Kris Bentham Photography

Oslo

With Ryan air offering cheap fairs across Europe it can be cheaper to travel abroad than across the UK. At just £28 for a return flight to Oslo its a very tempting prospect for those with a taste for culture and adventure. Booking our tickets on a whim with little knowledge of what to expect we set off looking for something new.

Our first taste of Norway was the transfer bus, The krone's exchange rate was at 1DKK to 10p making the prices seam overly large to begin with. The airport Transfer came to 100 or £10

The City had a welcoming fell with a lively centre with entertainment and a relaxed friendly feel. The crisp winter air seamed to reflect the clearly visible concern over the environment with small city cars and electric charging stations in use throughout the city

Eating was when we noticed the cost of living with fast food costing close to £10 per meal we re-framed from venturing in to any restaurants due to the cost.

With Norway not being in Europe we took advantage of the duty free, with the extra cost of living out here it was a good paid off.

Beer was the biggest cost of the trip with the price of a pint ranging between £7-£10 any money saved on the travelling costs was lost in the bars. but it didn't effect the atmosphere with a friendly, lively feel. While the bars and pubs where lively and busy, the Sunday night had a deserted quietness to it we strolled had word about a venue called BLAH and it didn't disappoint, a large warehouse venue hosted to a variety of acts with a very lively crowed and no cover charge

The next day we where treated to a taste of the Norwegian weather, a snow storm while it was mild it didn't stop life with the streets busy life didn't stop. we spent the morning looking at the more tourist locations such as the Opera house which was a playful design encouraging you to climb to its roof and take in the view.

While the draw of the trip was the low cost travel this wasn't a sign of things to come, the high cost of living may have put us off from experiencing everything Oslo had to offer but it didn't stop us for seeing the culture.

Laura Peters Wet Plate Collodion Workshop

After seeing the wet plate photography being used online and researching the work of Rodger Fenton, I've developed a love for the soft aesthetics in produces. As an introduction I attend Laura peters wet plate workshop where she took us though every step of the process. I was joined on the workshop by Kirsty Walden a portrait photography who did some amazing portraits of me thought the day.

The darkroom

The camera used, your standard plate camera with a lens form the 19th century.

The slides are adapted to take the plates

Cololodium poured on to the plate is part of the sensitising process

Kirsty rocks the collodion covered plate to brake up any rivulets that may have formed while covering the plate

Then the plate is ready to be sensitised and loaded into the plate holder, this has to be done under red light to stop the plate form fogging.

After the plate is sensitised a exposure is taken, the low sensitivity of the process requires long exposures this allows the lens cap to be used as that shutter.

The developer is measured out before the lights go out

You can watch as the Image develops

Development is then stopped

The image is then fixed

And washed

Once dry the image then needs a varnish to keep it on the plate.

The workshop was an amazing introduction to the process and Laura relaxed guide thought the process allowed us to be as experimental with the process and lead us to find out how the different materials reacted to the sensitising. I would recumbent the course for anyone no technically knowledge is needed as its a very hands on course.

Laura's wet plate work can be found at http://www.laura-peters.co.uk/p959606495

Oslo

Laura Peters Wet Plate Collodion Workshop

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