History and Practice of the Art of Photography Part 8

Bromide Paper.--Of all common photographic paper, the best, because the least troublesome in making, and the most satisfactory in result, is that which is termed bromine paper, and which is thus prepared:--Dissolve one hundred grains of bromide of pota.s.sium in one ounce of distilled water, and soak the paper in this solution. Take off the superfluous moisture, by means of your bibulous paper, and when nearly dry, brush it over on one side only, with a solution of one hundred grains of nitrate of silver to an ounce of distilled water.

The paper should then be dried in a dark room, and, if required to be very sensitive, should a second time be brushed over with the nitrate of silver solution.

In preparing the papers mentioned above, there are two circ.u.mstances which require particular attention. In the first place, it is necessary to mark the paper on the side spread with the solutions of nitrate of silver, near one of the extreme corners. This answers two purposes: in the first place it serves to inform the experimentalist of the sensitive surface; and secondly, it will be a guide as to which portion of the papers has been handled during the application of the solution, as the impress of the fingers will probably come out upon the photograph. The second caution is, that the application of the sensitive solution (nitrate of silver,) and the subsequent drying of the paper, must be always conducted in a perfectly dark room, the light of a candle alone being used.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 29 (hipho_29.gif)]

III. PHOTOGENIC PROCESS ON PAPER.--Method.--The simplest mode is to procure a flat board and a square of gla.s.s, larger in size than the object intended to be copied. On the board place the photographic paper with the prepared side upwards, and upon it the object to be copied; over both lay the gla.s.s and secure them so that they are in close connection by means of binding screws or clamps, similar to g. g.

fig. 29. Should the object to be copied be of unequal thickness, such as a leaf, gra.s.s, &c., it will be necessary to place on the board, first, a soft cushion, which may be made of a piece of fine flannel and cotton wool. By this means the object is brought into closer contact with the paper, which is of great consequence, and adds materially to the clearness of the copy. The paper is now exposed to diffused daylight, or, still better, to the direct rays of the sun, when that part of the paper not covered by the object will become tinged with a violet color, and if the paper be well prepared, it will in a short time pa.s.s to a deep brown or bronze color. It must then be removed, as no advantage will be obtained by keeping it longer exposed; on the contrary, the delicate parts yet uncolored will become in some degree affected. The photogenic paper will now show a more or less white and distinct representation of the object. The apparatus figured at 29 consists of a wooden frame similar to a picture frame; a piece of plate gla.s.s is fixed in front; and it is provided with a sliding cover of wood, c., which is removed when the paper is ready to be exposed to the action of the light. The back, d., which is furnished with a cushion, as just described, is made to remove for the purpose of introducing the object to be copied, and upon it the prepared paper; the back is then replaced, and, by aid of the cross piece and screw, e., the whole is brought into close contact with the gla.s.s.

The objects best delineated on these photographic papers, are lace, feathers, dried plants, particularly the ferns, sea-weeds and the light gra.s.ses, impressions of copper plate and wood engravings, particularly if they have considerable contrast of light and shade--(these should be placed with the face downwards, having been previously prepared as hereafter directed)--paintings on gla.s.s, etchings, &c.

To fix the Drawings.--Mr. Talbot recommends that the drawings should be dipped in salt and water, and in many instances this method will succeed, but at times it is equally unsuccessful. Iodide of pota.s.sium, or, as it is frequently called, hydriodate of potash, dissolved in water, and very much diluted, (twenty-five grains to one ounce of water,) is a more useful preparation to wash the drawings with; it must be used very weak or it will not dissolve the unchanged muriate only, as is intended but the black oxide also, and the drawing be thereby spoiled.

But the most certain material to be used is the hyposulphite of soda.

One ounce of this salt should be dissolved in about a pint of distilled water. Having previously washed the drawing in a little lukewarm water, which of itself removes a large portion of the muriate of silver which is to be got rid of, it should be dipped once or twice in the hyposulphite solution. By this operation the muriate which lies upon the lighter parts will become so altered in its nature as to be unchanged by light, while the rest remains dark as before.

It will be evident from the nature of the process, that the lights and shadows of an object are reversed. That which is originally opaque will intercept the light, and consequently those parts of the photogenic paper will be least influenced by light, while any part of the object which is transparent, by admitting the light through it, will suffer the effect to be greater or less in exact proportion to its degree of transparency. The object wholly intercepting the light will show a white impression; in selecting, for example, a b.u.t.terfly for an object, the insect, being more or less transparent, leaves a proportionate gradation of light and shade, the most opaque parts showing the whitest. It may be said, therefore, that this is not natural, and in order to obtain a true picture--or, as it is termed, a positive picture--we must place our first acquired photograph upon a second piece of photogenic paper. Before we do this, however, we must render our photograph transparent, otherwise the opacity of the paper will mar our efforts.

To accomplish this object, the back of the paper containing the negative, or first acquired photograph, should be covered with white or virgin wax. This may be done by sc.r.a.ping the wax upon the paper, and then, after placing it between two other pieces of paper, pa.s.sing a heated iron over it. The picture, being thus rendered transparent, should now be applied to a second piece of photogenic paper, and exposed, in the manner before directed, either to diffused day-light or to the direct rays of the sun. The light will now penetrate the white parts, and the second photograph be the reverse of the first, or a true picture of the original.

Instead of wax, boiled linseed oil--it must be the best and most transparent kind--may be used. The back of the negative photograph should be smeared with the oil, and then placed between sheets of bibulous paper. When dry the paper is highly transparent.

IV. APPLICATION OF PHOTOGENIC DRAWING.--This method of photogenic drawing may be applied to useful purposes, such as the copying of paintings on gla.s.s by the light thrown through them on the prepared paper--Imitations of etchings, which may be accomplished by covering a piece of gla.s.s with a thick coat of white oil paint; when dry, with the point of a needle, lines or scratches are to be made through the white lead ground, so as to lay the gla.s.s bare; then place the gla.s.s upon a piece of prepared paper, and expose it to the light. Of course every line will be represented beneath of a black color, and thus an imitation etching will be produced. It is also applicable to the delineation of microscopic objects, architecture, sculpture, landscapes and external nature.

A novel application of this art has been recently suggested, which would doubtless prove useful in very many instances. By rendering the wood used for engravings sensitive to light, impressions may be at once made thereon, without the aid of the artist's pencil. The preparation of the wood is simply as follows:--Place its face or smooth side downwards, in a plate containing twenty grains of common salt dissolved in an ounce of water; here let it remain for five minutes, take it out and dry it; then place it again face downwards in another plate containing sixty grains of nitrate of silver to an ounce of water; here let it rest one minute, when taken out and dried in the dark it will be fit for use, and will become, on exposure to the light, of a fine brown color. Should it be required more sensitive, it must be immersed in each solution a second time, for a few seconds only. It will now be very soon effected by a very diffused light.

This process may be useful to carvers and wood engravers not only to those who cut the fine objects of artistical design, but still more to those who cut patterns and blocks for lace, muslin, calico-printing, paper hangings, etc., as by this means the errors, expense and time of the draughtsman may be wholly saved, and in a minute or two the most elaborate picture or design, or the most complicated machinery, be delineated with the utmost truth and clearness.

CHAP. IX.

CALOTYPE AND CHRYSOTYPE.

The materials and apparatus necessary for the Calotype process are--

Two or Three Shallow Dishes, for holding distilled water, iodide, pota.s.sium, &c.--the same water never being used for two different operations.

White Bibulous Paper.

Photogenic Camera--Fig. 9.

Pressure Frame--Fig 29.

Paper, of the very best quality--directions for the choice of which have been already given.

A Screen of Yellow Gla.s.s.

Camels' or Badgers' hair Brushes:--A seperate one being kept for each wash and solution, and which should be thoroughly cleansed immediately after using in distilled water. That used for the gallo-nitrate is soon destroyed, owing to the rapid decomposition of that preparation.

A Graduated Measure.

Three or Four Flat Boards, to which the paper may be fixed with drawing pins.

A Hot Water Drying Apparatus, for drying the paper will also be found useful.

In preparing the Calotype paper, it is necessary to be extremely careful, not only to prevent the daylight from impringing upon it, but also to exclude, if possible, the strong glare of the candle or lamp.

This may be effected by using a shade of yellow gla.s.s or gauze, which must be placed around the light. Light pa.s.sing through such a medium will scarcely affect the sensitive compounds, the yellow gla.s.s intercepting the chemical rays.

Preparation of the Iodized Paper.--Dissolve one hundred grains of crystalized nitrate of silver in six ounces of distilled water, and having fixed the paper to one of the boards, brush it over with a soft brush on one side only with this solution, a mark being placed on that side whereby it may be known. When nearly dry dip it into a solution of iodide of pota.s.sium, containing five hundred grains of that salt dissolved in a pint of water. When perfectly saturated with this solution, it should be washed in distilled water, drained and allowed to dry. This is the first part of the process, and the paper so prepared is called iodized paper. It should be kept in a port-folio or drawer until required: with this care it may be preserved for any length of time without spoiling or undergoing any change.

Mr. Cundell finds a stronger solution of nitrate of silver preferable, and employs thirty grains to the ounce of distilled water: he also adds fifty grains of common salt to the iodide of pota.s.sium, which he applies to the marked side of the paper only. This is the first process.

Preparation of the paper for the Camera.--The second process consists in applying to the above a solution which has been named by Mr. Talbot the "Gallo-Nitrate of Silver;" it is prepared in the following manner: Dissolve one hundred grains of crystalized nitrate of silver in two ounces of distilled water, to which is added two and two-third drachms of strong acetic acid. This solution should be kept in a bottle carefully excluded from the light. Now, make a solution of gallic acid in cold distilled water: the quant.i.ty dissolved is very small. When it is required to take a picture, the two liquids above described should be mixed together in equal quant.i.ties; but as it speedily undergoes decomposition, and will not keep good for many minutes, only just sufficient for the time should be prepared, and that used without delay. It is also well not to make much of the gallic acid solution, as it will not keep for more than a few days without spoiling. A sheet of the iodized paper should be washed over with a brush with this mixed solution, care being taken that it be applied to the marked side. This operation must be performed by candle light. Let the paper rest half a minute, then dip it into one of the dishes of water, pa.s.sing it beneath the surface several times; it is now allowed to drain, and dried by placing its marked side upwards, on the drying apparatus. It is better not to touch the surface with bibulous paper. It is now highly sensitive, and ready to receive the impression. In practice it is found better and more economical not to mix the nitrate of silver and gallic acid, but only to brush the paper with the solution of the nitrate.

Mr. Talbot has recently proposed some modifications in his method of preparing the calotype paper. The paper is first iodized in the usual way; it is then washed over with a saturated solution of gallic acid in distilled water and dried. Thus prepared he calls it the io-gallic paper: it will remain good for a considerable time if kept in a press or portfolio. When required for use, it is washed with a solution of nitrate of silver (fifty grains to the ounce of distilled water), and it is then fit for the camera.

Exposure in the Camera.--The calotype paper thus prepared possesses a very high degree of sensibility when exposed to light, and we are thus provided with a medium by which, with the aid of the photogenic camera, we may effectually copy views from nature, figures, buildings, and even take portraits from the shadows thrown on the paper by the living face.

The paper may be used somewhat damp. The best plan for fixing it in the camera is to place it between a piece of plate gla.s.s and some other material with a flat surface, as a piece of smooth slate or an iron plate, which latter, if made warm, renders the paper more sensitive, and consequently the picture is obtained more rapidly.

Time of Exposure.--With regard to the time which should be allowed for the paper to remain in the camera, no direct rules can be laid down; this will depend altogether upon the nature of the object to be copied, and the light which prevails. All that can be said is, that the time necessary for forming a good picture varies from thirty seconds to five minutes, and it will be naturally the first object of the operator to gain by experience this important knowledge.

Bringing Out the Picture.--The paper when taken from the camera, which should be done so as to exclude every ray of light--and here the dark slide of the camera plate holder becomes of great use--bears no resemblance to the picture which in reality is formed. The impression is latent and invisible, and its existence would not be suspected by any one not acquainted with the process by previous experiment. The method of bringing out the image is very simple. It consists in washing the paper with the gallo-nitrate of silver, prepared in the way already described, and then warming it gently, being careful at the same time not to let any portion become perfectly dry. In a few seconds the part of the paper upon which the light has acted will begin to darken, and finally grow entirely black, while the other parts retain their original color. Even a weak impression may be brought out by again washing the paper in the gallo-nitrate, and once more gently warming it. When the paper is quite black, as is generally the case, it is a highly curious and beautiful phenomenon to witness the commencement of the picture, first tracing out the stronger outlines, and then gradually filling up all the numerous and complicated details.

The artist should watch the picture as it developes itself, and when in his judgment it has attained the greatest degree of strength and clearness, he shall stop further proceedings by washing it with the fixing liquid. Here again the mixed solution need not be used, but the picture simply brushed over with the gallic acid.

The Fixing Process.--In order to fix the picture thus obtained, first dip it into water; then partly dry it with bibulous paper, and wash it with a solution of bromide of pota.s.sium--containing one hundred grains of that salt dissolved in eight or ten ounces of distilled water. The picture is again washed with distilled water, and then finally dried.

Instead of bromide of pota.s.sium, a solution of hyposulphite of soda, as before directed, may be used with equal advantage.

The original calotype picture, like the photographic one described in the last chapter, is negative, that is to say, it has its lights and shades reversed, giving the whole an appearance not conformable to nature. But it is easy from this picture to obtain another which shall be conformable to nature; viz., in which the lights shall be represented by lights, and the shades by shades. It is only necessary to take a sheet of photographic paper (the bromide paper is the best), and place it in contact with a calotype picture previously rendered transparent by wax or oil as before directed. Fix it in the frame, Fig. 29, expose it in the sunshine for a short time, and an image or copy will be formed on the photogenic paper. The calotype paper itself may be used to take the second, or positive, picture, but this Mr.

Talbot does not recommend, for although it takes a much longer time to take a copy on the photogenic paper, yet the tints of such copy are generally more harmonious and agreeable. After a calotype picture has furnished a number of copies it sometimes grows faint, and the subsequent copies are inferior. This may be prevented by means of a process which revives the strength of the calotype pictures. In order to do this, it is only necessary to wash them by candlelight with gallo-nitrate of silver, and then warm them. This causes all the shades of the picture to darken considerably, while the white parts are unaffected. After this the picture is of course to be fixed a second time. It will then yield a second series of copies, and, in this way, a great number may frequently be made.

The calotype pictures when prepared as we have stated, possess a yellowish tint, which impedes the process of taking copies from them.

In order to remedy this defect, Mr. Talbot has devised the following method. The calotype picture is plunged into a solution consisting of hyposulphite of soda dissolved in about ten times its weight of water, and heated nearly to the boiling point. The picture should remain in about ten minutes; it must then be removed, washed and dried. By this process the picture is rendered more transparent, and its lights become whiter. It is also rendered exceedingly permanent. After this process the picture may be waxed, and thus its transparency increased. This process is applicable to all photographic papers prepared with solutions of silver.

Having thus fully, and it is hoped clearly, considered the process, it may be necessary before dismissing the calotype from notice, to add one or two remarks from the observations and labors of some who have experimented in this art. Dr. Ryan in his lectures before the Royal Polytechnic Inst.i.tution, has observed, that in the iodizing process the sensitiveness of the paper is materially injured by keeping it too long in the solution of iodide of pota.s.sium, owing to the newly formed iodide of silver being so exceedingly solvable in excess of iodide of pota.s.sium as in a few minutes to be completely removed. The paper should be dipped in the solution and instantly removed. There is another point, too, in the preparation of the iodized paper in which suggestions for a slight deviation from Mr. Talbot's plan have been made. In the first instance, it is recommended that the paper be brushed over with the iodide of pota.s.sium, instead of the nitrate of silver, transposing, in fact, the application of the first two solutions. The paper, having been brushed over with the iodide of pota.s.sium in solution, is washed in distilled water and dried. It is then brushed over with nitrate of silver, and after drying is dipped for, a moment in a fresh solution of iodide of pota.s.sium of only one-fourth the strength of the first, that is to say, one hundred and twenty-five grains of the salt to a pint of water. After this it is again washed and dried. The advantage derived from this method, is a more sensitive paper, and a more even distribution of the compounds over the surface.

Another deviation from Mr. Talbot's method has been suggested, as follows:

Brush the paper over with a solution of one hundred grains of nitrate of silver to an ounce of water. When nearly, but not quite, dry, dip it into a solution of twenty-five grains of iodide of pota.s.sium to one ounce of distilled water, drain it, wash it in distilled water and again drain it. Now brush it over with aceto-nitrate of silver, made by dissolving fifty grains of nitrate of silver in one ounce of distilled water, to which is added one sixth of its volume of strong acetic acid. Dry it with bibulous paper, and it is ready for receiving the image. When the impression has been received, which will require from one to five minutes according to the state of the weather, it must be washed with a saturated solution of gallic acid to which a few drops of the aceto-nitrate of silver, made as above, have been added. The image will thus be gradually brought out, and may be fixed with hyposulphite of soda. To obtain the positive picture, paper must be used brushed over with an ammonio-nitrate of silver, made thus: forty grains of nitrate of silver is to be dissolved in one ounce of distilled water, and liquid ammonia cautiously added till it re-dissolves the precipitate.

A pleasing effect may be given to calotype, or indeed to all photographic pictures, by waxing them at the back, and mounting them on white paper, or if colored paper be used, various beautiful tones of color are produced.

POSITIVE CALOTYPE.

At a meeting of the British a.s.sociation, Professor Grove described a process by which positive calotype pictures could be directly obtained; and thus the necessity to transfer by which the imperfections of the paper are shown, and which is moreover a troublesome and tedious process, is avoided. As light favors most chemical actions, Mr. Grove was led to believe that a paper darkened by the sun (which darkening is supposed to result from the precipitation of silver) might be bleached by using a solvent which would not attack the silver in the dark, but would do so in the light. The plan found to be the most successful is as follows: ordinary calotype paper is darkened till it a.s.sumes a deep brown color, almost amounting to black; it is then redipped into the ordinary solution of iodide of pota.s.sium, and dried. When required for use it is drawn over dilute nitric acid--one part acid to two and a half parts water. In this state, those parts exposed to the light are rapidly bleached, while the parts not exposed remain unchanged. It is fixed by washing in water, and subsequently in hyposulphite of soda, or bromide of pota.s.sium.

Mr. Grove also describes a process for converting a negative calotype into a positive one, which promises, when carried out, to be of great utility.