Thomas Gibson Studio invites you to venture to Lecompton, Kansas — just a few minutes outside of Lawrence — to spend time with us in our 7,200 square-foot natural light studio.

This fall, on September 17, we’ll host an introductory, entry-level seminar for curious artists of all skill levels and interests. “Ambrotype 101” introduces you to the history of the Ambrotype photography process. After a brief overview of the history and fundamentals of the process, you’ll then jump right in to preparing your own wet plate image.

As the weather cools down and fall finally arrives, you’ll be able to come back to the studio for another introductory seminar on classic photography processes. If you miss us in September, join us on October 21 for an overview of the Ferrotype/Tintype process and a day of hands-on learning and creativity.

Each session kicks off with an overview of past, present and future wet-plate photographers as well as a lesson in photographic chemistry and suggested inspirational reading lists before each attendee begins exposing a plate and varnishing his or her unique Ambrotype or Ferrotype/Tintype.

Space is limited to five spots per workshop so each attendee can fully experience and connect with everyone, myself included, for a more enriching session of truly hands-on learning.

For more information or to reserve your spot now, click the embedded flyer below.

Thomas Gibson Studio started the summer 2011 Collodion Workshops season off with a full class during the height of Kansas tornado season. A group of four creative photographers gathered at the studio at the end of May to get intimate with the collodion wet-plate photography, a fine-art photography process that pays homage to the roots of American photography.

The five of us — Megan, Travis, Crystal, my partner Sherilyn and myself — spent a stormy Saturday sharing the details and experiencing the imperfect beauty of collodion wet-plate photography. Teaching this workshop was a complete shift from the world of fast digital photography and photo manipulation — and what made it even better was seeing how enthusiastic this first group of workshop participants were about the process.

“It was a great experience. I learned a lot of information on the wet-plate process, while performing and practicing the process in a relaxing and inspiring environment,” Megan told me. “At the end of the day, I left with my multiple finished plates, and the knowledge and references needed to start my own wet-plate studio. Along with this came the opportunity to further experience this process and others through future workshops and sessions, which I am looking forward to attending.”

Besides going through the history of the collodion process and actually developing a few of our own plates, my goal in these workshop sessions is to have connect with other artists and emerging talent and have fun. At the end of the day, we kicked back with a bottle of wine and glasses of beer to help unleash a few more creative juices.

“It was amazing and loads of fun — a great learning experience,” Travis says. “If you enjoy alternative processes then you will love the wet-plate collodion process.”

Our next workshop, Ambrotypes 101, is slated for this Saturday. Stay on top of the Collodion Workshops schedule or give me a call to find out more information. If you can’t make it to a workshop soon, check out highlights from a recent collodion wet-plate demo below, and see even more videos on Thomas Gibson Studio’s new YouTube page.

Spring is here, and warmer weather has been making its way to the prairie lands one day at a time. With better weather and easier travel opportunities upon us all, Thomas Gibson Studio invites you to venture to Lecompton, Kansas — just a few minutes outside of Lawrence — to spend time with us in our 7,200 square-foot natural light studio.

This spring, we’ll host an introductory, entry-level seminar for curious artists of all skill levels and interests. “Wetplate 101” introduces you to the history of the Ambrotype photography process. After a brief overview of the history and fundamentals of the process, you’ll then jump right in to preparing your own wet plate image.

As the weather heats up and summer finally arrives, you’ll be able to come back to the studio for two more introductory seminars on classic photography processes. If you miss us in May, join us in June for another overview of the Ambrotype process and a day of hands-on learning and creativity. In July, we’ll work through the Ferrotype/Tintype processes as well.

Each session kicks off with an overview of past, present and future wet plate photographers as well as a lesson in photographic chemistry and suggested inspirational reading lists before each attendee begins exposing a plate and varnishing his or her unique Ambrotype.

Space is limited to five spots per workshop so each attendee can fully experience and connect with everyone, myself included, for a more enriching session of truly hands-on learning.

{Join us this spring and summer for our collodion wet-plate photography workshops.}