be taken back to the studio and then safely delivered after scan and varnish. The varnish is the most important step many tintype studios skip-- this protects your image from dust and fingerprints, and literally preserves it for generations.
Tintypes created by Andrew Welsh Photography may be 4 x 5 inches in size and are each $75 (in studio) or $100 (on location), or 8 x 10 inches in size and each $150 (in studio) or $175 (on location). Ambrotypes are $25 and $50 extra each, respectively. Location fees may apply. Contact Andrew to commission your tintype portraits.
