From the moment Nicola Huffstickler dropped a plate in a bath of “fix” solution, she was hooked on tintype and ambrotype. She got to see an image go from a negative to a positive right before her eyes, forever commemorating objects from Quinn Jacobson’s studio, including an old opium bottle, a piece of thistle, and a skull. To this day, it’s one of her most sentimental pieces.
“I was obsessed from the moment I walked into his studio,” says Nicola. “From his 1858 camera to the darkroom smells, I could feel my eyes sparkling.”
Nicola got her start in photography in Savannah, Georgia, working with Anne Caufmann, who is well known in the area for weddings and commercial projects. She started out as her assistant, and then Anne taught her how to use a DSLR camera, and she later became her second shooter and lead photo editor.
Nicola eventually moved to Colorado to shoot the Denver Cutthroats with her first full hockey season credential, fulfilling her first goal of being an ice hockey photographer. When they ceased operations, she was completely devastated and put her camera down in 2015 to do some soul searching.
That soul searching eventually led her to a tintype and ambrotype session. Following the session with Patrick Adande, she listed her digital camera equipment for sale on Facebook Marketplace and took the proceeds to book a more rigorous workshop with her mentor, Quinn Jacobson.
“When I saw the magic of the process and held a tintype in my hands, I knew that was it. I finally found what could give me that spark again; it also opened the door back up for a business model, too. I’ve been a professional photographer for 20 years, and it was the wet plate collodion process that brought me back to life and unveiled just how much of an artist I truly am. I’ve always wanted my work to have both an emotional and physical weight, and wet plate has given me that plus more than I could ever imagine,” says Nicola.
Now she runs her own tintype studio out of The Temple, surrounded by just under 30 artists. The space is owned by Adam Gordon, but she sees him as more of a curator, constantly speaking highly of the artists and bringing people from NINE dot ARTS or RiNo Art District to tour their studios.
“The community we have is irreplaceable, especially when we lean on each other for help or guidance,” says Nicola. “If I need art or business advice, maybe even something 3D printed on the fly, I can go knock on my neighbor Thomas “Detour” Evans’ door, or if I need a backdrop or anything photography related, I can walk around the corner and ask my other neighbor, Julian Donaldson, who owns the WNRD (We Never Really Die) Studio.”
Her favorite part is the relationship she’s been able to form with her clients. She’s been able to cement special moments for people, ranging from weddings and anniversaries to birthdays, transitions, and even sobriety milestones.
She’s also there for the hard times. She offers complimentary portraits of elderly folks diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has been there to capture many fur babies about to cross the rainbow bridge. “I’ve seen many tears, both happy and sad, within the four walls of my studio,” says Nicola, “But at the end of the day, I feel so incredibly lucky that people trust me to capture such pivotal moments in their lives.”
Nicola also loves the permanence of the form. Once the coat of varnish is applied, it’s sealed for the next 200 years, giving her clients a new family heirloom.
She formulated her own techniques to match the “on the go” rush of modern-day society, while maintaining the magic of the process. Clients don’t have to sit for long exposure times like they had to in the Victorian era, but they’re still pleasantly surprised that they didn’t blink.
“I try my best to make this process less stressful because you only get one shot,” says Nicola. “People are shocked when I tell them that they only have to hold still for :01 or :02 seconds.”
To see her work or book a session, head to NLPhoto.co or follow her on Instagram at @oldblackkettle.