Digital Camera World - UK (2020-04)

76 DIGITAL CAMERA^ APRIL 2020 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

Create vintage effects

Intense eyes

To really nail the wet-plate look, you can sharpen

the eyes. Using the Brush Tool, double-click Effect to

reset the sliders. (Click New to retain your settings if

you’re coming from the final step.) Set Sharpness

to 100, and paint just the eyes and lashes. Set the

brush Exposure to +0.33 to lighten them as well.

ome time ago, I did a class

on wet-plate photography.

Wet-plate was the main

form of photo creation in

the American Civil War

era, often practised by photographers

in travelling wagons, pulled by horses.

In this process, you create the plate,

shoot the photo, and develop it within

five minutes, before the plate dries.

It requires either a long exposure

or huge amounts of light.

There are some notable qualities

to the wet-plate look. They’re black

and white, based on the silver halide

chemistry of the day. They’re prone to

breakdown from sunlight, so they fade.

This can also yellow them. If you don’t

apply a varnish, they’re also prone

to scratches. The plates have to be

mounted in the dark slide, so the corners

are often not exposed. With portraits,

the eyes often have a very intense,

sharp, look to them. Here we’ll apply

all of these elements in Lightroom...

S

FUNDAMENTALS

FILE & VIDEO

Download the

disc: http://www.bit.ly/

dc227disc

After

Give your photos the distinctive wet-plate look in minutes

Sean

McCormack

Sean McCormack is

a photographer and

writer, based in Galway on

the west coast of Ireland.

He’s the author of The

Indispensable Guide

to Lightroom CC.

Before