About Tintype photography studio

8 - 10 November 2024

Sessions each day at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm

Don't miss this special opportunity to for a studio session with professional, award-winning photographer Emma Brown to capture your individual or family portrait with the timeless look of traditional tintype photography.

Emma invites you to join her for your session in the studio which has been turned into a darkroom so that you can sit for your portrait and see the fascinating alchemy of the process as it is developed on the metal plate in front of you.

As we celebrate Cicley Mary Barker’s drawings of figures, flowers and plants in the gallery, the studio will be dressed with beautiful festive foliage displays designed by florist and Head Gardener Chris Sharples as your photograph backdrop.

You will take home a unique handmade tintype plate and will also receive a digital copy of the image for additional prints. Choose an individual or family portrait, or let your little ones take inspiration from the flower fairies in the gallery. Perfect for gifting or use your digital image to make your own unique family greeting cards for the festive season.

Family groups are welcome. Please note children are welcome but must be accompanied by an adult and must be able to sit and not move around the studio due to equipment and photography chemicals. As the portraits require a long exposure of around 8 seconds, to achieve the best results children will also need to be able to be still for this length of time.

Emma Brown takes us through the wet collodion process, the process in which a tintype is made

A tintype is an early type of photograph which was popular with the Victorians and made on a thin sheet of metal.

How it works:

Unlike film photography, tintypes capture images directly onto a metal plate instead of using negatives.
Photographers coat the metal plate with light-sensitive chemicals, such as silver nitrate.
They expose the plate to light through a camera lens, capturing the image.
The chemicals react to light, creating a positive image directly on the metal.
Not only does the exposure capture white light, but also captures UV light. This means it picks up things like freckles really clearly.
The final result is a unique, one-of-a-kind photograph with a distinctive metallic sheen.