Civil War photography is the topic at Roundtable event next week

Newton — If you ever wondered about the process used by Matthew Brady to take those amazing photographs during the Civil War, you will not want to miss the Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting of the Colonel Henry Ryerson Civil War Round Table, at 7:30 p.m., at Sussex County Community College, in the theater (D-Building). John Bernaski, a practitioner of wet-plate collodion photography, will be the featured speaker. He will explain and demonstrate the technique of wet-plate photography made famous between the years 1850 and the 1880s. Bernaski is an active participant in numerous Civil War re-enactments, and will be dressed for the part as a 19th century photographer. Over the years in that hobby he realized that digital or 35 mm photos did not do justice to historic scenes, so he designed and now uses a large-format camera that he had built in 1860s fashion. The lenses used in his camera were made in the mid-1800s. During his presentation Bernaski will describe a process that requires coating a sheet of tin with light-sensitized collodion, taking a portrait, and developing the collodion before it dries, hence the name wet-plate photography. Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information call Jennifer at 295-2603 during work hours or visit www.ryersoncwrt.com.