A Beautiful Day in Chappell Hill- Part I- Kate and Garner's Engagement Portraits

One of the tintypes we took in front of Kate's family's home.  The tintype process is a 19th century photographic process where pictures are exposed onto sheet metal.  Check out my blog for some more information about tintypes.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I headed to Chappell Hill, TX to photograph some engagement and family portraits.  Chappell Hill is a beautiful little town located near Brenham, TX (home of Blue Bell Ice Cream!).  Kate's family lives a short walk from downtown, so we started photographing at their beautiful, historic house, then walked down the street into town.  We had beautiful weather, and even took a couple tintypes!  I thought the historic setting was a perfect reason to bust out all of the tintype gear!  Kate and Garner did a great job staying still and not blinking for the 6-8 second exposures!

We were only able to take a couple quick exposures inside this church before we had to leave.  I wish we could have spent a bit more time taking photos inside, but there was a meeting scheduled to take place while we were there, so we took what we could get!  The church, located downtown, is a historical landmark, and is more or less the original structure, with very few changes since it was built.

The first tintype exposure, a bit over-exposed.  Because the "film speed/ISO" of a tintype is so slow, you can't accurately meter the light of a scene like you would with a normal camera.  Trial and error is the best way to get a correct exposure.

Kate's family's home is absolutely gorgeous.  After purchasing the home they did an incredible job restoring this piece of Texas history.