Before the development of photographic film, glass plates were used to capture an image and hand-made ‘Wet’ collodion plates were popular until the 1880s. They produced a fine, high-quality image but needed large amounts of equipment and chemicals to create light sensitivity, fixers, washing chemicals and preservatives. Glass plates were housed together in grooved wooden crates and there were no enlargers in early photography - the production of a larger image relied simply on the use of a larger glass plate. Ready-made ‘Dry’ plates introduced in the 1870s were soon popular with the Lake District photographers as they could be prepared in advance of any excursion. They also required less equipment and were less time consuming.

In the early days, no accurate method of capturing an image existed. Light levels and exposure had to be estimated simply by removing the lens cap and counting to the required number of seconds before replacing the lens cap. Exposure meters were introduced towards the end of the Nineteenth Century.

To create photographic prints two techniques were used known as ‘Printing Out’ and ‘Developing Out’. ‘Printing Out’ involved light-sensitised paper being held in close contact with the negative in a printing frame. This was then exposed to light until an image appeared on the paper. Much light was needed to develop the image and they became know as contact prints. In the early days exposure could only be carried out in daylight hours using sunlight and exposure time could vary from a few minutes to many hours depending on the time of year. This was followed by the use of gas lamps and electrical lights as technology advanced. ‘Developing Out’ was a later process which used an enlarger rather than direct plate contact. The image would be invisible on the paper and would only appear when chemically developed. The image was then fixed and treated with a preservative.

The type of light sensitive paper and chosen photographic technique affected the colour and texture of the final print. Silver based papers were popular throughout the Nineteenth Century and often produced a brown or purplish print. Early photographs used sodium chloride (salt) with silver nitrate, but other techniques were developed using albumen, gelatin and collodion. Albumen prints used egg white to size the paper, rather than salt, and were very popular. These prints can often be identified by a glossy surface and have a tendency towards fading. Some non-silver papers were used from the 1860s such as carbon prints and platinum prints known as platinotypes. With a matt surface they produced a softer, grey image which was much more stable. Cyanotypes, or ‘blue prints,’ were invented in the 1890s and the blue image produced became popular. Often the printing papers were toned with chemicals to produce a variety of colours.