A fake ambrotype of stairs at Fort Belle Fontaine. I wanted to grab a few photos of the cannon too, but it must have fallen into enemy hands, because it was… totally… not… there.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: “Right. Starboard battery, FIRE!”
2nd Lt. William Mowett: “One minute and ten seconds!”
Capt. Jack Aubrey: “Well done, lads. Extra ration of grog for all of you!”
Crew: “Huzzah!”
Russell Crowe & Edward Woodall – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
About this image: digital photograph (Canon 300D) heavily modified to replicate wet plate collodion
Refrigerator Magnate 
That curve is wonderful, Robert, and I like the faux thingy effect. Really good one. 🙂
Thank you, S.E!
There are so many great lines here… you would be able to translate them all so well!
And thank you again! I hope to make some real ones… someday…
🙂
It’s very nice angle I like the stair because I’m an architecture enginner
I really like stairs, too!
I always got a bit nervous when I had to calculate / draw them, though!
🙂
Cool. We’ve got tons of antebellum homes with great stone-stacked stairs and gates around Nashville. Granted today you’ll see one of these historic pieces next to a Taco Bell or Piggly Wiggly, but still, they’re always pretty.
That sounds pretty wild, Ms. N!
Something tells me I might feel a bit better about all the ‘5 buck boxes’ I was putting away if they came out of beautiful stone accented Taco Bell!
🙂
Very much like this!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you so very much! 🙂
I bet the bricklayer muttered while he worked!!!!
Hahaha… *beep*! I don’t think I’d blame him, Loon!
🙂
No cannon for the canon…
I like what you’ve done with this image. Beautiful!
Hahaha… I hadn’t thought about the whole cannon-less Cannon connection!
Thank you so much for your kind thoughts! I sincerely appreciate that!
🙂
I love what you have done to this photo!
Thank you so very much!
🙂
What a dramatic staircase – I see damsels fleeing in distress. Love your mysterious touch!
Thank you so much, Ms. K!
I think a figure in period costume would have been the perfect addition here…
🙂
I call your bluff. Stairs weren’t invented at the time of wet plates.
No, but I do like these, disappearing off the side in both directions. Clever. Very clever.
BLAST! Well-played, U.M… well… played!
I knew I should have tried this with an elevator instead! 😉
I love what you’ve done to the place, SIG! An historical one. It’s really cool. I love all the steps and the scraggy trees in the background! 🙂 I think if I tried to walk all those steps, I would fall off. Nice effect.
Thanks so much, B.F!
Now that you mention it… I’m very surprised I didn’t have an ‘incident’ myself! Especially considering I had my camera with… which makes me even more prone to tripping over things, falling down random holes, etc! I’ve got bruises just thinking about it!
🙂
Promise me you’ll be careful 🙂
Hahaha…
I’ll try, B.F! Safety first!
🙂
Stairs are great for lookin’ at but my climbin’ days are over. 🙂 Great pic…again.
As for the canon I think maybe the gun control people might have won the battle and got rid of it so that it couldn’t be used in a domestic dispute or maybe to overthrow the government or something. I’m always lookin’ for a conspiracy.
Now that you mention it, climbing is completely over-rated, Bo. I get tired just thinking about it!
Hahaha… that seems like a possibility. I was afraid I might have accidentally knocked it down the hill the last time I was here!
🙂
Someone might have just misplaced it. I hope it’s not in my shed…I would never find it.
Hahaha…
your shed sounds like my apartment, Bo!
🙂
I’m afraid to clean out my shed. Jimmy Hoffa might be in there.
HA!!!
‘Have you seen the rake?’
‘Yeah… it’s just past that case of oil… right over there behind Jimmy Hoffa…’
🙂
Beautiful masterpiece once again Bob ,Thanks for sharing my friend 🙂
And I thank you for your very kind words, Jake!
🙂
ooooooh tres cool.
Nice spooky air to this image. I like 🙂
Feel like a cretin: had to google ambrotype
Thanks so much, Ms. B!
No need to feel like a cretin, though.
Just because I’m old enough to remember the 1800’s doesn’t mean everyone else is!
🙂
Some days all you need is an extra serving of grog.
Hope you get your fill of grog this holiday season, SIG!
Hahaha… absolutely!
Thanks so much, Ms. C! And the very same to you, of course!
🙂
What a cool stair case in a very mysterious setting. I’m wondering now how many steps there are.
Great shot, Sig! 🙂
xx
That’s a very good question, Deb!
Now I’m really kicking myself for not counting!
🙂
Huzzah! 😀
🙂
Nice set of stars. But I wouldn’t want to have built those.
Definitely looks like an appropriately old shot.
HA! TRUE! I’d still be cobbling away on the first stone!
Thanks so much, Binky!
🙂
Excellent composition.
So glad you are okay; grabbing shots of a cannon can be deadly. Leave it to well trained circus performers and superheroes. 🙂
Very kind of you sir, thank you!
Hahaha… indeed! Not sure they make enough nets to encourage my working in that manner!
🙂
Nice technique. A lot of stairs to climb. Whoever stole the cannon must be in good physical shape!
Hahaha… no kidding! I would have had trouble pushing that thing downhill!
Thanks so much, Patti!
🙂
cannon, shmannon. it is not missed here in the least! a very dramatic and mysterious image.
thanks for sharing.
Hahaha…
I’m kind of relieved to hear that, P&K! Thank you so very much!
🙂
This reminds me of one of those vintage etchings,
those that are treated with acid on a copper plate
I think? Of course I am probably wrong but anyway
your fine interpretation of this one looks superb 🙂
Have a very nice start to your Tuesday SIG 🙂 🙂
Androgoth
No… I believe you are absolutely right about that, Andro… photogravure (I think?)!
Thank you so much! I sure like the sound of that! I haven’t done much print making to speak of, but I’ve always wanted to give it a try! Seems like it would be a lot of fun (and such interesting / unique results / effects, too)!
Thanks you so very much, sir! I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday as well, my friend!
🙂
Have you ever thought of adding a movie critic bit here 🙂
I clicked the link and saw that the website had false advertising with that canon.
That’s very interesting! A very good idea! But it sounds dangerously close to work, too. 😉
Right?! It was there the last time I visited… but head over with my camera and the thing completely disappears on me! What’s up with that?!
🙂
So mysterious and inviting. I must climb the stairs but I don’t know where they will take me.
Just between you and me if you go far enough there’s a small parking lot. I didn’t mention that before because it doesn’t do a whole lot for the whole mysterious bit.
🙂
great shot. love those vintage effects!
Thanks so much, U.M.!
As I love all your vintage processing (that almost goes without saying, of course)!
🙂
Love the pic… and reference to one of my all time favorite films Master & Commander 🙂
Many thanks!
You know… I just checked out that movie from the library the other day (I had never seen it before). Then when I got ready to post this the cannon reference got me to thinking… so I popped in the movie to check it out. Pretty cool!
🙂
Great one again Robert. Do you do the effects on the computer?
Mostly I do, JB! I mean… I do. Well, what I mean to say, is this is a combination of images I put together on the computer. I took the photo of the stairs with my digital camera. Then I took a piece of plexiglass that I had poured some polyurethane on and scanned that in. Then I combined both of them in Photoshop. There was a bit more tweaking, but for the most part that’s the process I’ve been using on these.
🙂
“Wuthering Heights” rushed to mind. Cool shot!
Thanks so very much!
You are always incredibly kind to say things like that!
🙂
WHy don’t people say “huzzah” anymore? Now that was an exclamation you could sink your teeth into! Oh, great photo, too!
Hahaha… I know! I feel the very same way, Peg! It’s so much more… hearty!
🙂
Holy crap, Sig. This might be my favorite of all your images so far. I love the look of old photos, the daguerreotypes, the tintypes, ambrotypes, etc. This is beautiful. Also creepy. 😀
I LOVE all things wet-plate. It’s a goal of mine to be making the real thing(s) someday… sooner than later… I hope!!! Faking them is better than nothing, but the real things… DANG!
Thank you so very much, madame! I’m thrilled to hear you liked this one!!!
🙂
The real things are incredible, aren’t they? I saw some dags at a flea market recently, and they were in really good shape–no scratches, great image quality. Old-school genius.
ABSOLUTELY! If they’ve been varnished properly they’ll stand-up f-o-r-e-v-e-r! There’s something hauntingly beautiful about them. And I particularly like how each one is so unique… all the imperfections / artifacts… combine that with a vintage lens and DANG! I don’t know how to top that.
🙂
I really love these old style ones that you do. Magnificent set of sweeping curve stairs & with your photo style I can just imagine people in their 1920’s style cloths walking up & down there..
Thank you so very much, Tony! Some day I hope to do the real thing… wet-plate images on glass (or tin). There is just something about that process… I’ve always been drawn to it!
Man! I wish I had a figure or two in this one… in some period clothing… that would have been so much fun!
🙂
I wonder where it leads me to… 😀
It’s kind of fun to wonder about that, isn’t it?!
🙂
Spooky! One of these times we are going to catch a ghost there!
I’ll deploy the REM-POD…
😉
This is excellent!
Just love it.
It’s an image that should hang on a wall!
Thank you so very much! It’s a very interesting place (I hope to go back at some point and see what else I can find)!
🙂
I look forward to see, if you go back. 🙂