Columbia Diggins 2023

Columbia Diggins has slowly wormed its way into my heart with its charm of the small communities and the docents and volunteers that work closely together to bring this event to life for the schools and the public and it has left me with a feeling of wanting to return soon this year and last year after my first experience.

The one thing that is different this year than previous is that we got to work for 4 days instead of the 3 days last year. Thursday & Friday were still dedicated to registered schools that got to see authentic 1852 living demonstrations such as laundry, gold mining, general store, saloons and theatre performances. Saturday & Sunday were open to public! And just like last year, the heat and non wind were still present. It has also become tradition for me and my dad to stay with my friend Matt Schnittker and his family and that will always been a good time catching up and sharing meals.

I tried not to take out my iPhone to take pictures as much as I did previous years in order to keep present with the experience and not get in trouble with the state park, so I snapped pictures of just my favorite tintypes that I created and pictures of the area during set up and take down.

On Saturday & Sunday, Matt’s two kids that have also been taught wet plate collodion, joined me in making portraits. Their mom, Shannon, makes these excellent laser cut frames for 4x5 tintypes. I was gifted this portrait of me that they did. They truly have grown a lot as photographers over the years I have known them.