POV: Going Overboard With Wet Plate Look?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy (iPhone)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy (iPhone)

I've been bitten by the "wet plate look" bug. Yes, I have...I admit it.

And it's been made worse by the recent announcement by Alien Skin Software that its Alt Photo iPhone App was available for free.

Just yesterday, I made a bunch of such photographs in my neighborhood using my iPhone. On Hudson street, I snapped a can collector as he walked past me, and of Mémé, a neighborhood popular restaurant with a delicious menu.

I don't know the reason for this infatuation, which seems to be concentrated on the wet plate and tintype look. So far, the remainder of the Alt Photo classic, retro and vintage film styles don't exert the same pull on me.

In my travel photography, I'm a purist...seldom, if ever, cropping my photographs, for example. While photographing the streets of New York City, I do crop since I normally shoot from the hip, and my framing is therefore not always accurate or satisfactory. All my post processing was done on Photoshop and/or Lightroom.

But upon my accidental discovery of Alien Skin's Exposure 4 software, and subsequently its iPhoto app, I've let my hair down and enjoy using them, hardly worrying about what wet plate purists may or may not think.

I scour my hard drives, looking for photographs (all portraits so far) that lend themselves well to the 'wet plate'/tin type look...I've even set up a new photo blog and named it The Digital Wet Plates to showcase these portraits.

With the Alt Photo App, I am certain that my iPhone will be an integral part of my gear while on my The Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop. I am certain I will be able to capture many photogenic Sufi portraits that'll look almost authentic!

Note: I have no relationship with Alien Skin Sofware and/or Alt Photo App other than being a consumer.