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Metallic Replacement Silver Recovery Units. MRUs use a chemical process to recover the silver in the fixer solution. This process involves the use of canisters ranging in sizes from 5 to 20 gal containing either steel wool or wound screen. These units do not need a power source and are only connected with hose attachments. There is a bypass tube that is connected at the top of the cartridge, which allows the fixer solution to go directly to the drain instead of through the cartridge if the cartridge becomes plugged. These systems are extremely efficient, with recovery of silver up...

Were William Henry Fox Talbot alive today he would be celebrating his 220th birthday. William Henry Fox Talbot   Talbot had been experimenting with making photogenic drawings, as he called them at that time, from 1834 until his presentation to the Royal Society on January 1839.  Talbot only made his process known to the public after Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre’s process was announced in Paris. While Daguerre, through his friend and agent   François Arago, sought to sell his patent rights to the French government, Talbot was aggressively presenting his paper process to English audiences in an effort to license his process for financial...

Emotions and opinion run the gamut when it comes to utilizing denatured alcohol within the collodion process. Some suggest it should be avoided at all cost while others report you can pour with confidence. Both opinions have merit. The first realization must be the understanding that the majority of collodion photographers today gain their information from social media channels originating in the United States of America. Therein lies the crux of the issue: what holds true in the good ole US of A may not be compatible with other countries, and most likely isn’t.  Most countries have liquor/spirits legislation that...