Tintype Portraits Near Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Looking for a tintype portrait in or near Bucks County, Pennsylvania? My wet plate collodion studio is in Lambertville, New Jersey, directly across the Delaware River from New Hope.
I create one-of-a-kind portraits by hand on metal and glass using the historic wet plate collodion process introduced in the 1850s. Each plate is coated, sensitized, exposed and developed during your sitting, creating an original physical photograph rather than a digital reproduction.
Make it part of a New Hope–Lambertville day
Just Across the River from New Hope
If you're coming from New Hope, the studio is just across the bridge in Lambertville. Clients also visit from Doylestown, Yardley, Washington Crossing and throughout Bucks County for portrait sessions, anniversaries, family portraits and unique gifts.
A tintype sitting is an easy way to make a day in New Hope and Lambertville feel a little more memorable. The two towns sit directly across the Delaware River from one another, connected by the bridge, so it is easy to spend time on both sides.
You might start with a walk through New Hope, cross into Lambertville for your portrait sitting, then spend the rest of the day exploring antique shops, galleries, restaurants and the canal towpath. Because the studio is right in Lambertville, your portrait can become part of the day rather than the only reason for the trip.
For couples, families and visitors from Bucks County, it makes the experience feel less like an appointment and more like something worth building a day around.
A portrait made the old way
Every tintype is made by hand using the wet plate collodion process, a photographic method first introduced in the 1850s.
During your sitting, the plate is coated, sensitized, exposed in a large-format camera and developed while still wet. You can watch the image appear in the developing tray before the plate is washed, finished and prepared as a physical object.
There is no digital filter creating the look and no mass-produced print at the end. Each portrait is an original photograph made on metal or glass, with the depth, texture and small imperfections that make wet plate photography distinctive.
The plate made during your sitting is the photograph itself.
