The Barnet Book of Photography Part 11

To use a hand camera is the simplest matter imaginable, to properly employ it the most difficult--simple, because of the facility with which plates may be exposed, difficult, because to succeed, demands careful practice, and a thorough understanding of photographic manipulation. We must have _learnt to see_, and that quickly, must have gained coolness and self-restraint, and perhaps not the _least qualification necessary is that of being a good photographer_.

Whether content to produce good straightforward representations of such scenes as come before you, or more ambitious attempts at pictorial work be made, they can both be done with the hand camera quite as well, nay indeed, given sufficient technical skill, and trained perception to see the beauty presented in line and ma.s.s, it is by no means clear this form of implement does not offer greater facilities for successful working, than the more complicated form used with a tripod.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BIRCH AND BRACKEN. W. THOMAS.]

The choice of subject is only bounded by the limits of exposure, speed of plate and actinic action of light available. The first has already been touched upon, when the lens, and shutter, were dealt with.

Plates have recently been so increased in speed, that it becomes necessary to somewhat modify advice, which a year or two ago, might have been perfectly correct, _viz._, to work with the fastest plate procurable. But there is this advantage now, as then, that if some convenient form of actinometer be used to test the light, we are able to judge at once, what speed of plate will be necessary to deal with each subject as it arises. There are several forms available, amongst which, the one introduced by Watkins, made so that it becomes a permanent part of the camera, answers remarkably well, especially as it cannot be left at home, without being noticed. In developing shutter-exposed plates, if full exposure has been obtained, then the ordinary modes of procedure suffice, so also when over-exposure occurs, but by far the greater proportion of failures one sees in this cla.s.s of work, arise simply _from under-exposure_.

There seems so much charm in driving a shutter at its highest speed, and at the same time using the lens stopped down, to secure sharp definition, the wonder is, not that failures flourish, but that any good work is done at all.

With regard to particular developers there is only this to be said.

Whatever agent be employed, so arrange that before density is obtained, _all the detail you require_ is first brought out; this simply means, if pyro is being used, it is kept low, until the plate is ready to be treated for density, then a further addition of pyro and bromide will generally suffice to rapidly finish off the work.

When a batch of exposed plates is being dealt with, a most certain method of negative making, will be found in employing in one dish, either one or other of the following one-solution developers:--

NO. 1 FORMULA.

Amidol 20 grains Sodium sulphite 1/2 oz.

Water 7 "

NO. 2 FORMULA.

Dissolve in water 20 oz.

Metol 75 grains

then add Sodium sulphite 1-3/4 oz.

Carbonate of soda (crystals) 1-3/4 "

Bromide of pota.s.sium 6 grains

NO. 3 FORMULA.

Sodium sulphite 1-1/4 oz.

Carbonate of pota.s.sium 1/2 "

Eikonogen 1/4 "

Boiling water 12 "

Any of the above developers will be found to rapidly bring out all there is in the plate, and if over-exposure is feared, they may all with advantage be diluted, with an equal quant.i.ty of water, in order to slow down their action.

In another dish, it is advisable to have the following _re-developer_, to impart density to the plates, as they become ready for that operation, or to successfully deal with any, which are found to have been considerably over-exposed, and upon which, the first developer is acting too vigorously.

RE-DEVELOPER.

NO. 1.

Hydroquinone 1/4 ounce Sodium sulphite 2 "

Pota.s.sium bromide 1/4 "

Boiling water 12 "

NO. 2.

Washing soda 2 ounces Sodium sulphite 2 "

Water to make 12 "

For use mix equal quant.i.ties.

By employing two different developers in the manner suggested, it becomes a simple matter to produce good negatives, from plates having had all kinds of exposures, some under, some over, and it may be some which have had about the right exposure; in this way one of the most fruitful causes of failure in the production of hand-camera pictures, _error in exposure and development_, is minimized, if not altogether done away with.

There are sometimes occasions when out with a hand camera, when subjects present themselves, offering exceedingly good opportunities for securing pleasing little pictures, but which require one, or two seconds' exposure, to render them successfully. At such times it may generally be arranged to rest the camera on a stone, wall, or gate, or to hold it pressed against a tree, or some other rigid support.

As an example, the ill.u.s.tration of a woodside with birch trees, facing page 136, may be pointed to. In this instance, when out cycling, the place and lighting on the tree trunks, struck us as pleasing, and worth trying to secure a record of, even though but a hand camera was being carried at the time.

Having dismounted, and found a point from where it might be attempted, and where conveniently grew a single tree, the lens was opened to (if recollection does not deceive) _f_/11. Then the camera jammed close to the tree trunk, and two seconds' exposure given, taking especial care that no movement took place.

The plate being in due time carefully developed, and as far as possible contrasts kept down, the result proved satisfactory enough.

It could more conveniently have been photographed, of course, if a camera and tripod had been available, but it is one of many such instances, where, when shutter exposures only had been prepared for, occasions arose, demanding longer exposures than were possible, unless, some such temporary support be pressed into use, as in this instance.

For successful work, see that the camera is simple, its parts, of the best your pocket can afford. Give the slowest exposures your subject will allow. Develop for softly modelled negatives first, getting what density is required afterwards. See that the camera is held perfectly steady, during exposure, and don't forget it is simply a camera, and lens, and will require _you behind it_, just the same as any other employed with a tripod, and in conclusion bear always in mind, _it is the simplest form of camera work and the most difficult_, making the utmost demands on your skill, if high-cla.s.s results are to be the outcome of its use.

_W. Thomas._

_Lantern Slides._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A lantern Slide is a transparent positive on gla.s.s or other transparent support, usually 3-1/4 inches square, and is placed in the lantern in such a way that by suitable illumination and optical arrangements the image on the slide is made to intercept some of the light given off by the illuminant from a screen, which without the screen would be wholly and evenly illuminated by the light.

In viewing a paper print we are really observing the paper by reflected light, part of our view being intercepted by the image formed of pigment or reduced metal; the amount of light not being very great a very thin layer of pigment is required to produce the appearance of a sufficiently robust image. If the image alone or with its vehicle be stripped from a good print on paper this image viewed by transmitted light will be found to be extremely faint, far too faint to be of any use as a "transparency," and also too thin to be of any use as a lantern slide. On the other hand, what we know as a "transparency," such as is often used for window decoration, backed, perhaps, with ground gla.s.s, would be found much too dense or robust for use as a lantern slide. In density, then, a "slide," as it shall hereafter be called, comes between the image on a paper print and that on a "transparency." In "gradation," or gamut of tones, the slide ought to be superior to either the paper print with its almost absolute clearness over large areas, or the transparency with its dense shadows and its comparatively heavy lights. In fact, in a good slide we have every grade of deposit from perfect transparency to nearly complete opacity. But the extremes must be very sparingly present, and the transition from one tone to another must be gradual, all intermediate notes between highest and lowest should be represented.

Other qualities go to make the perfect slide; the metallic or other deposit forming the image must be in the utmost degree fine, no approach to "grain" must be perceptible even under the highest magnification. The colour, or "tone," must be not only pleasant but appropriate.

The loss of light in its journey from the illuminant to our eyes is enormous; the disc on the screen is simply a greatly magnified image of the light, and here is great loss; add to this the interception of some light by the opacity of the slide, and the fact that much more is lost in reflection from the screen, and absorption by the screen, and it is easy to realize that the image from the screen reaching our eyes is vastly less bright than that reaching the eye when, for instance, we examine a slide in the hand by transmitted light. And loss of light means increase of contrast, so that a slide which would seem about right in gradation in the hand would be altogether soot-and-chalk as a screen-image. So too if we have in the slide already shut out much light, by making the slide foggy, or over dense, it is easy to see that when the image reaches our eyes from the screen this vicious opacity will be immensely increased in its mischievous properties. The first style of slide gives screen-images sometimes called "midsummer snow-scenes"; the other slide is simply called "foggy." Both must be a.s.siduously avoided.

It need hardly be said that the plates prepared by some processes are more likely to yield good slides, such as are described above, than plates prepared by other processes; no one process can claim to possess in itself superiority in all respects. Collodion, for instance, is less apt to give foggy slides, and it is easier to intensify than gelatine, but it is also more p.r.o.ne to give "hard"

images. Collodion is at its finest in the form of collodio-bromide emulsion, which gives slides remarkable for fineness of grain, for clearness, and for richness of tones; but when we have to copy in the camera, the operation with collodion emulsion is protracted, unless we have bright daylight or a condensing arrangement, which with large negatives is often out of the question. On the whole it may be taken that gelatine-bromide emulsion is the process to be recommended, not only on account of its convenience and celerity, but in view of the many inherent points of excellence that it possesses. In any case, want of s.p.a.ce will cause us to confine attention here to that process, and any one mastering the use of gelatine-bromide slide-plates will have nothing to fear from compet.i.tion with other processes in all-round work. The writer has a leaning towards slide-plates as slow as he can procure them, because slowness almost always goes hand in hand with fineness of grain and freedom from fog.

There is one point of importance that should be noted in working with gelatine for this purpose. Distilled water should be used if possible for all solutions. Tap water--especially hard water--is apt to produce with the gelatine a certain amount of sc.u.m which, if present in any appreciable degree, cannot fail to affect the quality of the slides; but treatment with an acid alum bath as described later has a very salutary effect in removing any sc.u.m that may have formed during the "liquid" operations.

In the mechanics of making a slide from a negative we have only two methods to consider. If the slide-image is to be the same size as the negative, or a part of the negative, we print by _contact_, that is, we put the negative and the slide-plate face to face in contact, and we expose to light, the negative being next to the light; this corresponds with making a print on paper. But when we desire to make a slide including all the subject of a negative larger than a slide-plate, or, in fact, when we desire to alter the size of the image at all, we copy the negative "in the camera." The simplest method of doing this is to fix up the negative so that it is evenly lighted and make a photograph of it in a camera; but the adjustments necessary for such an operation would be found awkward, and so a "reducing camera" of some kind is generally used. Many such cameras are on the market, and consist of devices for holding the negative in a suitable position with regard to a small camera furnished with a lens and a dark slide holding a lantern plate. Either the negative-holder or the camera should have possible movement in all directions vertical to the optical axis of the whole, and in addition it is often desirable to have a certain amount of movement in other planes, in order to correct certain optical defects that are sometimes found in negatives. The writer has for many years used a small camera with its front stuck into the front of a large camera, one or other of these cameras has every necessary movement.

The device is figured here.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Whatever arrangement is used the end of the apparatus bearing the negative is directed towards a good and even light; and it is well to place about two inches in front of the negative towards the light a piece of finely ground gla.s.s for ordinary negatives; this gla.s.s is with advantage omitted with extra dense negatives.

It goes without saying that the exposure, whether we are working by contact or in the camera is of the utmost importance; but it is not possible in an article such as this to give even an approximate idea of the exposure suitable under any concatenation of conditions. The best clue to exposure is to be found in development, and in results.

It is necessary to know what happens after normal exposure with a given developer, and then if any variation is noticed to alter the exposure. If a plate develops more rapidly than the normal, it may fairly be deduced that the exposure has been too long; but if we are dealing with a specially contrasted negative it is better so. On the other hand, when we are dealing with a thin negative, especially if the scale of gradation is short, we require an exposure less than what would under normal conditions lead to complete development in the normal time. And again some plates require to be developed to a greater point of apparent density than others; this is a matter of experience. Briefly put, there is no royal road to good slide-making, experience is necessary.

In actually making the exposures certain points must be kept in mind. If we are copying in the camera with daylight as illuminant it is very important to use the light from the north; if we use other light we shall be much put out on most occasions by awkward variations of the brightness. A very large number of operations are rendered nugatory by carelessness in this matter. Even the most experienced worker will find it impossible to expose plates with anything like accuracy when he has to deal with direct sunshine at one time, thin white clouds at another, and dark clouds at a third.

And in making exposures by contact the beginner must be fairly accurate in judging the time of exposure and the distance from the radiant. A good plan is to tie to the gas jet a piece of cord having knots at convenient intervals, such as at 9, 12, 18 and 24 inches, and in making an exposure to use these knots as guides to the distance; moreover, the law of "squares of distance" must be remembered; the intensity of light varies inversely as the square of distance from radiant to receiver, provided, of course, no optical arrangement is introduced to modify the path of the rays.

Consequently, for example, if ten seconds is found to be a proper exposure at nine inches from the light, the corresponding exposure at eighteen inches will not be twenty, but forty seconds (9^2=81.

18^2=324). And as it is sometimes awkward to hold the frame and attend to a watch at the same time, a metronome, ticking seconds, will be found convenient, or a clock with a second hand may be placed where it can be seen during the exposure. A landscape slide without clouds, if the horizon is in the picture, is usually considered a failure, and has been dubbed "bald-headed." Really good workers often put clouds into slides by "combination printing,"