Fortunate

 I've been reading Julia Margaret Cameron - Her Life and Photographic Work by Helmut Gernsheim,

and feeling very fortunate to be living in an era of digital cameras and photo editing software.

Julia used the wet collodion process. 

 Here's a glimpse of what this Victorian photographer went through to accomplish her work:

 "Mrs. Cameron had to balance a 15" x 12" glass plate between the thumb and

 first two fingers of one hand, while slowly pouring on collodion with the other;

 the plate had then to be tilted gently in all directions
 to make the collodion form an even coating. 

 The next step was to dip the plate into the silver nitrate sensitizing bath."


"The development had also to be effected by balancing the plate on one hand 

while quickly and evenly pouring the developing solution over it. 

 If no mishap occurred during fixing, rinsing, and drying, 

damage could still occur long after varnishing, 

which was necessary to protect the coating before positives could be printed on it. 

 The negative had to be warmed in front of a fire uniformly and

 "as hot as the hand will bear". 
 The varnish was poured on and drained off in the same way 
as the collodion and developing solutions."


"For printing the negatives, prepared albumenized paper could be bought,
 but it still had to be sensitized with silver chloride - hence the term "silver print." 
This and the printing and fixing of the positives were simple operations
compared with the making of the negative.
They were not developed but "printed out" by contact copying,
the frame holding negative and print being exposed to daylight for several hours,
during which the image slowly appeared.
After fixing and thorough washing, 
the prints were toned with gold chloride to give them a warm sepia tone
 and make them more permanent,
then finally rinsed."


"It has been a real labor," she wrote to Sir Edward Ryan,

 "for in all freezing weather I have poured nine cans of water fresh from the well 

over each photograph."
(Note - all excerpts are from Gernsheim's book)

Oh my, we have it easy!

On another note of good fortune, I found out that my elaborate beaded necklace, 

Tudor Splendor, has been juried into the Bead Dreams Competition.  

This exhibition will have pieces from all over the world in it. 

 Happy day!!!

Wishing you happiness and good fortune in all your creative endeavors.

See you again in a couple weeks.