An ambrotype is made using the wet-plate collodion process first introduced in 1851by the Englishman Frederick Scott Archer. In essence, it is an underexposed glass plate negative that when placed against a dark background appears as a positive image.

The artist makes her ambrotypes on dark glass to create an unmatched brilliance in the shadows. Once dry, each ambrotype image is coated with a varnish made from gum sandarac and lavender oil. This helps to protect the image surface and makes it archival.

The name wet-plate comes from the fact that the plate (glass or metal) cannot be allowed to dry during the entire procedure. Once the plate has been coated with the clear collodion solution it must be immediately sensitized, exposed, developed, fixed and rinsed before the plate dries.

The plate loses sensitivity and usefulness once it begins to dry. The entire wet-plate process must be performed for each photograph taken. There is no shooting of pictures now and developing them later. In a sense, the wet-plate photographer (or ambrotypist) makes his or her own film and processes it on the spot.

Each ambrotype is hand-made and the small imperfections in the images are a result of the complexity of the process and chemistry. This is part of the charm of working in these old photographic processes as one is never certain of the final image.