When we were in New York a couple weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to meet a wonderful photographer named Daniel Ballesteros, who offered to take a portrait of baby Arrow for us and turn it into a tintype photograph. The resulting image from our little photoshoot arrived in the mail the other day, and we're sooo happy with the way it turned out!
Tintypes were popular in the early days of photography, circa the mid-1800s, before the invention of dry plate negatives and hand-held cameras, which simplified the process and allowed photographers to take their equipment out of the studio. The tintype process involves exposing an image onto a metal plate that has been coated in a "salted collodion solution" and then dipped into silver nitrate, and the result is an amazing, one-of-a-kind keepsake that has incredible detail and a timeless quality to it.
Daniel recently launched a website called Made In Tin, and is available for commissions to people who live in and around New York City. He can also take any existing photograph and turn it into a tintype, so you can send him a favorite image of yours and he'll transform it into a unique object that will become an instant family heirloom!
I did a quick search online for some vintage tintype images of infants, and found these classic looking photos of babies from the 1800s. So amazing!
