You may have seen this months ago - a quick recap:
I built a wet plate darkroom on a cargobike in late 2023 to practice this now 175 year old process in the area of Munich. In summer 2025 I wanted to push the idea of the rolling darkroom and rode to castle Neuschwanstein to put it on another plate.
A few of you asked me to post more, when I head out again with Yellow 13.
So here it is - a 2026 wet plate season opener here in Munich, the art museum district this time.
Just a friendly reminder, tomorrow is the world wet plate day. Upload your plate you made on May 2nd to Wetplateday.com
5x7 Ambrotype on black acrylic
My contribution to World Wet Plate Day 2026: Looking the Other Way
Okay gang, not sure where else to turn. I cannot get rid of fucking speckles in my varnish process. It seems to happen every time, some times are worse than others.
I've tried premade Shellac, premade Sandarac, making my own Sandarac
Wiping plates with microfiber cloth
Heating at a lower temp (vs like the UV Photographics varnishing videos)
Heating for less time
Using Chemex filters to strain the varnish
Waiting for days & times with low humidity
Using toaster oven
Using heat gun
What I haven't tried:
Cleaning plates with alchohol after removing plastic peel before shooting
Using distilled water through the whole process / final clean instead of tap water
These speckles appear without heat. At first I thought it was gasses etc trapped underneath when I heated it but I don't really think that's the case anymore as they appear before heating.
I've annoyed all of my tintype friends to death on this and none of us can come up with an answer. It seems to always happen SOME, but sometimes it's really bad. I've been shooting wet plate for over a year and this is something I just can't seem to solve. Any insight is super appreciated!
Some woodworking/construction friends have suggested using distilled water during the whole process (they think its hard water causing it maybe) - that seems a little crazy to me but will try it.
Here are some photos/videos as reference.
Excuse how exasperated I sound in the video, its just been an issue for so long and I can't seem to figure it out! These were videos sent to other wet plate friends.
https://reddit.com/link/1t7na9z/video/sujlsnh7szzg1/player
Shot some characters at the local graffiti spot.
Bonus features are found here.
