Bay Area Tintype is a traveling tintype portrait studio in Northern California offering pop-ups run by Amber & Eric.

Amber is a photo-based artist and educator. In 2013, Amber learned the wet plate collodion process at the Penumbra Foundation in New York City. She's since spent time perfecting her practice in upstate New York with long time wet plate practitioner John Coffer. Amber explores the photographic medium using historical and alternative photographic processes.

Currently, Amber is Professional Photography Faculty at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, MI. Previously, she has served on the photography faculty at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Wayne State University and Oakland University. Her work has been exhibited in group shows throughout the United States. Amber has been an Artist-in-Residence at both state and National Parks where she practices the wet plate collodion process in the field making landscape photographs. In 2026 Amber will be a National Parks Artist-in-Residence at Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan.

Eric is a photographic artist working in traditional darkroom processes. He learned analog technique through a directed study with Guggenheim fellow McNair Evans. His work has been exhibited in group shows juried by MacArthur grant recipient Robert Adams and Pier 24 Photography director Allie Haeusslein, among others. He is a member of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel.

Tintypes are created using the wet plate collodion process. This process uses hand poured chemicals on an enameled sheet of metal resulting in one of a kind positive photographs. Introduced in 1851, wet plate collodion was the predominant photographic process until the 1880's.