How to Participate



Our contributing editors are all working with handcrafted silver gelatin emulsions — from the first initial explorations to advanced experimentation. 

The facets to examine are almost infinite.


Becoming a contributing editor

It couldn't be more straightforward.  Make an emulsion and share the results — failures as well as successes.  The failures are every bit as educational as successes if one thing holds true:  Data must be reliable and extensive.  This isn't anywhere near as onerous as it might sound; measure and record everything you can think of — the weights of the chemicals, the temperature at every step, time.  If you combine good data collection habits with an ironclad promise to yourself to change only one variable at a time, you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly emulsion-making becomes as comfortable as cooking.


How to contribute articles

We'll need your recipe, just as you made it, with both qualitative and quantitative measurements, and scans of the results.  And, of course since we are all photographers, there's no excuse for not including some nice photo illustrations.  The forum page has instructions on exactly how to post the information.  If we are all open and honest, and willing to share, we can't help but build a body of knowledge that will outlive us.  Therefore, all information posted on The Light Farm will be considered public.  (Note: During this construction period, we are researching the best open-source license under which to protect our contributions and keep them in the public domain.)

To be able to ask questions and make comments about the content of the site, it will be necessary to become a contributing editor.  Active participation is key to our success.  There are already a number of outlets for conversation about the theory of emulsion-making.  The Light Farm is all about the practice of emulsion-making.   It is my hope that there is enough information on this site to get started cooking.  There is also the book, Silver Gelatin, by Martin Reed and Sarah Jones and information on The Unblinking Eye website. 

In the interest of openness and public information, I would encourage contributing editors to communicate about emulsions on the The Light Farm Forum.  Too many private emails is a sure way to lose valuable knowledge as well as our sense of community.  So, by that philosophy, I won't be answering any questions about the specifics of emulsion-making privately.  Everything I know and learn about emulsions will be immediately posted here. 

My great shining hope is that we will all work together to rebuild a craft that should never have been allowed to die the death of a thousand patents.