Editing Collodion process (section)

==Disadvantages==

The wet collodion process had a major disadvantage. The entire process, from coating to developing, had to be done before the plate dried. This gave the photographer no more than about 10-15 minutes to complete everything. This made it inconvenient for field use, as it required a portable darkroom. The plate dripped silver nitrate solution, causing stains and potentially explosive build-up of nitrate residue in the camera and plate holders.

The silver nitrate bath was also a source of problems. It gradually became saturated with alcohol, ether, iodide and bromide salts, dust, and various organic matter. It would lose effectiveness, causing plates to mysteriously fail to reproduce an image.

As with all preceding photographic processes, the wet-collodion process was sensitive only to blue and ultraviolet light. Warm colors appear dark, cool colors uniformly light. A sky with clouds is quite difficult to render, as the spectrum of white clouds contains about as much blue as the sky. Lemons and tomatoes appear shiny black, and a blue and white tablecloth appears plain white. Victorian sitters who in collodion photographs look as if they are in mourning might have been wearing bright yellow or pink.<ref>{{cite web|author=Art Photography |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/7871164/Collodion-photography-self-portrait-in-cyanide.html |title=Collodion photography: self-portrait in cyanide |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |date=2010-07-07 |access-date=2013-03-14}}</ref>