Refreshing Collodion
The collodion mixed with halogen-salts (called: salted collodion), which is the binder material of the wet plate collodion process, start to deteriorate over time. The main reason is, that the collodion, when aged, starts to acidifying and the result is the liberation of the Iodine from its salt and then the free Iodine turn the collodion from a pale straw color to a cherry color state. The color differences would not be a big problem, but the too much free iodine (some is necessary in the collodion) makes the pictures too hard and losing its sensitivity. My friend Attila Venczel found a paragraph of scripture about, how the old masters "corrected" this problem. The title of the book was: "Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney - Instruction in Photography". Actually, the idea is very simple: if you have a dog that chews the rug, throw him a bone to play with. So if you have free iodine, which chews the collodions, give it a „bone”. There are two metals consi...