PHOTOGRAPHY.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXII, Issue 3872, 11 May 1906, Page 1 (Supplement)

PHOTOGRAPHY.

(London Paper)

No matter what precautions are taken, there are few satisfactory mountants which do not cause tho mount to cockle. Probably tho best for tho purpose is made by dissolving one part of white shellac in two parts of alcohol or methylated spirit. A cheaper mountant is one made of gelatine with a minimum quantity of water. This can bo made as followsGelatine, 2 ozs.; glycerine, i oz.; water, 7 ozs.; methylated spirit, 3 ozs. Soak the gelatine in tho water until quite soft, and then dissolve it by heat in a water bath. Then add the glycerine and stir well, and finally add the spirit in a very thin stream, with continual stirring. It will be better to heat tho spirit slightly by immersing tho bottle in waim water for a few minutes before adding it to tho gelatine. It should be added a little at a time, and tho stirring should bo kept up and no farther addition made until tho slight cloudiness which will first appear (owing to tho precipitation of the gelatine by the alcohol) has become clear. With care, tho whole of tho spirit can bo added. It should bo stored m small, widemonthod bottles, and it will bo nccessary to plaoo same in hot water in order to liquefy before use. Iho prints should be quite dry and flat, and the mountants should bo applied spaiingly with a bristle brush. . . . Acetone seems to be gaming in favour as an ingredient in a developer. Hero aro two simple formulae, one for pvro and one for hydroquinono. Iho former is made up as follows water, 100 parts; sodium sulphite (anhydrous), 5 parts; acetone solution, 10 parts; pyrogallic acid, 1 part. The other is; Jlvdroouinono, 3 parts; water, 100 parts;'sodium sulphite, (anhy.), iU parts; acetone, 10 parts. _ Employing the best advertised appliances and materials, and relying more on happy chance than on his own judgment for success the average amateur blunders on in his practice of phorooraphv, achieving failures which would stand' were they recorded, in appalling preponderance over his successes; but in tho pleasure of the occasional success tho numerous disappointments aro forgotten. With less care and attention , than ho devotes to mastering some ' name or sport, .ho could obtain such mastery ovor his process that ho could bo sure of exposing his plate correctly, and when once a plate or film has been rightly exposed it will bo all but impossible to get anything but a good or fairly good negative; for, after correct exposure, development is all but automatic, or, nt least, does not require tho consideration which is involved in an attempt to compensate for too much or too littlo light action. In innumerable instances tho amateur who has seen but little contemporary work scarcely knows what qualities constitute a good negative; his prints aro either too flat and weak or too vigorous in contrast. Yet for want of .some standard for comparison ho fails to attribute such faults to the character of the negative. It is, therefore, an excellent o';plan if tho beginner is able to borrow '■•or, purchase a really good negative flo'-yyhich to make prints, so that no . . .what he is to strive after priQOip. Monthly” for March has 'ico an actual negative Ksf* The which, whilst in tho -'\ _ r many it will be regarded as a in the high lights, will, ou the whole, admirably serve the purpose just indicated. When once the novice, who can thus far only produce flat, gloomy prints, has made some good negatives, oven though they aro made by someone else, it is probable that his enthusiasm will revive and his practice of photography enter upon a new lease of life. Although ordinary bromide papers or a variety specially prepared tor nega-tive-making are being increasingly used, it docs not seem that their employment is as frequent as their merits deserve. Amongst other uses to which a slow negative paper such as that issued by trio Rotary Company may bo put is when a copy is required or a page or a passage in a book, when to photograph on glass in tho ordinary way is tedious. It is, therefore, suggested that one should use a sheet of bromide paper instead of a plate, and then, if this be developed cleanly, wo shall have white letters on a black ground, which aro as easily read as black on white, with a considerable saving of time. The photography of flowers may bo practised at each and every season of tho year, for commercial enterprise has seen to it that a few pence may procure from some part of the world fresh flowers all the year round. For flowei photography no special apparatus is necessary, but tho use of a half or quarter plate camera with a long extension of bellows and a comparatively short-focus lens—say, o inches for halfplato and 8 inches on a whole-plato camera—is advisable. This is to secure good depth of definition without excessive stopping down. It is a mistake to F-32 or F-04 for flower studies, and, it is not always desirable to get all

tlie blooms on different planes in equally sharp focus. Isochromatic plates should be used, and a colour-screen, tho latter properly adapted to the brand of tho plate used. The writer is often asked how granularity can be avoided when making an enlargement, either print or negative, from an original which has been backed with tracing-paper in order to modify tho lights and shadows. Practically it is impossible to do this satisfactorily in ono direct operation. Suppose wo have a negative with tracing-paper at the back and a certain amount of “stump’’

or pencil work thereon, and wo desire to make a bromide enlargement. Wo must first make a transparent positive on glass plate or film by printing in contact, tho thickness of glass separating tho tracing paper and tho sensitive film being sufficient to allow of tho diffusion of tho granularity can he made in

like manner. Of course, if an enlarged negative is to bo made the positive is used, and thus one operation is saved.

In copying a paper print with a view subsequently to making duplicates, grain again is a constant source of trouble, the effect in this case being caused by shadows caused by upstanding fibres in the paper. Skilled copysists avoid this defect by using diffused light and a reflector in order to reduce all cast shadows to a minimum. In addition to that precaution they .also make it a practice to give a very full exposure, and so do away with the strong contrasts that would show up with a shorter exposure. Put into a few words, then, the principal precautions to take are to diffuse the light upon the print by means of a reflector, to give a very full exposure, and to develop tentatively with a dilute developer, adding the neecssary snap to tho high lights (if requisite) by a brief application of a normal developer when the shadows are all well brought, out.

Most interest lias been shown in tho lecture delivered at the Society of Arts by Mr. J. C. Dollman on the subject of “Art in Painting and Photography,” not because it can be said that the lecturer set forth any new dicta or communicated any new ideas on the wellworn subject, but because Mr. Dollman is a painter by repute, and another painter, Mr. David Murray, occupied the chair, thus giving some authority to the principle that under some circumstances at least photography could bo employed as a means of artistic expression—a view hitherto held by very few who may bo regarded as being in authority. But a useful suggestion fell from Mr. Dollman when ho advocated the establishment of courses of training in art principles quite apart from, and perhaps preliminary to, learning to uso the camera. The lecturer admitted his ignorance of the methods of education which prova.il among photographic societies—his knowledge of pre-sent-day photography was founded largely upon the annual exhibitions in London—but it was evident that the scientific side of the subject was well cared for. One often wondered, however, whether there was a course of training in art independently of the uso of the camera proceeding in the society. The student in painting was for some years occupied in schools of art or in studios of painters, not only learning his craftsmanship, bnc educating his tasto and forming bis standard of beauty. Tho importance, of this to the photographic artist could hardly be over-estimated. HEIR TO MR. ROCKEFELLER. GRANDSON BORN TO THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN. An heir to the untold millions of the Oil Trust and oilier American trusts was born early this morning, in the mansion of Mr. John D. Rockfcller, jun., in 54th street, said a New York message of March 22nd. The child will be named John Davison, after the father and grandfather. Mr. Rockfcller tho elder has frequently expressed his ardent hope of tho birth of a grandson in tho direct lino of succession.

There is much speculation us to whether the grandfather’s anxiety to see the heir will induce him to emerge from his long and guarded retirement. In the expectation that lie will do so, the approaches to the house where the infant plutocrat is lustily .screaming are watched by curious people, among whom, it is said, arc the Missouri State subpoena servers. Mr Rockefeller, junior’s, former child was. a gill. The son is declared to he a fine healthy boy. weighing over 10 lbs. at' birth. DOG COMMITS SUICIDE. OVERCOME"WITH GRIEF. The Anchor liner Columbia, which arrived at New York on Marcli 20th, reported a pathetic incident which occurred on the voyage. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Macdonald, of Glasgow, on a doctor’s advice took their four-year-old daughter Mary on board in the hope that the voyage would save her life. At tho child’s wish her two collies, Daisy and Ben, wore also brought, and were* constant companions at her bedside. Ono day, during a gale, tho child diod, and tho doge were inconsolable. During a temporary moderation of the galo the child was buried in midocean. While the captain read the service over tho body, which was covered with tho Union Jack, the dogs moaned and tugged at their leashes, and whoa tho coffin was committed to tho deep tho elder dog. Daisy struggled frantically, hipko from tho stewards holding her, leaped tho rail, and plunged overboard after tho body of her playmate. CRUELTY BY PHONOGRAPH. NOVEL METHOD OF ANNOYING A WIFE. A Newark (Now York) lady named Emma Hollums is suing her husband for separation, alleging novel grounds of cruelty. Ho talked an impassioned love speech, addressed to a young friend of whom she was jealous, into a largo phonograph, which he placed nightly outside her bedroom door, compelling his wife to listen throughout the night to the stentorian reproductions of his declarations.

Both ho and her rival declared that tho wifo’s suspicions were groundless. They carefully preserved in the presence of third parties an innocent demeanour, and added to her agony by assuring her that the voices were an hallucination, tho object being, it is contended, to drive her insane. Obtaining tho assistance of relatives, tho wife managed, however, to secure tho phonograph with the incriminating record, which wa.s produced in court as evidence.