‘Old process. New legends.’ Inside RIT professor’s photoshoot with the Buffalo Bills
Clay Patrick McBride
Two of the many Buffalo Bills players Clay McBride made tintype portraits of during the team's recent media day. From left, quarterback Josh Allen and offensive tackle Dion Dawkins.
Clay Patrick McBride, associate professor in RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, is an acclaimed portrait photographer whose portfolio is a who’s who of pop culture.
He is known for a distinct, bold, contemporary lighting style. But he is also an expert in collodion wet plate (tintype) photography. It’s an antique, analog process blending chemistry and camera skills to create a unique piece of photographic art.
During the Buffalo Bills’ 2026 mini camp, McBride was hired to make tintype portraits of players on the NFL team. Below, he shares his account of the experience.
By Clay Patrick McBride
On June 8 in Orchard Park, N.Y., the Buffalo Bills held media day.
The practice facility was filled with photo and video crews. More than a dozen sets were built across the space. Lights flashed. Cameras clicked. Assistants moved fast. Each player had a handler with a checklist. They moved from station to station, crossing off each stop as they went.
Clay Patrick McBride
Four additional players McBride photographed.
It felt like a gauntlet. A mosh pit of strobes, cameras, cables and people.
There was not much time. Every set had to work fast. Every photographer had to be ready. The pressure was real. But pressure makes diamonds.
My set was different.
I was making tintypes using wet plate collodion, a photographic process from the 1850s. Each image begins on a metal plate. The plate is coated by hand with chemistry, then made sensitive to light in a silver nitrate bath. It must be exposed in the camera while still wet. Then it is developed by hand in trays, right there on set.
The players were blown away by the large 8-by-10 accordion camera. They leaned in to watch the plates develop. For a moment, the rush of media day stopped. They watched their images appear slowly in the chemistry. They smiled. They laughed. They pointed.
It became more than another stop on a checklist.
Through my lens, the players became warriors. Gladiators. Modern superheroes of strength and speed. There was power in them, but also stillness. The final images had the feel of another time. Part Buffalo Bill. Part Billy the Kid.
Old process. New legends.
