Myth Busters Series


Myth Busters #24 (4-5-2021)
The MYTH of YouTube Videos.


Myth Busters #23 (2-26-2021)
The MYTH of the Oily Legs.


Myth Busters #22 (12-14-2020)
The MYTH of the Heated Varnish Bottle.


Myth Busters #21 (12-14-2020)
The MYTH of the Cotton Ball Filter.


Myth Busters #20 (12-9-2020)
MYTH: You need to check your Silver Bath’s pH often for nice clean images.


Myth Busters #19 (11-27-2020)
MYTH: Hot weather will cause your developer to get to warm and chemically fog your images.


Myth Busters #18 (revised 11-30-2020)
MYTH: Overworked cyanide fixer causes Yellow Stains, and possibly worse, on your images.


Myth Busters #17 (1-30-2020)
MYTH: It is a good plan to start your wet-plate journey using clear glass plates.


Myth Busters #16 (1-25-2020)
MYTH: Filtering your Silver Bath in the daylight or anywhere but under safelight conditions will cause
fog and even dirt to show up on any subsequent images made on plates sensitized in that bath.


Myth Busters #15 (1-3-2020)
MYTH: The great and scary myth of the Peeling Plate.


Myth Busters #14 (12-24-2019)
MYTH: The blacks and shadows in a tintype or ambrotype are going to be deeper and darker
when you fix with Potassium Cyanide fixer rather than with plain Sodium Thiosulfate fixer.


Myth Busters #13 (3-7-2019)
MYTH: The Return of the Tintype!


Myth Busters #12 (3-24-2014)
MYTH: Mathew Brady shot Tintypes during the Civil War.


Myth Busters #11 (3-24-2014)
MYTH: Pouring the collodion on a Mammoth plate is extremely challenging
and is the hardest part of shooting Mammoths.


Myth Busters #10 (3-24-2014)
MYTH: Making real deal japanned tin Ferrotype plates is a grossly smelly,
expensive, and generally messy smokestack industry.


Myth Busters #9 (2-24-2011)
MYTH: John Coffer is always right, knows everything worth knowing about
wet-plate photography, and never makes mistakes.


Myth Busters #8 (2-24-2011)
MYTH: If it came out of an old 19th century manual or journal it is always right.


Myth Busters #7 (5-15-2010)
MYTH: Using a "Helper Tray" is not authentic and is just not cool.


Myth Busters #5 (1-21-2010)
MYTH: You can’t use Denatured Alcohol in your working collodion formula.


Myth Busters #4 (1-14-2010)
MYTH of the Hot Fingertips
Myth Busters #4 Addendum (2-16-2010)
Addendum to this very controversial Myth Buster


Myth Busters #3 (3-9-2009)
MYTH: Using a Kerosene Lamp instead of a Spirit Lamp as a heat source is unauthentic and “dirty”
Myth Busters #3 Addendum (2-24-2011)
The New Flameless Hot Water Heat Source for drying and varnishing plates works great!


Myth Busters #2 (2-17-2009)
MYTH: You can use any canned black spray paint to make perfectly fine blackened plates
MYTH: You can use Ammonium Thiosulfate instead of Potassium Cyanide for a fixing agent
Myth Busters #2 Addendum (5-15-2010)
Comparing Ilford Rapid Fixer to Potassium Cyanide Fixer
Myth Busters #2 Addendum (7-21-2010)
Comparing plates fixed using Potassium Cyanide and Ammonium Thio-Cyanate
Myth Busters #2 Addendum (9-23-2010)
Aluminotype verses Ferrotype


Myth Busters #1 (1-18-2009)
MYTH: When problems occur it is usually the Silver Bath’s fault
MYTH: Your freshly mixed up Collodion Solution must be “perfectly clear” before it is ready for use
MYTH: Temperatures below 40 degrees F cause all sorts of problems
Myth Busters #1 Addendum (2-7-2011)
More information on the myth of the silver bath