This was the second time I tried wet plate photography. The first time, in 2023, was a studio workshop and I loved it, but I wanted to see what it took to do landscapes with this setup. We were supposed to do this workshop in 2024, but it was canceled. I got the bug and couldn't wait any longer, so I started putting together a new camera kit. I wanted to get an 8x10 setup but I wasn't having any luck finding one so a nice 5x7 became available. Of coarse after that, a good 8x10 camera became available.

I started building up a set of lenses to go with these cameras, but none of them were on lens boards so I couldn't mount them to the camera. I contacted S.K. Grimes about mounting these lenses. I had to ship them all of the lenses so they could build flanges and boards for them.

Everything came together a week or tow before the workshop, so this was the first time I had the camera out to see how everything worked together and the first time I made plates with my own camera. You can see a large tent and there is a box on one of the tables. These were our darkrooms for the workshop. The tent is actually an ice fishing tent, something you don't see in California or Arizona.