Monday, August 5, 2013

Eric Mertens "TheDagLab" (Part 1)

As all of you know I am currently a college student (at time of writing). Last semester I was taking a photography history class. Our professor decided to let us have a first person experience with how some of the old photographic processes were performed. She took us to Eric Mertens's "TheDagLab" where Eric Mertens showed us some of the processes. While there we got to witness the making of some tintypes and some daguerreotypes. Eric Mertens is the photographer who makes these in his own lab. If you would like to see the services he offers, his website is here. I took around 31 photos there and will be splitting them into 2 parts. Another thing I want to mention is that I am in no way affiliated with Eric Mertens and I am also not getting paid or compensated to do this. I thought I'd throw in a small ad up for him here on my blog because I am using the photos I took around his lab. Plus I find these historical photographic processes pretty interesting and want to bring awareness of them out to the public.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos below, they are up on my portfolio for viewing here.

Parts: 1 | 2 |

Most of the photos for today will be of the tintype process. The daguerreotype process will come up next time.

Here is Eric Mertens and his dogs.

A photo of just his dogs.

A vintage stereo camera for taking stereographs or 3D images. 


Eric Mertens showing us a tintype. 

More tintypes. 

A coffee roaster and grinder in his lab. Not photography related at all. :P


A piece of tin for tintypes. 

The old fashioned camera in his studio. Not sure what they are called. 



Setting up for a shot.

Front of the camera with the lens cap on.

Preparing the tin for the photo. 


Developing the image. Wasn't able to fix the white balance to get rid of the tint of the light. 

I think this was for drying off the tintype. 

The 2 tintypes done while we were there. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will show you the daguerreotype process. Again, if you would like to see the services Eric Mertens offers, his website is here. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 |