Follow the light: An impressive commitment to wet plate photography

Georgetown photographer Tom Cavness is pictured at Bull Branch Park on Sunday, April 9, as he continues to master the 19th Century technique of wet plate collodion photography. With him on this morning was a 1933 8x10 view camera manufactured by Burke and James. Photos by Andy Sharp
Georgetown photographer Tom Cavness is pictured at Bull Branch Park on Sunday, April 9, as he continues to master the 19th Century technique of wet plate collodion photography. With him on this morning was a 1933 8x10 view camera manufactured by Burke and James. Photos by Andy Sharp

Although I met Georgetown photographer Tom Cavness at last month’s Georgetown Photography Festival, it was surprising to see him early one morning last weekend at Taylor’s Bull Branch Park, working with his 8x10 format Burke & James camera, made in 1933. His lens of choice was an Albion, manufactured in the mid-1870s.

For years, Mr. Cavness has been perfecting the wet plate collodion process, a…