The Amateur Photographer.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 4, 1 February 1911, Page 539

The Amateur Photographer.

(By Barclay Hector.)

Photography Simplified.

With Notes on Pinhole Photography.

Introductory. It matters little to the photographic novice how the lens forms the image, why plates must be developed and fixed, or why papers have to be toned. He wants to know the shortest cut towards obtaining moderately goods records of scenes, etc., with a minimum of technical knowledge. For this reason I recommend him to use

1 plate, the “Imperial Special Rapid; 1 developer, “Burroughs Wellcome’s Tabloid Metol-Hy-droquinone’’; and one paper, “Leto Seltona.” The special rapid plates, because most amateurs are anxious to take subjects which require rapid exposures, and in nine eases out of ten, if they took these with, slow plates, under-exposure would result, and even slight under-exposure cannot be satisfactorily rectified. The Tabloid developer, because it is much handier and saves weighing of chemicals; and, one greater advantage, the solutions made from the tabloids do not vary in strength. The Seltona paper I recommend, because with very little practice in printing the results are certain, and are obtained with a minimum expenditure of both time and money. Usually the beginner is taught in the first place how

u v v —— A to make a negative, and afterwards how to take a print from that negative. I do not recommend this. I would strongly advise him (before attempting any other branch of photography) to buy a packet of Seltona paper, some Hypo, and a printing frame, and to borrow from a friend who is an advanced photographic worker a first-class negative; to print from this negative according to the directions given later on, and so get used to the quality of negative requisite to give good prints. He will then have a better idea as to the kind of negative to be aimed at. It may be as well to give a summary of

all that has to be done, from the time of making up one's mind to "go in for" photography. First of all it will be understood that a half-plate (6%in. x 4%in.). outfit costs mors both in initial and subsequent- expenses, than does a quarter-plate (4i4in x 3i4in.) ; so that the first thing to decide is not'merely as to the'ways and means, but also as to whether the extra expense will be warranted in view of the prospective work, Personally I prefer the quarter-plate for

taking ordinary topographical records, such as most amateurs wish to obtain; and a quarter-plate picture can always be enlarged. I would ask my readers to bear in mind that no more picture can be got on a -plate than on a quarter-plate with the outfits as usually supplied by the makers. True, the objects in the halfplate are, of course, larger in reality, but not in proportion. Secondly, those who do not know a camera from an enlarging box would be wise to get a photographer friend to help in the selection of a camera. By way of suggestion, -I would name the following

quarter-plate cameras as being quite satisfactory : “Folding Vida,” with Ensign Symmetrical lens, complete with 3 double dark slides, case and tripod. Costing about £2 5 0 ‘ ‘ Century, ’ ’ with Rectilinear lens, complete with 3 double slides, case and tripod. Costing about £3 10 6 “Premo,” with Rectilinear lens’ complete with 3 double dark slides, case and tripod. Costing about £3 10 0 These can all be used as hand or stand cameras. Do not he persuaded to purchase a box-form hand-camera. Although I have included the tripod in the estimate for each of the above sets, the tripod for the first named will have to be selected separately. Let it be light but rigid. Two fold is better than three-fold. A focussing cloth will be needed. If means will permit, have a “Paragon”; if means will not permit, have any thickish black cloth (3 feet square), which will

answer the purpose well enough. Say 2/for this. Next, dishes. For developing get a deep porcelain dish, sin. x 4in. (inside measurement), and for fixing get a Xylonite dish, Bydn. x 6y>in. The former will cost 1/-, the latter 2/-. The advantage of having so large a fixing dish will be apparent later. (For half-plate size Tin. x Sin. porcelain and 13in. x 12in. Xylonite, 1/9 and 8/6.) Now for a lamp. A folding fabric lamp is all that is necessary, price 3/-; or a japanned tin lamp with ruby glass, say 5/-. In either case, as we are to use rapid plates, it will be well to buy a piece of yellow

fabric to put round, or in front of, the red fabric or tin lamp, as the case may be. This may cost 1/-. Plates. Be advised, if it is hoped to benefit by the instructions given later, and buy a box of “Imperial Special Rapid Plates,” 1/3 -plate size, 2/6), Do ■not put the box out in the sun. , . Chemicals: two only, (a) A box of Burroughs Wellcome’s “ Metol-Hydroqui-none” Tabloids, 1/6; and (6) 11b. of Hypo, 3d. A four-ounce glass measure, 1/3, is most necessary, and a glass rod, 6d., is handy. Two more things, if you have not. already got them, to complete the list. A printing frame (U/pn. x Sypn.), “Jay Nay’’ pattern, 1/-; and a packet of “Leto Seltona” printing-out paper (glossy, matte, or antique-white), 1/3; (half-plate r.; r. /"» 1 /O 1 m a-/ *j auu a./ uj , Dark Room.. The plates when removed from box and unpacked will be affected by all light except ruby, or ruby and yellow mixed, and they are even somewhat affected by

camera should always be level from side to side. Having arranged the view 'to your satisfaction on the ground glass, be sure that all clamps and screws are tight, and do not forget to set the shutter (or put the cap on the lens). / Method in Focussing.

these colours; more so when they are in a dry state. Therefore it is necessary to exclude from the dark-room all light except red or red and yellow mixed. Ordinary commercial ruby glass will not do; buy special glass from a photographic dealer. If a special room can be set apart, so much the better; in any case we must, if working in daylight, block the light coming through all windows and chinks in the doors, even the key-hole. At night time the bathroom is perfectly safe, unless the light happens to shine through the window from the next house or from a street lamp, in which case the rays of light must be stopped. A good water supply is a great convenience. .

Negative Making. It is necessary first to explain what a negative is. It is a glass plate, or film, coated with a sensitive gelatinous emulsion which has been more or less affected by the light coming through the lens, and which has been treated (developed and fixed) with certain • chemicals. All the light parts in the original view are the dark

parts in the negative, and vice versa. Sup- < pose the following diagram (a) were 1 photographed:—

The dark parts photographing light, and the light parts photographing dark, would form the reverse, or negative (6) ; and on taking a print this would be again reversed and form the positive (c), similar to the original (a). If some of the dark parts of the original were not so dark as others, they would photograph darker on the negative, and consequently would appear lighter on the print. A finished negative is no longer sensitive to light, and with careful handling thousands of prints may be taken from it. Direction I—Filling Dark Slides. (NOTE —The following directions apply to all sizes of plates, but I am at present assuming that we are using quarter-plate.) Most dark-slides, or plate-holders, carry

two plates each. Take the dark-slides and box of plates into the dark-room, and make sure that no light is coming from outside the room. Then light the ruby lamp and place it on some convenient shelf or bracket. Open the box of plates. Do not go too near the light. The plates will be found to be packed in fours; the two outside plates of each four with glass sides outwards, the two inner plates with the emulsion sides outwards and the glass sides in contact. Into each side of the dark-slide put one plate, emulsion side 'outwards, i.e., towards where the lens will be. Before putting the plates into the slides it is well to give them each a sharp knock edgeways on a table or the hand, so as to remove any dust. Do not brush the film, and do not touch the emulsion side with the fingers; catch the plates by their edges. Having filled the dark-slides, be careful to close the box of plates and put out the light. Wrap the dark-slides in a cloth. Direction Taking the Photograph. : We are now ready for exposing a couple

of plates. Choose some simple view on a bright day between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Do ■not face the sun. Set the camera up so that the base-board is perfectly level, so that the camera is not tilted either towards the sky or the ground. The lens should be open, i.e., as large an opening in the lens as possible. Put the focussing cloth over the head and examine the ground glass where the image will be found, upside down. It will probably be blurred and indistinct. Rack the lens nearer to or further away from the ground glass until an object at, say, 20 feet distance, is quite distinct. This is called “focussing.” If all that is required in the picture is now included on the ground glass, proceed as in Direction 3. If not, move the camera backwards or forwards, as it is wished to include more or less view. If it is found that the camera has to be tilted to get in a tall tree or building, the ground glass focussing screen {i.e., the back of the camera) must be put vertical. But, if the lens be a good one, it is better to keep the camera level when possible, and to raise the lens to take in high objects. The

First make up your mind as to what is the principal object in the picture chosen. It may be a tree, the cloud effect, a building', or it may be the general effect of light and shade. But there must, in every scene, be some special feature which predominates, and it is necessary to find out what this is before focussing can be properly done. A good way to ascertain what this special feature is, is to close the eyes for a few seconds, then open them for onefifth of a second only, and try to think what you saw most of. Perhaps the whole scene you will think! Try again, and again, and in time you will find that some object will engage your attention more than the other. This will be the object of principal interest, and must be in the sharpest focus {i.e., sharper than any other object .in the picture) but not necessarily 'microscopically defined. We will suppose that the principal object is a tree, twenty feet away; near at hand are bushes, and, in the distance, hills. Use the largest stop you have (say F. 8), and bring the tree into the focus desired. Now stop the lens down to F. 11, and focus again in such a way as to render less sharply the distant hills, but at the same time retaining the desired degree of sharpness in the tree. Now turn your attention to the bushes in the foreground. Probably you must use a still smaller stop, and again adjust the focussing so as to retain the tree just as sharp as you wish, the distant hills less sharply defined, and at the same time get the foreground bushes sufficiently sharp so that the eye may see them and know quite well what they are without being sneciallv attracted tn

O •'■'X # 7 uuui livivu uv them. The guiding principle should he to put the principal object in sharpest focus, and other objects in subordinate degrees of definition according to their 'pictorial importance. It must be remembered, however, that the colours of nature are apt to mislead even experienced workers at times. The small scale image as seen on the ground-glass is often such a charming object that for a moment we may fail to remember that our print will be robbed of its colour charm. It is an excellent plan to have a dark blue glass to slip on the lens. This will in general serve as a reminder as to our ordinary monochrome rendering. (To be continued.)