PHOTOGRAPHIC 
 PRIMEf('i3s&«^ 
 
 P1 
 
 J-0\v^KrHmGToK i J-C-MILLffl-M-D- 
 
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Henrg W. Sage 
 
 1S91 
 
 Adf.2.2'^.{^.. 
 
 l-Siil 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 3 1924 031 304 912 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031304912 
 
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRIMER 
 

 •4' 
 
 *4y.,'. 
 
 
 THE 
 
 Photographic Primer 
 
 ^(gUnuaf of (practice 
 
 BY 
 
 J. C. WORTHINGTON & J. C. MILLEN, M.D. 
 
 (Siverion 
 THE RIVERTON PRESS 
 
 MDCCCXCVII 
 
 3i 
 
COPYRIGHT ;«9f 
 
 BY 
 
 J. C. WORTHINGTON 
 
 AND 
 
 J. C. MILLEN 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 Printed and electrotyped for the Rivertoa Press 
 Riverton, N. J., by 
 
 Obt, (Meaeant Vrintetig 
 
 J. Horace McFarland Co. 
 Harrisburg, Fa. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 This little manual, which now seeks audience, 
 is not the mouthpiece of a manufacturer, neither 
 have the authors a private axe to grind. It 
 is written to give a clear, simple definition of 
 photographic practice in its primary form, as 
 the uninitiated must approach it. The Primer 
 can lay no claim on the professional operator, 
 and goes no further in the path of photographic 
 work than the production of a perfect picture by 
 the simplest processes. For those who wish to 
 experiment with the endless procession of new 
 plates, new papers, and new methods, there is 
 abundant help ready to hand in the photographic 
 literature of the past ten years ; but to one who 
 knows nothing of the art, who has never looked 
 into the mysterious simplicity of a camera box, 
 and to whom a lens is but a bit of glass, the 
 Primer may appeal with confidence. 
 
 The authors have sought to give the cardinal 
 points in photographic work in epitomic form, 
 and in this reSpect the manual may be found not 
 only a guide to the beginner, but a reference 
 book of constant use to the more advanced 
 student. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. ,_„ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sec. I. The Apparatus 15 
 
 Sec. II. The Dry-Plate 35 
 
 Sec. III. The Developer 42 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Sec. I. The Exposure 53 
 
 Sec. II. The Development 68 
 
 Sec. III. The Printing ... . 87 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Sec. I. Mounting 135 
 
 Sec. II. Preservation 140 
 
 Sec. III. Enlarging 143 
 
 ADDENDUM. 
 The Hand-Camera : Its Snares and 
 
 Virtues 157 
 
PART 1 
 
Section I. 
 THE APPARATUS. 
 
 HE Camera, in its simplest form, 
 is a box whose two ends can be 
 made to approach one another 
 at the will of the operator. In 
 this simple shape one end is 
 firmly secured to a frame at the bottom, the 
 other end traveling to and fro, either in grooves 
 or on a notched metal track, guided and con- 
 trolled by a pair of toothed wheels. As the 
 space between the two ends is required to 
 vary for every different picture, a flexible case 
 or BELLOWS unites them, the bellows making 
 the box dust-tight and light-tight. One end 
 of the box carries a panel with a rabbeted 
 edge, secured by a button. The panel can 
 be removed by turning the button and slip- 
 ping the panel out of the rabbete. This same 
 end of the box, with its panel entire, slides 
 up and down between two side posts, so that 
 it may be raised from one to three inches, 
 and as the case or bellows is secured to the 
 back of this sliding front, it always follows the 
 
 (15) 
 
1 6 The Photographic 
 
 movement of it. The panel of the sliding 
 front has a circular hole cut in it. 
 
 The fixed, or opposite end of the box, is 
 made with a door the entire size of the end. 
 The door is really a, narrow frame, with a 
 piece of fine ground glass set in it, and the 
 door or ground glass frame opens in different 
 ways in different makes of cameras. In some 
 it is hinged ; in others there is a side sliding 
 movement, by which the ground glass is sep- 
 arated from the back of the box so that a 
 space of about half an inch is opened, into 
 which the plate-holder (to be described later 
 on) may be slidden. 
 
 The grooved or notched track-frame at the 
 bottom, on which the front of the box travels, 
 is usually hinged back of the center of its 
 length, so that, when the ends are brought 
 close together by the telescoping of the bel- 
 lows, the longest part of this frame or bed 
 may be folded up against the front of the 
 box, making the whole camera compact for 
 carrying ; the folding up has nothing to do 
 with the operation of the camera. Roughly 
 speaking, this is the whole of a camera box, 
 except two other features of its construction, 
 which will be noted further on. 
 
 The LENS entire is a piece of brass tube, 
 called the mounting, carrying the actual lens 
 or optical glass which condenses and projects 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 17 
 
 the picture. The tube screws into a brass 
 plate, which is firmly secured to the sliding 
 front of the camera by small screws. On the 
 front of the tube is placed a small cap of 
 leather, like the lid of a pill box. A single 
 lens has one glass or lens ; a double lens two 
 glasses, the lens being held between two thin 
 rings which screw together in the tube, form- 
 ing a round frame or support. The position 
 of the lens in the tube varies according to the 
 character of the" lens. In front of the single- 
 lens glass, and between the glasses of the 
 double lens, thin metal disks, with holes of 
 varying sizes, may be inserted ; or in some 
 lenses the holes are all on one disk, the disk 
 revolving on a center, bringing either hole of 
 the series in turn before the exact center of 
 the lens glass, at the will of the operator. 
 These disks, in whatever form they work, are 
 called stops or diaphragms. 
 
 The glass or lens has many forms, varying 
 for special purposes, and it may be here said 
 that these variations are real and essential, 
 and that in the manufacture of lenses there is 
 little opportunity to create useless forms or to 
 produce an article simply to sell, for the lens 
 is under the dominion of strict optical laws, 
 In some lenses the section — i. e., if cut 
 through the center of its thickness — shows 
 fiat on one side and convex on the other ; in 
 
1 8 The Photographic 
 
 others there are two convex sides, while an- 
 other variety is slightly concave on one side 
 and convex on the other. But the beginner 
 had best not lose himself in the mazes of 
 lens lore. 
 
 The object of the lens is to gather the pic- 
 ture or view towards which it is directed, and 
 cast the condensed image upon the piece of 
 ground glass in the door at the back of the 
 camera or box. The nearer the subject is to 
 the front of the lens, the greater the distance 
 between the lens and the ground glass, and vice 
 versa. It is for this reason that the two ends 
 of the camera must be made to approach one 
 another or to recede at will. At almost 
 any distance from one another some sort of 
 blurred image will be seen on the ground 
 glass, but there is a right point, at which the 
 image is presented sharp and clear in all its 
 parts, and the movable end must be operated 
 backward or forward until this clear, clean- 
 cut picture is seen on the ground glass. When 
 this condition is arrived at definition is secured. 
 A good lens should always make every part 
 of the picture clear on the ground glass, not 
 only in the center, but at the extreme corners ; 
 it must not distort or twist the square lines 
 of any object which it casts upon the ground 
 glass, and it must be of a. focal length adapted 
 to the extension of the bellows of the camera. 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 19 
 
 Focal length means simply this, that when the 
 image on the ground glass is perfect, some 
 lenses require greater distance than others 
 between the front and back of the camera to 
 produce the same image at the same distance 
 from the lens, so that a camera which could 
 only be extended eight inches would not be 
 adapted to a lens whose focal length was 
 twelve inches. 
 
 The lens, as has been said, gathers the pic- 
 ture and reduces it to the size of the piece of 
 ground glass, presenting it before the eyes of 
 the operator in the same brilliant, colored 
 form as on the table of a camera obscura. 
 Every object within the compass of the lens 
 is shown faithfully; if it is moving, we see 
 it moving on the plate ; if it is at rest, so it is 
 shown in the miniature picture. Shift the 
 camera but a quarter of an inch, and a new 
 section of view is presented, so that to secure 
 the image of one group of objects the box or 
 camera must be held rigidly to one spot. But 
 the camera must needs be moved to many 
 places in order to be generally useful, and a 
 temporary but temporarily permanent rest for 
 it is required, a support that can be easily car- 
 ried. Three sticks held the cooking pot of 
 the earliest settler in the wilderness, and three 
 sticks, or the tripod, do duty with the cam- 
 era. There are about ten thousand kinds of 
 
20 The Photographic 
 
 tripods, and some of them have virtues. Three 
 sticks, jointed to a plate at the top, and with 
 the bottom ends of the stick pointed, so 
 that each will hold in the ground when spread, 
 constitute the simplest form. But, as in the 
 instance of the camera box, which it would be 
 inconvenient to carry outspread, so a parcel 
 of sticks five feet long would be in the road 
 when moving from one place to another. 
 The folding or sliding principle is, for this 
 reason, applied to the tripod, and some of 
 them are made so that each individual stick 
 slides into itself twice or thrice, or is hinged 
 at the middle and folds over, reducing the 
 long-legged support to a small bundle. In 
 most of the tripods the head can be detached 
 and carried separately; in some of the cheaper 
 forms it remains permanently fixed to the 
 group of legs, and in others the camera base 
 has the tripod set into it as a part of the cam- 
 era itself. Where the camera and tripod 
 head are separate, the head is attached by a 
 screw or clamp, and the best cameras have a 
 turn-table head, so that the camera box can 
 be revolved at will as upon a pivot, and yet 
 remain rigid at any point. By spreading or 
 gathering the legs, or by sliding the telesco- 
 ping legs, the height of the camera can be 
 altered to suit the operator's purpose. 
 
 There are but few things to be said about a 
 
Primer: The Apparatus, 21 
 
 tripod, and they might as well be set down 
 here entire. It must not be shaky, or so 
 lightly made as to be easily broken. Conve- 
 nience in carrying is frequently gained at a 
 sacrifice of these great virtues, and the after 
 result is generally profanity and bad pictures. 
 When you are shown a tripod in a store, see 
 that it stands well ; put your hand on the top, 
 with the legs spread, and try to oscillate it. 
 If it is in any way shackly don't have it ; take 
 a heavier one, or one with less joints, and 
 see that all these joints operate easily and are 
 held firmly. A tripod in which you can 
 shorten any one leg at will, is generally found 
 most serviceable. Examine also the method 
 of attaching the camera box ; it ought to be 
 done quickly, and when done it should hold 
 rigidly and firmly, nor should these combined 
 virtues prevent the easy detachment after 
 you are through with it. Using reasonable 
 care on these points, any fool ought to be 
 able to select a good tripod. 
 
 With the camera box mounted on the tri- 
 pod, a lens in its place on the front board, 
 and pointed towards some pleasant outlook, 
 take the cap off the lens and try the move- 
 ment of the camera front, shifting it back- 
 ward or forward to bring the picture clear 
 on the ground glass. You at once experience 
 a difficulty; you can see nothing on the 
 
22 The Photographic 
 
 ground glass ! The light of the day on the 
 back of the glass prevents the reflected image 
 from being seen. Your head and the glass 
 must be shut in companionable darkness, and 
 the best way to accomplish this, and see the 
 picture, is to throw a cloth over the end of 
 the camera box and draw it closely in around 
 your face, so that the "garish day" is shut 
 out, meanwhile looking at the ground glass, 
 and not attempting to look through it. With 
 the cloth over your head, the only bright ob- 
 ject for you is the picture on the glass, and if 
 you will remember the injunction just given, 
 you will have no difficulty in seeing it, and 
 must not be disturbed, when you do finally 
 see the picture clearly, to find it upside down. 
 A half dozen experiments will reconcile you 
 even to this, without standing on your head 
 or trying to see it in any other way than 
 frankly upside down, and the humblest adorer 
 of beauty must enjoy the miniature picture 
 even under such apparent disadvantage. 
 
 While your eyes are coming back to their 
 natural feeling in daylight, it might be well to 
 think about the covering you have over your 
 head. The profession call it a focusing 
 CLOTH, and a square yard of rubber cloth 
 (like a piece of a waterproof cloak), or a 
 piece of black velvet, is generally used. The 
 velvet is best ; it does not smother the opera- 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 23 
 
 tor like the rubber cloth, for it lets some air 
 through, and when the wind blows it is not 
 so much like a sail. It is pleasanter to the 
 face when it touches it, clings closer to the 
 camera and the head, and packs in with your 
 camera much better than the more unyielding 
 rubber cloth. Use a plain, every-day focus- 
 ing cloth like this until you know more, and 
 don't experiment with substitutes until you 
 have used some of your good money in mak- 
 ing a few first-rate pictures. 
 
 Put the cloth over your head again and 
 look at the ground glass picture. Raise and 
 lower the sliding board which holds your 
 lens ; swing your camera box on the tripod 
 head so that it takes in a different picture ; 
 move your camera front backward and forward 
 on its bed, and get the knack of doing this 
 evenly and slowly while your head is covered. 
 To be able to get the picture that you think 
 you want (you will not learn what you really 
 want for a month or two) clear and sharp on 
 the ground glass, and to be sure that it is 
 sharp and clear, is enough for several experi- 
 ments, without thinking of ' ' taking a picture. " 
 
 The back of the camera box has been de- 
 scribed as having a door or frame with ground 
 glass in it, and it has been noted that this 
 ground glass frame is either hinged or has a 
 side movement which will allow of the intro- 
 
24 The Photographic 
 
 duction of the plate-holder. This important 
 feature in photography consists of a light 
 wood frame of which a section looks some- 
 thing like this: ^^S A deeply recessed groove 
 on each out- 1^™ er edge of the frame re- 
 ceives a thin slide of wood fiber or compressed 
 paper, and a central division of the same ma- 
 terial separates the case into two distinct, 
 shallow panels. At the other end the slides 
 pass through the groove, which here cuts en- 
 tirely through the frame, the end of these 
 slides being made with wood ledges, which 
 cover the slit through which the slides pass, 
 so that when the slide is in no ray of light can 
 enter the slit ; while when the slide is with- 
 drawn a spring flap covered with felt closes 
 the slit as the slide is drawn away. When 
 the plate-holder has been placed in the space 
 between the ground glass frame and the cam- 
 era box (which it usually fits against in a 
 rabbete), and the slide on ike side next to the 
 box removed, the shallow compartment on that 
 side of the septum is in the complete seclu- 
 sion and darkness of the interior of the cam- 
 era box, granting that the lens tube is cov- 
 ered by its cap. If a piece of glass were first 
 placed in this shallow frame of the plate- 
 holder, the face of it nearest the lens would 
 be exactly in the position of the ground glass 
 which we have slidden to one side or folded- 
 
Primer: The Apparatm. 25 
 
 When the holder is not in the camera, and 
 the slide is closed or pushed in, the piece of 
 glass is in a flat compartment, light-proof 
 and dust-proof. As the piece of glass can 
 occupy the same place as the ground glass, 
 it follows that the picture cast on the latter 
 would be cast on the glass when the slide is 
 drawn, and it is thus that the image we have 
 seen on the ground glass is cast upon the 
 sensitive plate, which we will place in the 
 holder later on. For the present we will ex- 
 periment with a piece of glass of the size of 
 the plates adapted to the camera — 3^x4^, 
 4x5, 5x7, or whatever it be. To put these 
 pieces of innocent, plain glass in the plate- 
 holder in broad daylight is simple enough. 
 The slides are removed from both sides of the 
 holder. At one end, the opposite from which 
 the slide enters, a piece of flat brass bow- 
 spring receives the end of the glass and 
 allows it to be pushed down until the glass 
 drops against the septum or middle division, 
 and the opposite end is held under a little 
 ledge, being thrown back there by the spring 
 at the end first inserted. When this opera- 
 tion is completed with both sides, and the 
 slides are snugly pushed in, there are two 
 pieces of glass resting in seclusion. All plate- 
 holders do not have exactly the same arrange- 
 jpent for holding the glass, putting it in and 
 
26 The Photographic 
 
 removing it ; but every plate-holder ought to 
 be simple enough to be easily handled in the 
 dark. For after you have examined your 
 holders well, and tried at putting the plain 
 glass plates in them in the light, you will 
 henceforth have to meet them only in the dull 
 obscurity of the dark room, and for that mat- 
 ter you will be well off if you learn to 
 handle them while shut up in a dark closet, 
 with all the lamps or lights in the house ex- 
 tinguished and a dark night outside ! Deeds 
 of darkness abound in careful photography, 
 and any kind of light, save ruby or orange, 
 has a skittish way of treating your plates, so 
 that by all practicable handling in the dark 
 you gain greater security. 
 
 A good plate-holder has these virtues : It 
 is as small as possible, and as light as possible 
 consistent with reasonable strength ; it re- 
 ceives a plate easily and comfortably, and 
 yields it up as quietly by sense of touch ; 
 while it ought not to be exposed in broad sun- 
 light, it ought to be so tight that you could 
 do so with impunity ; the slides should fit 
 tightly and draw freely, and there ought to 
 be some device to prevent Mr. Careless from 
 pulling them out when they happen to be in 
 a public position. Finally as to plate-holders 
 just here, every slide of every plate-holder 
 ought to have a record tablet of celluloid on 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 27 
 
 the end from which it is drawn, and this 
 tablet should be big enough to let you write 
 in pencil, in modest size, the kind of plate, 
 the date it was put in the holder, the subject, 
 date and time of exposure, and the number of 
 the stop or diaphragm used. All this amounts 
 to but a few words, but such a record, which 
 you can transfer to your house record if you 
 wish to, but which at least tells you all about 
 the plate and the holder until you want to 
 develop the negative, is valuable, and saves 
 the wastage on plates. Every man who has 
 carried a camera has probably, at one time 
 or another, filled his plate-holders with care, 
 made a mental register of their contents, 
 arranged them in his camera case ii^ a certain 
 order, and ten days afterward, having been 
 prevented from using them, found that he was 
 unable to tell whether No. i was slow or 
 No. 2 fast — sometimes so badly off as not to 
 know whether a plate had been used ! 
 
 This record system is much more satisfac- 
 tory than the usual note-book. Neatly printed 
 and arranged note-books are for sale every- 
 where, but who uses them ? They are un- 
 practical unless the photographer be a man 
 of immense resource in patience and care, for 
 the note-book is but another impediment to 
 action. Unless he ties it to his camera, it 
 will generally be left in the dark-room, and if 
 
28 The Photographic 
 
 he wants to make a memorandum in the field, 
 the photographer finds a card or envelope 
 back his only resource. With the plate-holder 
 tablet, the record and the plate are together 
 until he reaches the place or time for devel- 
 opment, and it can then be put into a per- 
 manent note-book, if such a proceeding is 
 desirable. 
 
 The few items mentioned thus far consti- 
 tute the entire equipment for an amateur, so 
 far as mechanical apparatus goes, necessary 
 to produce a negative. Everything except 
 the tripod should stow compactly and neatly 
 into a light canvas-covered case, and there 
 are cases which hold the tripod as well. 
 
 It is difiicult to advise as to the selection of 
 a camera. There are many good makes, and 
 the scale of cost is applicable to almost every 
 size pocket-book. The surest way to get a 
 good article is to go to a maker whose wares 
 are well established, and who gives no sign of 
 quitting business. The wood of the box 
 ought to be well seasoned and finished ; it 
 ought to be put together so that strength and 
 lightness are marked features, and the metal 
 work well polished. The difference in a 
 pound or two of lessened weight is marked 
 when one has to carry the instrument for 
 many miles, although it does not seem to be 
 so essential while simply handling the article 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 29 
 
 in the store. The bellows in the cheaper 
 grade of cameras is often untrustworthy, and 
 ( cracks and rots at an early day, so that surety 
 as to its quality is an important consideration. 
 For the amateur who does not know how far 
 he will carry his photographic experiments, it 
 is a safe course to buy a small camera at first. 
 The main reasons are three : The expense is 
 less, a good 4x5 camera is better than a me- 
 dium 5x8, and the cost of plates, one of the 
 greatest items in the pursuit, is restricted. If 
 the student finds photography pleasing, he 
 can at a later day exchange or sell his small 
 camera and secure a larger one on fair terms 
 (forthe manufacturer!), and the experience he 
 has already gained will make the selection of 
 the second camera more satisfactory, for by 
 that time he will know the kind of work he 
 likes best, and the second choice can be made 
 in the light of this knowledge. Again, the 
 handling of large plates in development is a 
 serious drawback to the beginner, and the 
 possible misadventures with them can very 
 soon lessen his enjoyment and his bank ac- 
 count. 
 
 Do not buy a "complete outfit!" Buy 
 what you want ; or rather, what is made to do 
 the kind of work you think you want to do. 
 The articles can be selected separately, ac- 
 cording to the list given at the end of this 
 
30 The Photographic 
 
 chapter. Your inclination will soon seek to 
 make you add to it, and with care you can, of 
 course, select many things which will be of 
 advantage to you, but which are not spoken 
 of here, but do not buy anything more than 
 we recommend to commence with ; for the 
 authors feel sure that the hour of gratitude 
 for this advice will not be lacking. 
 
 The apparatus for the indoor work is but 
 a small affair. Trays for development are 
 needed. Unquestionably the hard rubber are 
 best, since they combine lightness, cleanli- 
 ness and strength. You can let them fall with 
 impunity, although there is no occasion for 
 letting them fall at all. The trays should be 
 of a size to receive two plates, not because 
 you want to develop two at once, but for rea- 
 sons shown later on. The trays are about 
 an inch or so deep, and one corner should 
 have a lip for pouring solutions from them. 
 For measuring the solutions you ought to 
 have two graduated glasses, one holding four 
 ounces, fluid measure, and the other eight 
 ounces. If you can get the graduates with 
 the scale in white enamel they will be handier, 
 and you will bless them in your dark room. 
 For holding the solutions, a half dozen glass- 
 stoppered bottles of from 5 to 20 ounces 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 31 
 
 capacity are needful. These bottles may be 
 empty cologne water bottles, or any bottles 
 which have not been used for fluids which 
 may have left some remnant behind. If you 
 use old bottles, be careful about this, and as a 
 precaution for even the cleanly cologne water 
 bottles, wash them by filling with a moder- 
 ately strong solution of citric acid, warm, al- 
 lowing the solution to remain in the bottle 
 for half an hour and briskly agitating it. 
 
 The light to develop your pictures by in the 
 dark-room is as serious a matter as your cam- 
 era. Lamps for the purpose are sold — all 
 kinds. They are mostly frauds. What you 
 want is to get a good light of a deep orange- 
 ruby tone, the strength of it being sufficient 
 to see everything clearly in the dark-room. 
 If your surroundings afford an opportunity to 
 put an ordinary light, lamp or gas, in a room 
 next to your dark-room, and you can have a 
 12x12 inch sheet of orange and ruby glass in 
 a small aperture, otherwise light-tight, be- 
 tween the two rooms, you will have as nearly 
 an ideal condition as you can expect ; or if 
 you develop in daylight, the i2x 12 light can 
 be in a screen used to entirely cover the out- 
 side window, in which case it will be neces- 
 sary to dim the strong daylight still further by 
 putting a sheet of yellow "post-office" paper 
 between the two glasses. But if you must 
 
32 The Photographic 
 
 use a lamp, be sure that the one you buy is 
 light-tight, except where the light comes 
 through the colored glass, and if it has an oil 
 burner take it out as soon as you get home, using 
 thereafter a good candle in its place. The 
 developing room is almost always too warm, 
 and you do not need a cook-stove in it; most 
 of the lamps sold are cook-stoves, and in many 
 of them the oil becomes so quickly overheated 
 as to be really dangerous. There is one lamp 
 made, we believe, in which the oil burner can- 
 he used ; it is a thoroughly good one, but Mr. 
 Carbutt's price for it is in excess of what the 
 tyro in photography should expend at the out- 
 start, although not beyond its worth. The 
 problem of light is made simple if one can 
 command an incandescent electric bulb and 
 stick it in his lantern. 
 
 Two more pieces of furniture complete the 
 apparatus : a drying rack for plates — a very 
 simple wooden rack, in which each plate can 
 have a groove to stand in, with one corner 
 pointed downward, to drain and dry — and a 
 printing- frame, to use hereafter when the time 
 comes. Neither article has any particular 
 points, and your purchase, so far as these go, 
 can be made with blind confidence in the 
 dealer. 
 
 The list of necessities, then (outside of 
 chemicals and a few minor trifles to be men- 
 
Primer: The Apparatus. 33 
 
 tioned), for a// your work, from the field to the 
 completed, mounted picture, is as follows : 
 
 A Camera. 
 
 (The Camera comprises the bellows-box affair 
 which you have often seen in the windows. With 
 it alone you cannot make pictures any more than 
 you can with a clock-case. ) 
 
 The Lens. 
 
 (Comprising the mounting or tube, with the lens 
 glass or glasses, the stops or diaphragms, the 
 leather cap, and the base-plate to secure it to the 
 Camera. There are many classes of lenses, and 
 you can scarcely do all kinds of photography 
 with one lens. But you do not want to do all 
 kinds to commence with, and you can learn a 
 little more about the matter in the chapter de- 
 voted to Exposure. ) 
 
 The Tripod. 
 
 (About which enough has been said.) 
 
 The Plate-Holders. 
 
 (Three double plate-holders — double means 
 holding two plates — are sufficient for you now. 
 The six plates which they will hold will be enough 
 for you to spoil in one day. Plate-holders are 
 like extra collars and cuffs : you can buy them 
 when you want them, one or a dozen at a time. ) 
 
 The Focusing Cloth. 
 
 (Don't forget to select a velvet or velveteen 
 one ; a piece of velvet a yard square, from an 
 old dress, or from any store, is all it means ; 
 there is no magic in it. ) 
 
 The Rubber Trays. 
 
 (For developing. Three of these are necessary 
 
 for the negative development and three for the 
 
 print development. ) 
 The Graduates. 
 
 (If the base is broad and they sit well, the two 
 
 glasses will be all right. ) 
 The Bottles. 
 
34 The Photographic Primer. 
 
 The Lantern. 
 The Drying-Rack. 
 The Printing-Frame. 
 
 Go to an honest store for these things, and 
 neither seek to show the dealer that you are 
 a master in photography or forget yourself so 
 far as to betray that you are grossly ignorant, 
 and so God be with you ! 
 
Section ii. 
 THE DRY-PLATE. 
 
 HE modern dry-plate has yet to 
 be superseded by a new wonder 
 in the same family. It is one of 
 the simplest yet most mysterious 
 affairs in the world, and its life commenced so 
 recently that a man can claim to have been 
 born before it and yet not assume the airs of 
 a patriarch. To-day dozens of factories are 
 turning out hundreds of boxes of dry-plates 
 every twenty-four hours. 
 
 A box, in the ordinary smaller sizes, con- 
 tains one dozen plates, each quarter or half 
 dozen plates wrapped in a double black or dark 
 paper, and the individual plates usually sep- 
 arated by a narrow card strip at the edge, or 
 in some other fashion. The dozen plates are 
 packed in a stout pasteboard box and sealed 
 up with edge wrappers, or wrappers covering 
 the entire box. On almost all the boxes will 
 be found the injunction to keep in a dry place, 
 stand on edge and open only in a safe light. 
 If they are kept in a damp place the moisture 
 
 (35) 
 
36 The Photographic 
 
 will invade even the careful packing and 
 cause deterioration ; if they are laid flat and 
 box piled on box, or something else piled on 
 them, the chance friction or pressure may 
 cause them to rub or the glass to break ; and 
 finally, if even the slowest grade receives any 
 white light — day-light, lamp-light, electric- 
 light or candle-light — you can throw the box 
 into the dust heap, for you have only a dozen 
 bits of glass 4x5, 5x7, or as the case may 
 be : the magic has all departed. When these 
 plates go into the boxes they are destined to 
 have their first glimpse of daylight only as 
 prisoners in the plate-holders of a camera. 
 
 If we could take one of the plates out of the 
 box and carry it to the broad light of the win- 
 dow without injury, we would find a piece of 
 glass of the size designated on the outside of 
 the package, and covered on one side with a 
 smooth, rich, cream-colored substance, so 
 even that its translucent effect is like that of 
 a piece of carefully tinted glass. This coat- 
 ing is the thing the light will ruin, and it is 
 the medium for producing the negative which, 
 in turn, produces what we ordinarily call a 
 photograph. The process by which the plate 
 is coated is an interesting one, but is not to be 
 described in detail in this book. The coating 
 is composed of Bromide and Iodide of Potas- 
 sium, Nitrate of Silver and Gelatine, in cer- 
 
Primer: The Dry-Plate. 37 
 
 tain proportions. The union of these chemi- 
 cals produces an insoluble compound, in a 
 fine state of division, held in suspension in 
 the gelatine, which, before it is used for coat- 
 ing the plates, is boiled and then washed until 
 the by-products of the combination are largely 
 eliminated. The extent of the "cooking" 
 governs the sensitiveness of the film, and, 
 consequently, the activity of the plate when 
 under exposure, so that very fast plates are 
 "well-done" and slow plates "rare," if we 
 apply cook-book language to the matter. 
 
 The light, coming in contact with this coat- 
 ing, oxidizes the salts of silver and blackens 
 it, and this change is developed or brought 
 out by the developer. The light does not 
 produce any visible effect on the plate, al- 
 though if kept long enough in the light it be- 
 comes overcast with a bluish tinge. Contact 
 with a developing fluid at once causes the ox- 
 idized sections to blacken in gradation as the 
 intensity of the light in the view has fallen on 
 the plate, while the dark or black tones in the 
 view simply leave the emulsion with which 
 the plate is covered unattacked in those par- 
 ticular places, and consequently they appear 
 as clear or nearly clear glass after develop- 
 ment. All of the wonderful delicacy and the 
 merging of the delicate degrees of light and 
 shade in nature are thus reproduced simply by 
 
38 The Photographic 
 
 a chemical agent bringing them to one com- 
 mon ground of degrees of darkness. If you 
 take a sheet of clear glass and flow some draw- 
 ing ink on its surface with a brush, you will 
 have a greyish black translucent spot. Flow 
 another spot, allow it to dry, and give it a sec- 
 ond coat, and then another spot in which you 
 repeat the flowing operation the third time. 
 There will then be on the glass, when held to 
 the light, three distinct shades of blackness, 
 the first letting some light through, the sec- 
 ond less light, and the third perhaps none. 
 This piece of glass serves to roughly illustrate 
 the whole nature of the negative — the name 
 given to a photographic plate after exposure 
 in the camera and development. The nega- 
 tive is simply a reverse image of the light and 
 shade values in the outlook the lens of the 
 camera has been pointed at, these same val- 
 ues, however, being so delicately graded and 
 reproduced as to far surpass the brush of any 
 artist. To describe further the exact chemi- 
 cal action of the image of light on the sensi- 
 tized plate does not seem to be necessary in 
 this book. 
 
 As has been stated, the riper or the more 
 prolonged the amalgamation of the chemical 
 constituents of the coating, the more sensi- 
 tive the plate, and the more sensitive the more 
 rapid. Plates are made, generally speaking, 
 
Primer: The Dry-Plate. 39 
 
 in three distinct grades : Fery slow, for the 
 purpose of photographing drawings, pictures 
 and still-life; medium, for landscapes, archi- 
 tectural work, etc., and rapid, for moving ob- 
 jects, portraiture and general work, while we 
 might say that there is a fourth distinct class, 
 the very rapid, whose exposure cannot be 
 measured by the human sense. The two ex- 
 tremes are the most difficult for the amateur 
 to work, and until he becomes well advanced 
 in his experiments he had best leave them 
 alone, unless he wishes to contribute to the 
 support of the plate makers. The very slow 
 plates require skill in timing and development, 
 and the very fast require a good "snap shut- 
 ter, " which will cost nearly as much as the 
 camera. 
 
 All of these plates are'graded to the reading 
 of what is called a "sensitometer," and the 
 package is marked "Sens. No. — ," with the 
 grade mark used by the manufacturer to des- 
 ignate the particular quality or speed. 
 
 It is a wise course — and you will find this 
 threadbare statement in every photographic 
 book, big or little — it is a wise course to cling 
 to one brand or make of plate and learn its 
 qualities. There are a half dozen makes on 
 the market which are all the best for some one, 
 for the character of the plate is like the char- 
 acter of a friend, it comes out more and more 
 
40 The Photographic 
 
 thoroughly by continuous acquaintance. It is 
 always a mistake for a beginner to buy a box 
 of Cramer's plates, then a box of Seed's, and 
 again a box of Carbutt's, for each make will 
 have a subtle difference, and the results are 
 likely to be uneven when this changeable 
 method is followed. All of these plates are 
 good, and if the first dozen plates you use are 
 unsuccessful, blame it on yourself. Try a 
 second dozen, and think where you may have 
 erred. If the second dozen all fail you, try a 
 third; but there — unless you are an unmitiga- 
 ble blockhead, in which event you will never 
 make a negative with any plate — there you 
 may stop, and conclude that something is 
 wrong with the plates. If there is something 
 wrong, any reliable maker will see that you 
 have justice, but it must be a very rare oc- 
 currence for a man to use two dozen plates 
 without getting some good results, and they 
 do not need to be all good to assure you that 
 the plates are not at fault. 
 
 The dry-plate, from the moment it leaves 
 its wrapper until the end of its life, which 
 ought only to be when some unkind fate 
 breaks the glass, should be handled with re- 
 spect and care. Treated thus it will give 
 prompt response and yield you generous re- 
 turn. One-half the bad pictures are caused 
 by careless handling of the plate at some time 
 
Primer: The Dry-Plate. 41 
 
 in its life. Remember that its coating is not 
 only affected by light, but that it cannot be 
 rubbed, scratched, or brought in contact with 
 heat without suffering or being ruined. Prac- 
 tically the coated face ought never to be 
 touched by anything until it meets the devel- 
 oper, although experience will teach the lati- 
 tude in these matters. But the best way to 
 start out is to make up your mind that it shall 
 not be touched by anything, and the degree 
 of latitude in handling will grow upon you as 
 you learn. 
 
 Finally, treat the wrapper of your box of 
 plates as sacredly as the seal of some one 
 else's letter, until you are in your dark-room, 
 and then you may open it if you intend to 
 quickly shift the plates to your plate-holders. 
 Don't open the box to look at the plates ; it 
 will do you no good, and there is every chance 
 that it will do the plates harm ; very fast 
 plates ought to be handled only in the dark 
 until the moment comes for them to enter the 
 developing tray. 
 
Section 111. 
 
 -♦) 
 
 THE DEVELOPER. 
 
 HEN in the dark-room the dry- 
 plate is taken from the plate- 
 holder of the camera, after ex- 
 posure, no apparent change, as 
 we have said, can be noted. 
 The same cream-like hue extends over its 
 surface, notwithstanding the fact that it has 
 been born to new life in the camera, and 
 only awaits an active agent to make that 
 new life visible. 
 
 The silver salts of the emulsion coating 
 have been oxidized by the light. The devel- 
 oper sets its seal on the work and by its chem- 
 ical action completes the process, causing 
 these oxidized spots to become black with 
 more or less intensity, according to the 
 strength of light in the image which the lens 
 has cast upon the plate. The plate, before 
 it touches this active fluid, can be said to have 
 no character; the developer brings out or de- 
 velops all the character which the lens image 
 has left there. 
 
 (42) 
 
The Developer. 43 
 
 The developing agents have increased in 
 number to a remarkable extent, and in place 
 of a half dozen orthodox solutions, we have 
 to-day every variety in kind and action. 
 To the professional photographer these are 
 of constant use, since, used in combination 
 with his experience, the results are made to 
 vary to suit his special need. Experiments 
 with many kinds of developer are traps for 
 the amateur in his early days, leading him 
 into the same sort of scrapes as the promis- 
 cuous wandering in the field of dry-plates. 
 A developer, and its action on the plate, 
 needs to be studied in the same fashion as 
 the plate itself, and to do this properly the 
 developer ought to be used continuously. 
 At the beginning it is wiser for the student 
 to limit the kind of pictures for awhile, and 
 not try to take portraits, landscapes, still-life, 
 etc., until he has learned to take one kind of 
 pictures well. The range is very much easier 
 afterward, and by thus limiting the kind of 
 subject he can limit the character of his de- 
 veloper. In a short time he will know Pyro 
 or Oxalate or Hydro in all their shades of 
 feeling, and then, if adventurous, can go out 
 on the vast and increasing sea of develop- 
 ing solutions. 
 
 The following formulae have been selected 
 with care, and are given here under their 
 
44 The Photographic 
 
 proper heading in the book, although the 
 beginner will find them more interesting after 
 he has completed the reading of Section II., 
 in Part II. , on Development. Each developer 
 has a number attached to it, purely for con- 
 venience in referring to it later on. 
 
 No. I. Hydroquinone Developer. 
 
 Hydroquinone i8 grains 
 
 Sulphite of Soda (crystals) . . loo grains 
 
 Citric Acid 6 grains 
 
 Bromide of Potassium .... 3 grains 
 Distilled Water 2 ounces 
 
 g ( Caustic Soda 18 grains 
 
 j Distilled Water 2 ounces 
 
 Use A and B in equal parts when making 
 
 ready for development. 
 
 No. 2. Pyrogallic Acid Developer. 
 
 » /Sulphite of Soda (crystals) . . lyi ounces 
 \ Water 4 ounces 
 
 T, / Carbonate of Soda 1^ ounces 
 
 I Water 4 ounces 
 
 C Saturated Solution Bromide of Ammonium 
 
 Keep the above as stock solutions, in sepa- 
 rate bottles, and when ready to develop take 
 
 Water 4 ounces 
 
 Pyrogallic Acid 25 grains 
 
 A I ounce 
 
 B 1% drachms 
 
 C 2 drops 
 
 Weigh out the dry Pyro (Schering's re-sub- 
 limed Pyrogallic Acid is best), and dissolve 
 in the water; then add the other ingredients. 
 Never use Pyro developer except y>-«A, if you 
 
Primer: The Developer. 45 
 
 desire good results. Thus used this developer 
 
 works finely, and will never stain. 
 
 Should you have a negative stained by Pyro, 
 
 the stain may be removed by soaking in 
 
 Sulphate of Iron lyi ounces 
 
 Water >^ pint 
 
 Sulphuric Acid (c. p.) i drachm 
 
 Alum % ounce 
 
 No. 3. Pyrogallic Acid Developer. 
 
 (As successfully used by Dr. Jesse C. Millen.) 
 
 Each fluid ounce of the developer contains 
 
 Water i ounce 
 
 Carbonate of Soda 10 grains 
 
 Sulphite of Soda (crystals) .... 20 grains 
 
 Pyrogallic Acid 2 grains 
 
 Bromide of Potassium i grain 
 
 The Pyro is always to be kept dry, weigh- 
 ing it out and dissolving it in the water of 
 the formula when ready to use. The other 
 ingredients may be made into stock solutions 
 by dissolving larger quantities in water in 
 separate bottles in the proportions given 
 above. (For instance, an 8-oz. stock solution 
 of the Carbonate of Soda would be made by 
 taking 8 ounces of water and dissolving in 
 it 160 grains of the Soda, so that each half 
 ounce of the fluid would have 10 grains of 
 soda, and making the Sulphite of Soda solu- 
 tion in the. same way would give each half 
 ounce of it 20 grains of the Sulphite. The 
 united two half ounces would then make one 
 fluid ounce containing 10 grains of the Car- 
 
46 The Photographic 
 
 bonate, and 20 of the Sulphite. ) For each 
 ounce there can then be added 2 grains of 
 the dry Pyro, and i grain of the Bromide. 
 When fresh, this developer works clear 
 and bright, and does not stain. When the 
 exposure is anywhere near the right time, 
 the resulting negatives are fine and spark- 
 ling. 
 
 No. 4. Pyrg-Ammonia Developer. 
 
 Pyrogallic Acid 8 grains 
 
 Bromide of Potassium 8 grains 
 
 Ammonia (strong) 8 drops 
 
 Water 4 ounces 
 
 For under-exposed plates and snap-shots, 
 this is one of the best developers ever formu- 
 lated. It does not fog the negative, but gives 
 it a brilliant quality, full of detail. It does 
 stain both the negative and the fingers, but 
 this interferes with the final result only in 
 making the printing very slow. 
 
 No. 5. Metol Developer. 
 
 (As successfully used by Mr. J. L. Dillon.) 
 
 ( Metol I ounce 
 
 A \ Water 60 ounces 
 
 ( Sulphite of Soda (crystals) . . 8 ounces 
 
 J, j Carbonate of Soda 8 ounces 
 
 ( Water 60 ounces 
 
 ^ ( Bromide of Potassium 8 ounces 
 
 \ Water 16 ounces 
 
 In using take equal quantities of A and B, 
 and if the development proceeds too quickly, 
 
Primer: The Developer. 47 
 
 use a quarter to a half ounce of C to each 8 
 ounces of the developer. 
 
 The keeping qualities of this developer are 
 excellent, and it does not stain either the 
 hands or plate. In combination with the 
 Acid Fixing-Bath, it makes an ever-ready 
 developing and fixing outfit. The old solu- 
 tion can be used for over-exposures, the fresh 
 for normal exposures. 
 
 No. 6. Metol-Quinol Developer. 
 
 Warm Water 27 ounces 
 
 Metol 15 grains 
 
 Sulphite of Soda (crystals) . . lyi ounces 
 
 Hydroquinone i drachm 
 
 Bromide of Potassium 4 grains 
 
 Carbonate of Potassium .... 5 drachms 
 
 No. 7. Iron Oxalate Developer. 
 
 {Neutral Oxalate of Potash ... 16 ounces 
 Hot Water 48 ounces 
 Acetic Acid 3 drachms 
 
 fProto-Sulphate of Iron 16 ounces 
 
 B ■! Hot Water 32 ounces 
 
 I Citric Acid X ounce 
 
 P / Bromide of Potassium }4 ounce 
 
 ^ I Water i pint 
 
 Let both solutions cool off before use. 
 They will keep for months in separate bot- 
 tles. The IRON (B) solution should be well 
 stoppered, and rejected if not perfectly clear 
 and green. Exposing in sunlight occasionally 
 will keep it in good condition. 
 
 To use, take 6 ounces of A, i ounce of B, 
 and ^ drachm of C, mixing them in the 
 
48 The Photographic 
 
 order given. Under no circumstance must 
 A be poured into B. As a general caution, 
 be careful to avoid the contamination of your 
 Iron Developer with Pyro. 
 
 RoDiNAL is an extremely simple and safe 
 developer for the beginner. It is put up and 
 sold in one solution, simply requiring dilu- 
 tion with water to be ready for use. The 
 results are clear and brilliant, and sure to 
 give satisfaction. 
 
 To briefly review the various developers 
 we have mentioned : No. i, Hydroquinone, 
 gives very satisfactory plates, and is extremely 
 clean for the amateur to handle. It also has 
 the virtue of being in one solution, and thus 
 helps towards simplicity. The plates devel- 
 oped with it are hard and sharp, generally 
 speaking, and it suggests itself as an excellent 
 solution to use on negatives of line drawings, 
 or any work requiring sharp definition, rather 
 than soft effects. Skillfully handled, it can, 
 of course, be used on almost every variety of 
 exposure. 
 
 The developers Nos. 2, 3 and 4 represent 
 the Pyro group, or those into which Pyro- 
 gallic Acid enters as an active agent, and the 
 memoranda already given are sufficient to 
 show the range of their work. Nos. 5 and 6, 
 the Metol and Metol-Quinol developers, rep- 
 resent two reliable formulae for this very use- 
 
Primer: The Developer. 49 
 
 ful agent (Metol). The keeping qualities of 
 Metol are remarkable. It is clean, both in 
 connection with the plates and hands ; its ra- 
 pidity and power while acting on the plate, 
 and its efficacy in bringing up detail on under- 
 exposed plates, are qualities that seem to be 
 possessed in great part by it alone. The 
 stock solutions, in separate bottles, keep in- 
 definitely, and even the mixed solution has a 
 very great length of active life, so that the 
 expense of new chemicals and the time used 
 in mixing them are both reduced. 
 
 The Oxalate Developer, No. 7, is not 
 adapted to fast plates or fine detail, requiring 
 very skillful handling to secure these effects 
 with it, but for line negatives, photographs 
 of engravings, or where black and white ef- 
 fects are desired, it is extremely useful. 
 
 The last developer mentioned, Rodinal, 
 we consider the most desirable solution for 
 the beginner, for in his first experiments there 
 is less liability of his making mistakes with 
 it, mistakes which he cannot trace. From 
 every point of view it is one of the most re- 
 markable and excellent one-solution devel- 
 opers which can be bought. Prepared by 
 experienced manufacturers, its quality and 
 strength are not likely to vary, and compara- 
 tive results can be safely made. 
 
 Instantaneous Exposures have their sue- 
 
5° The Photographic Primer. 
 
 cessful qualities better insured if placed for 
 
 from 3 to 5 minutes before development in 
 
 the following solution : 
 
 Carbonate of Soda 5 drachms 
 
 Distilled Water 7 ounces 
 
 This solution may be kept and used again. 
 Acid Fixing-Bath. 
 
 A{ 
 
 Hyposulphite of Soda .... 32 ounces 
 
 Water 3 quarts 
 
 r Water i quart 
 
 g J Sulphuric Acid ^ ounce 
 
 I Sulphite of Soda (crystals) . . 3 ounces 
 [. Chrome Alum 3 ounces 
 
 When dissolved, pour B into A. 
 
 This is a thoroughly reliable bath, and 
 keeps indefinitely. Frilling (or "crimping") 
 of the film on the plate, or softening are 
 entirely prevented, and clear, crisp negatives 
 result. Fresh Hypo may be added as the 
 solution weakens, or a new bath made up. 
 During cold weather half of B is sufficient. 
 
 It is not necessary to use the Acid Fixing 
 
 Bath, as the plates can be fixed in a simple 
 
 solution of Hypo, as follows : 
 
 Hyposulphite of Soda 4 ounces 
 
 Water i pint 
 
 All developers must be kept cool in sum- 
 mer and not too cold in winter. To keep 
 the fixing bath cool in summer, place a lump 
 of hypo in one corner of the tray, and as it 
 dissolves it will lower the temperature of 
 the solution perceptibly. 
 
PART II 
 
Section I. 
 
 -•> 
 
 THE EXPOSURE. 
 
 ■ « 
 
 FTER you have learned to handle 
 your camera, without attempting 
 to take a picture, and gotten the 
 working of it so easy to hand that 
 you can do everything rapidly and 
 evenly, you will be ready to try your first ex- 
 posure in the field. 
 
 Take your three plate-holders and box of 
 plates (unopened) and go into your dark- 
 room. It is assumed that you have spent a 
 half-hour in this room in total darkness, spying 
 for any cracks which admit daylight or any 
 other kind of white light, and that you have 
 found it absolutely dark. (If you have any 
 doubt on the subject, you can find in the next 
 section of the Primer a method of proving 
 the integrity of your dark-room. ) Light your 
 developing lantern and fix it to cast only the 
 deep orange-red light. Then open the box of 
 plates by running a pen-knife blade around 
 the edge at the bottom of the box where the 
 paper is pasted and lapped over the open 
 
 (53) 
 
54 The Photographic 
 
 joints. The box is telescopic in form, one 
 half fitting into the other, and some plate- 
 makers pack the plates in a double box, both 
 telescopic and one smaller than the other. 
 Inside the box you will find two flat pack- 
 ages, each wrapped in dark paper and each 
 containing six plates. Remove one of these 
 packages and close the box as you. found it. 
 (You need not paste the paper over the joint, 
 of course.) The box with the remaining 
 plates had best remain in the dark-room, or, 
 at any rate, be put away in a dark, dry closet. 
 Take the package of six plates removed and 
 unwrap carefully, keeping a couple of feet 
 away from your lantern or light. Take up a 
 plate-holder and remove both slides, laying 
 them with their outside faces downward upon 
 the table or shelf in the room. Then take 
 one plate from the package, handling it entirely 
 by the edges. If you glance along each side, 
 holding the plate at an angle with the reflected 
 light, you will find that one side is highly pol- 
 ished and the other dull. The dull side is the 
 ecated side and in placing the plate in the plate- 
 holder this face is put outward next to the slide, 
 the polished side being the clean glass of the 
 back of the plate. You have learned, of 
 course, as previously advised, to put a piece 
 of plain glass in the holder, and so find no 
 difficulty in doing the same thing with tfie 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 55 
 
 coated plate. Have ready a small, flat brush 
 of camel's hair, clean and dry, and with its 
 soft surface remove any dusi from the face of 
 the plate ; and then, if you are sure the plate 
 is in its proper place, put the slide in at once, 
 remembering that as you have laid the slides 
 the top face goes next to the plate. Then 
 turn the plate-holder over and put another 
 plate in the other side, and so on until the 
 three holders are full. You can then come 
 out of your dark-room and put the holders in 
 your camera carrying case. These general 
 directions for filling the plate-holders apply 
 to all kinds of plates except the extremely 
 rapid. When you come to use these you 
 should put them in the holders without using 
 any light, in perfect darkness, by mere sense 
 of touch. To tell the coated side of a plate 
 you have but to remember one thing. Every 
 two plates of the six are packed as couples, 
 face to face, so that the first plate you pick 
 up has its coated surface down, the second 
 plate has its coated face uf, the third down, 
 and so on. 
 
 The choice of your first subject is left to 
 your own sweet whim, but a bit of landscape 
 is the simplest thing to handle. And a few 
 words on this subject must condense the infor- 
 mation you will find in books on the charac- 
 teristics of views as adapted to pictures. It 
 
56 The Photographic 
 
 must be borne in mind that any real work of 
 art is always limited as to the field of its sub- 
 ject, and that the choice must be made of a 
 section of a wide view, else the picture will be 
 a flat failure. Whatever you choose to point 
 your camera at should have something in the 
 foreground, fairly close to you, which will be 
 the strong note in the picture, and give it its 
 character. The human eye can sweep over a 
 wide view and take it all in ; the lens cannot, 
 and when it is made to do service as the por- 
 trayer of a panorama, the value of the result 
 is depreciated in proportion to the greater 
 field you try to make it cover. This subject 
 you must think about for yourself and by de- 
 grees gain the right sense of proportion in 
 values, as the relative parts of a picture are 
 called. At any rate, be content with a nar- 
 rower outlook to commence with, and you will 
 not be so disappointed in your early pictures. 
 Arrived at the point where you wish to make 
 the picture, take out the camera and put it on 
 the tripod, as you have learned to do already. 
 Take off the lens cap, and with the largest 
 stop in your lens, see what sort of view you 
 have on the ground glass. Study it awhile, 
 and make sure it is somewhere near what you 
 want, moving the camera by swinging it around 
 on its tripod pivot, or moving the whole affair, 
 if necessary. When the ground-glass picture 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 57 
 
 is what you think it ought to be, then exam- 
 ine your camera carefully and see that it is 
 level. If you have a poor eye for such busi- 
 ness, you may add a pocket-level to your out- 
 fit at a cost of 25 cents. With this level 
 you can manage the whole business quickly 
 and neatly, and after making sure that your 
 tripod is firm and your camera box level 
 both ways, take another look at the ground- 
 glass picture. The shifting of the camera to 
 get it level may have left something out of the 
 picture which you wished to have in it. If it 
 is to one side, you can swing the camera on its 
 pivot ; if it is above or below, you can raise or 
 lower the sliding front board, on which the lens 
 is established, until everything comes on the 
 plate as you want it. It must be noted, how- 
 ever, that the extent of moving the sliding front 
 is controlled by the covering power of your lens. 
 If it is only intended to cover or make a 4X 5 
 picture (assuming this as the size of your cam- 
 era), the raising or lowering will tend to make 
 the other margin of the view on the plate 
 somewhat undefined and not sharp. The 
 movement of the front throws the center of 
 the lens above or below the center of the 
 plate, and leaves the part farthest from the 
 center of the lens less sharply defined. It 
 is partly for this reason that, having estab- 
 lished the whole of the image you wish to have 
 
58 The Photographic 
 
 on the plate, you should re-focus and get 
 everything sharp and clear. It is presumed 
 that you focused or moved the front board of 
 the camera by means of the controlling screw 
 and notched track when you first looked at 
 the picture, but some little difference may 
 have been made by the movement of the 
 camera to get it level, and you can now fix 
 it absolutely. Try now with one of the 
 smaller stops or diaphragms, slipping it into 
 the slot in the lens tube, or as the case may 
 be, and looking at the ground glass once more. 
 The brightness of the picture is lessened, but 
 the sharpness will be found increased. When 
 the picture is sharp and c\ea.r Just outside of the 
 center, secure the sliding front of your camera 
 by whatever device the camera furnishes, an(? 
 put on the lens cap. With the focusing cloth 
 thrown over the camera, slide in one of the 
 plate-holders, keeping, of course, the slide- 
 pull end next to you. When you are sure 
 that the plate-holder is where it ought to be, 
 and not half in, throw the cloth over the 
 entire back of the camera, taking care that 
 an end of it does not cover the lens. You 
 can then raise it until you see the end of the 
 plate-holder slide next to the camera, and pull 
 the slide gently out. 
 
 At this point let us think, in anticipation, 
 how everything stands related. The cap is 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 59 
 
 on the lens, hence the interior of the camera 
 box is in total darkness. The plate-holder, 
 facing the inside of this dark box, has the 
 slide removed and the sensitive plate facing 
 the darkness. When you remove the cap 
 from the lens the bright picture you saw on 
 the ground glass will flash over that sensitive 
 surface and print its image there in a few sec- 
 onds. Before you take the cap away, decide 
 on the time of exposure you will give, and 
 then remove it gently, lingering not. 
 
 The time of exposure cannot be taught, 
 but it can be learned with a little thought, 
 care and observation. It cannot be taught, 
 because it varies with the lens, the diaphragm, 
 the plate, the kind of view, and the time of 
 day. The plate-maker, in his circular, gen- 
 erally gives some general memoranda for the 
 use of each kind of plates he makes, and 
 these directions will be useful to the amateur 
 at the beginning of his work. 
 
 The time of day and the season of the year 
 in which the exposure is made, each affects 
 the methods used and the result. From May 
 until September the quality of daylight is 
 much brighter than the balance of the year, 
 so that a shorter exposure will give the nega- 
 tive. During the autumn, winter and early 
 spring months a longer exposure is necessary, 
 except in pictures taken with snow on the 
 
6o The Photographic 
 
 ground. The reflected white of the intense 
 light of the snow demands careful treatment 
 and quick exposure. Snow scenes are hard 
 to obtain with light and shade values of a sat- 
 isfactory sort, but they are often brilliantly 
 beautiful. The time of day at any season is 
 an important factor. The picture taken be- 
 tween lo A. M. and 2 p. M. on a clear day 
 yields a strong negative in one-third or one- 
 half the time than if taken slightly earlier or 
 later, but one less artistic in results than if 
 taken at an earlier or later hour, since the 
 long shadows of the morning or afternoon give 
 added beauty and contrast to the view. In 
 addition to this, the time of the exposure must, 
 of course, be lengthened, and more detail is 
 obtained. 
 
 It is not necessary to have a perfectly clear 
 day to secure a good photograph, cloudy 
 days yielding results of the most artistic de- 
 scription on account of the less sharp divi- 
 sions of light and shade, while the strength of 
 detail is also improved, the objects in shadow 
 having a chance to play their full part in the 
 picture. Taken in broad sunshine, the view 
 has such intense contrasts that the shadow 
 under a tree or any foliage will entirely alter 
 the value of the color of any object placed 
 there, often marking the Caucasian subject 
 with the skin tones of a mulatto. It is in the 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 6i 
 
 consideration of these things that the finer 
 study of photographic work opens up such an 
 immense field, and it is only by study and 
 close attention to results under different con- 
 ditions that you can attain any skill in the 
 work. The most extensive and elaborate de- 
 scription cannot tell you how to do the work ; 
 it can only help you to see how others have 
 gotten their results. 
 
 If the cap has been left off the lens while 
 this digression has gone forward, your picture 
 is ruined ; but we presume that you have 
 noted the time you had decided to give the 
 plate, verified it by your watch, and immedi- 
 ately covered the lens with the cap, using the 
 same quickness and quietness of motion as in 
 removing it. It must be remembered that in 
 the fractional instant light is admitted through 
 the lens the plate commences to respond, and 
 if the cap is held hesitatingly before the end 
 of the lens, a blurred image of it will at once 
 start on the plate. It is for this reason that 
 the cap must never pause when being taken 
 off, and must never intrude on the lens when 
 covering it, except to at once and decidedly 
 shut out the view. 
 
 The replacing of the cap is the signal for 
 putting the slide back into the plate-holder 
 at once, and thus shutting the plate in its pri- 
 vacy. If another plate is to be exposed on 
 
62 The Photographic 
 
 the same scene — and at the commencement 
 this is not a bad idea, giving the two plates 
 different time and noting the result — some 
 care should be exercised not to move the 
 camera in the operation. The slide securely 
 in, all the way, remove the plate-holder and 
 note on its tablet the subject, date, time of 
 day, kind of day, length of exposure, lens, and 
 the number of the diaphragm (the kind of 
 plate being supposed to be already recorded 
 there). For example : 
 
 Carb. B.— Mill Dam, Old York lens— 2 sec. 
 
 10/20/95 — 10 a. m. — fair ; sun — stop No. 
 
 This record can be transferred to your reg- 
 ister at home as "Carbutt B, view of Mill 
 Dam, Old York Road, Oct. 20, 1895, 10 a. m. 
 Time, 2 seconds, etc." With such memo- 
 randa on your plate-holder, you can dismiss 
 the matter from your mind until you enter the 
 dark-room, the notation on this side of the 
 holder showing that the plate is used and 
 must not be exposed again — a danger, by the 
 way, which often leads to vexatious and un- 
 fortunate errors. It is odd, after the general 
 knowledge about cameras, extending over so 
 many years, that many people imagine that a 
 dry-plate is capable of receiving an unlimited 
 number of images and somehow keeping them 
 separate. But a plate once exposed is forever 
 married to the recorded image, unless that 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 63 
 
 image be destroyed by a violent divorce of 
 the sensitive film from the plate, in which 
 event the residue is simply a square of ordi- 
 nary commercial clear glass. 
 
 The diaphragms or stops of the lens are a 
 part of the strictly mechanical apparatus, and 
 they play a leading part in the effectiveness 
 of the picture. Their purpose is to reduce 
 the amount of light passing through the lens, 
 and by this means increase the depth and 
 contrast in the view. The small stop in- 
 creases the covering power of the lens by de- 
 fining the image at the margins of the plate 
 and sharpening it to the edge. With the 
 open lens, that is, without any stop, the pic- 
 ture is flatter and more uniform as to lighting, 
 and the edges become slightly vague as to 
 detail, while the center of the picture shows 
 clearly cut sharp lines in the image. The in- 
 sertion of the stop and the cutting down of 
 the light distributes this sharpness more uni- 
 formly and carries it to the margins of the 
 plate. The light and shade values of broad, 
 plane surfaces and rounded objects in partial 
 shadow are entirely different, and the rela- 
 tive values are not preserved with the open 
 lens, a broad, flat picture being the result, 
 while the lessening of the aperture by means 
 of the stops brings out the contrasts with 
 vigor and decision. In a rough way an illus- 
 
64 The Photographic 
 
 tration of this can be gained by looking at 
 any bit of view from a window as we ordi- 
 narily look at it with the two eyes, and then 
 taking a piece of cardboard large enough to 
 shield the face, and looking through a half- 
 inch hole in it at the same view with one eye. 
 Seen through the small hole, you will notice 
 that the view has gained in distinctness of 
 impression, and that you see the light and. 
 dark sides of — say a tree trunk — with greater 
 distinctness. The choice of stop or dia- 
 phragm opening thus gives a great deal of 
 scope to the skill and observation of the pho- 
 tographic operator, and the best way to learn 
 the Value of this is by a simple, practical ex- 
 ample. Expose a plate on the same subject 
 for each stop your lens carries, using the 
 same kind of plate, and noting that the 
 smaller your stop the less the light and th^ 
 longer the exposure. If your lens has five stops, 
 the five plates will all vary in character as 
 much as if exposed at different times of the 
 day. Observation of the results will teach 
 you much about your lens. 
 
 In the broad field of lenses there are two 
 distinct classes, one called wide-angle and the 
 other narrow. 
 
 The wide-angle lens is made so that it will 
 embrace a more extended field, and is used 
 for architectural photography and interiors, 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 65 
 
 or in any place where the requirements call 
 for the camera to be used at close quarters 
 with an extended subject. In a perspective 
 the horizon is subtended by an angle of 90°, 
 and there are wide-angle lenses made which 
 will take this all in, and some claim to even 
 go beyond that. For ordinary use such lenses 
 are unsuitable, an angle of 60° being ample. 
 Distortion of the image on the edge of the 
 plate is often the consequence in using the 
 wide-angle lens in unsuitable places. What 
 is called a view lens is most suitable for gen- 
 eral work, where a wide view with the camera 
 near to it is not demanded. 
 
 For out-door photography, choose a day 
 with very little wind. Trees in motion and a 
 camera oscillating with the impact of the 
 breeze will not tend to produce good results ; 
 neither will the focusing cloth add to your 
 happiness, for under these circumstances it 
 will develop all its good qualities as a sail. 
 It is not impossible, of course, at the present 
 day, to make a pho.tograph under any con- 
 ditions, but for moving objects or a restless 
 landscape, you need an instantaneous shutter 
 and very fast plates. Unless the beginner is 
 lacking in sources of worriment and courts 
 trouble, he had best leave fast photography 
 alone until he can make a good picture in the 
 old-fashioned slow way. 
 
66 The Photographic 
 
 Indoor photography is full of attraction 
 and amusement, and can generally be fol- 
 lowed with less inconvenience than when 
 working out of doors. The matter of lighting 
 offers the greatest difficulty under ordinary 
 conditions, and the careful preparation of 
 surroundings necessary to secure good results 
 has often a tendency to discourage the ama- 
 teur until he has become accustomed to th& 
 easier conditions out-of-doors. If his interest 
 in photography is strong he will not be able 
 to resist the desire to make some experiments 
 in this line, and they will add to his stock of 
 knowledge. Exposures by flash light have 
 helped to the solution of indoor lighting, but 
 flash light pictures are rarely artistic, and have 
 added but a small share of beautiful results 
 to the art. There is a branch of in-door pho- 
 tography, both fascinating and simple, which 
 we should mention here, and that is the copy- 
 ing of engravings, paintings, etc. The main 
 requirement is an even lighting of the print or 
 picture, shadows or reflected Wghi on the sur- 
 face destroying the effect of the negative. If 
 this is not looked after the negative will have 
 areas of light and dark corresponding to the 
 inequalities of the illumination, and the work 
 will be ruined. 
 
 As a rapid exposure is not essential, the 
 lens may be stopped down with the smallest 
 
Primer: The Exposure. 67 
 
 diaphragm to secure sharp definition, and a 
 correspondingly long exposure given to com- 
 pensate for the lessened illumination. The 
 camera and the print to be copied must be 
 arranged so that they are absolutely parallel, 
 and no chance must be allowed for the least 
 vibration of either, otherwise the negative will 
 be spoiled. 
 
 For this kind of work the best plate, be- 
 yond question — and especially if the subject 
 be in color — is Cramer's Slow Isochromatic, 
 as it yields the full color values oi the original. 
 As this plate is extremely sensitive to light, 
 care in the development is more than neces- 
 sary. 
 
Section li. 
 THE DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 m ■ 
 
 I OR a time the scene changes from 
 sunshine to darkness, the next 
 stage of the work being carried 
 on in the dark-room. 
 When we speak of a dark-room, 
 it does not follow, by any means, that one 
 must have a room devoted solely to that pur- 
 pose, although if you can obtain such a room, 
 or adapt a small room to the work, it will add 
 to your convenience and comfort. One of the 
 present writers has made hundreds of nega- 
 tives, and dabbled in all sorts of photographic 
 work, but he has never attained to the dignity 
 of such an absolute sanctum. Generally an 
 ordinary kitchen has answered the purpose, 
 chosen because it gave command of running 
 water and sink facilities. Any room which 
 has running water, and which can be made 
 absolutely dark, will answer to the general 
 needs. But the feature of absolute and un- 
 compromising darkness must be insisted on. 
 Light coming under doors, through blinds or 
 
 (68) 
 
The Development. 69 
 
 shades, cracks or crevices, will always en- 
 danger the work. If you will remain in the 
 room, as we have noted before, for fifteen or 
 twenty minutes after it has been darkened, or 
 after you think it has been darkened, you will 
 be surprised at the number of unknown and 
 unthought of sources of light, sly shafts of it 
 finding a way into the room in ways unper- 
 ceived during the first few minutes of occu- 
 pancy. While this test is not empirical, it is 
 at least a fairly safe one for all ordinary 
 usage. The developing light, the orange-red 
 light from either the lamp or from a prepared 
 window panel, must be the next thing to make 
 sure of. This can be accomplished by putting 
 a fresh plate into one of your holders, per- 
 forming the operation in the dark-room with 
 the orange light entirely excluded — in the 
 tested and perfect darkness. Close the slide 
 of the holder and light the orange ruby 
 light. Then draw the slide of the plate- 
 holder half way out, exposing one half of the 
 plate and keeping it as far away from the 
 orange light as you ordinarily would in devel- 
 oping and for a time equal to the number of 
 minutes which would be spent in develop- 
 ment — ^which may be assumed to be about 
 ten minutes. When that time has elapsed 
 close the slide entirely and immediately shut 
 out all the non-actinic or orange light and 
 
7° The Photographic 
 
 proceed to develop the plate in the absolute 
 darkness of the room. When developed and 
 fixed the plate should show all clear glass, with 
 no trace of anything upon it except the slight 
 coating of gelatine, almost transparent, and 
 with no apparent difference in any part of it. 
 This would indicate that the light was safe. 
 If it is not safe the plate will show a plain 
 line of demarcation, and one half of it (the 
 half exposed to the orange light) will be 
 tinged with more or less of grey, while the 
 unexposed half will show clear glass. This 
 test will at once settle the reliable or unreli- 
 able character of your developing light. It 
 is to be noted, however, that the test ought 
 to be made with a fairly fast plate, such as 
 Cramer's Crown, or Carbutt's Special or Seeds 
 26x, for the slower plate could deceive you 
 into believing the light satisfactory for all 
 plates, when it might only be fit for slow 
 plates. 
 
 The darkness and lamp quality assured, the 
 orange-red light can be arranged and work 
 commenced. Before the white light is ex- 
 cluded you should make sure that everything 
 which you may need is in the room, that it is 
 in a handy place, and that you will be able to 
 find it under the new conditions. The plate- 
 holders ought to be placed on a table or shelf 
 a little way from the light and water splash- 
 
Primer: The Development. 71 
 
 ing, while the developing trays, chemicals, 
 graduates and fixing-bath ought to be handy 
 to the water. Don't put anything in the sink ; 
 you will want to have the running water, and 
 you can never be sure that something will not 
 get into the trays which has no business there. 
 
 The three trays are placed conveniently, 
 the first one rinsed out with water and drained, 
 the second filled with clean, cool water, and 
 the third filled three-quarters full with the 
 hypo or fixing solution. The bottle of Bro- 
 mide of Potassium or restrainer ought to be 
 in a position where you can instantly lay 
 your hand on it. Have your mixed developer 
 in the graduate, and a clean towel handy, so 
 that you can always rinse and dry your hands 
 before you touch the plates in the plate-hold- 
 ers. 
 
 With the few accessories thus disposed in 
 orderly fashion, the developing light placed 
 about a foot from the trays, and the white 
 light shut out, open one of the plate-holders, 
 and take out a plate; don't take them all 
 out, but only as you need them for develop- 
 ment. Handle the plate by the edges, and 
 place face upward in the tray. It is a good 
 idea to dampen the tray with water and 
 drain, so that the developer will flow freely 
 when poured in, and for a similar reason, the 
 plate may be rinsed under the cool, clear, 
 
72 The Photographic 
 
 running water for an instant, since it is nec- 
 essary for the developer to flow freely over 
 the entire plate at one clean sweep, and the 
 surface of the plate, when dry, sometimes re- 
 fuses to take it promptly. In such instances, 
 one part of the plate, if fully exposed, may 
 commence to respond to the action of the 
 developing fluid before the part which the 
 developer has skipped gets its return flow 
 of the fluid. Never, under any circumstances, 
 pour or allow the water or developer to flow 
 directly down on the surface of the plate ; 
 always let it come in contact with the plate 
 with a sideways flow. 
 
 The plate in the pan, pour the developer 
 with one clean, easy sweep over the surface 
 of it, and then keep up a gentle motion, caus- 
 ing the developer to flow backward and for- 
 ward over the surface. If this latter point is 
 not attended to, the plate will be marked by 
 irregular stains and streaks, which will ruin 
 it. (A simple way to rock the tray is to 
 place a small stick, such as a lead pencil, 
 under its center, and "see-saw" on it.) 
 Keep up this gentle motion, and have your 
 eye on the creamy white rectangle in the 
 tray. An interval of time will elapse, and 
 from the whiteness a tint of grey will show 
 itself here and there, darkening steadily, if 
 the exposure is near right, at some points 
 
Primer: The Development. 73 
 
 darker, at others lighter. The whole ex- 
 pression of the plate in the pan changes, 
 and in a little while the plate seems to fade 
 away against the- grey black bottom of the 
 tray. If this action is very rapid, if the dark 
 tones flash all over the plate at once, pour 
 the developer from the tray back into the 
 graduate, taking care that the plate does 
 not slip during the operation. Add to the 
 solution in the glass a small quantity of Bro- 
 mide of Potassium (restrainer), and pour 
 back over the plate in the same fashion as 
 at first. The over-prompt greyness has 
 shown that the image thrown by the lens 
 rested upon the plate too long, and the result 
 to be avoided in this contingency is flatness in 
 the negative. The sky and all white objects 
 ought to be blackest on the plate, but with 
 what is called a flat negative, these parts are 
 too much of one tone with the rest of it, in- 
 stead of preserving their independent values. 
 The restrainer or retarder checks the over- 
 quick action of the developer, giving those 
 sections of the plate which have had the 
 most light, and therefore ought to be dark- 
 est, a chance to get ahead of the other parts, 
 and retain their proper balance. 
 
 With a normal exposure the development 
 is comparatively simple, and a few trials will 
 teach you how to avoid the grosser errors. 
 
74 The Photographic 
 
 The nice use of judgment comes into play 
 for under and over-exposed plates, and these 
 seem to constitute the bulk of the results. 
 For this reason a little time spent on the sub- 
 ject will not be amiss. In the opinion of the 
 authors, the developer giving the softest neg- 
 atives, and those richest in detail, with under- 
 exposed plates, is Pyro. In the hands of 
 others, and exceptionally in ours, other de- 
 velopers have produced fine negatives from 
 extremely short exposures, but the results 
 obtained with Pyro are so uniform, and the 
 management of the developer so extremely 
 simple, that we have learned to rely on it. 
 The principal objections to its use are the 
 necessity of always making fresh solutions 
 from the dry salt, the liability to stain, and 
 the imperative demand for continuous rock- 
 ing of the developing tray. But these dis- 
 advantages in the Pyro developer are more 
 than compensated for by the resulting nega- 
 tives, so beautiful, so fine in printing quality. 
 To illustrate, suppose we have a plate which 
 we presume, or know, to be under-exposed. 
 We take first the Alkali solution (carb. soda 
 and water), and soak the plate in this for 
 five minutes, then pouring it off and imme- 
 diately flooding the plate with either No. 3 
 or No. 4 developer (as given in Part I.), 
 and covering the tray with a piece of card- 
 
Primer: The Development. 75 
 
 board to exclude atmosphere and light, pro- 
 ceed to rock the tray, and keep this up for 
 several minutes. The plate is then lifted 
 and examined by holding it in front of the 
 dark lantern and looking through it. If the 
 development has started, the plate is replaced 
 in the tray, and the rocking resumed, with 
 occasional examination, until all the detail 
 has come out on the plate, and it seems 
 quite dense by the transmitted light. (Pyro 
 requires denser development than some other 
 developers.) In using the Pyro- Ammonia 
 developer, it must be poured off the plate, 
 2iTa.6. fresh solution substituted every 20 minutes. 
 If after 40 minutes' rocking no detail appears 
 in shadows (the "shadows" of a plate are 
 its clear parts), the plate is probably worth- 
 less, but it may now be removed and placed 
 without rinsing in a dish of pure water and, 
 well covered up, allowed to soak for, say an 
 hour, to coax out all detail. By this method 
 many plates, otherwise worthless, may result 
 in good negatives, but if after this treatment 
 the plate still lacks detail, it had best be 
 discarded as hopeless. It would be absurd, 
 of course, to expend so much time on a neg- 
 ative unless for some reason it is very valu- 
 able, or impossible to replace. Five to ten 
 minutes' rocking in the tray is enough for 
 ordinary plates. With the No. 3 developer 
 
76 The Photographic 
 
 it is not necessary to mix fresh during 
 developrnent, but you must always com- 
 mence with fresh (and this applies to all Pyro 
 developers). Soaking a plate in clear water 
 for a time will always result in obtaining the 
 fullest amount of detail possible, and if the 
 tray is covered up and well protected from 
 the light no injury to the plate can result. 
 
 Over-exposed plates work best with strong 
 old developers and plenty of bromide, to give 
 contrast and avoid flatness. With the Metol 
 and Rodinal developers the older they become 
 the clearer and harsher the results and the 
 greater the contrast, so that old solutions 
 should always be kept on hand for over- 
 exposures. 
 
 With normal exposures the development is 
 continued until by transmitted light (looking 
 through the negative) the plate is quite dense, 
 and the image shows with more or less dis- 
 tinctness on the back. The density required, 
 however, differs in different makes of plates, 
 as some fix out more than others, and for this 
 part of the work experience is the only guide. 
 Too often the beginner (and others as well) 
 is prone to mistake an under-exposed plate 
 for an over-exposed, and vice-versa. To 
 avoid floundering in error, it is well to bear 
 these facts in mind : Under-exposed plates are 
 brilliant, clean, clear, and full of contrast — 
 
Primer: The Development. 77 
 
 they are black and white negatives ; the light 
 acting on different parts of the plate, even for 
 a very short time, causes the developer to 
 give a strong, black film, but where long con- 
 tinued action of the light occurs it does not, 
 as many suppose, give greater blackness to 
 the film, but makes the image thin, brown 
 and transparent. It is for this reason that an 
 over-exposed plate is rich in detail, has no con- 
 trast (clear glass) and is not black but grey, 
 while if held to the light it is very transparent. 
 To get these facts well in mind a few experi- 
 ments will aid you perceptibly. 
 
 To resume the development of our plate. 
 As the image of this "something" on it, 
 which you will soon learn to know and dis- 
 tinguish part for part, becomes more lost in 
 the universal darkness which spreads over the 
 film, you may pick it out of the tray and 
 look through it, holding it by the edges be- 
 fore the orange light. Then you may judge 
 it in the way that has just been mentioned 
 above, and decide as to how far the action of 
 the developer has gone. It is not safe to re- 
 gard the appearance of the back of the plate 
 as an index of its condition unless you know 
 something of the kind of plate you are using. 
 With some makes the image appears on the 
 back in greyish white and remains so ; with 
 others the image must disappear and the back 
 
78 The Photographic 
 
 of the plate become wholly of the black tone 
 before development is completed. Examina- 
 tion by the transmitted light is the only safe 
 rule, and if the action of the developer is not 
 accomplished, the plate must be put back in 
 the tray and the rocking continued. 
 
 When your knowledge, gained by the sug- 
 gestions given, reasons that the plate has had 
 enough fellowship with the developer, raise 
 it by the edges and let it drain into the tray. 
 The next tray, it will be remembered, holds 
 , clean, cool water. We place the negative 
 face up in it and allow it to remain a couple of 
 minutes, then drain the water from the tray 
 and cover the plate with fresh water. This 
 operation ought to be repeated three or four 
 times, and when you are sure of handling the 
 plate by the edges skillfully, you may wash it 
 under the running cold water, allowing the 
 water to flow over it slantwise and not directly 
 down on it. 
 
 After this washing or soaking, the plate is 
 placed face upward in the third or fixing tray, 
 containing the solution of Hyposulphite of 
 Soda. Just before putting it there, hold it in 
 front of the orange light. 
 
 You will notice that it is still opaque in the 
 lighter sections and that the dark parts are 
 very opaque. Put it in the fixing-bath, and 
 as your fingers will probably come in contact 
 
Primer: The Development. 79 
 
 with the soda, wash your hands thoroughly 
 and dry them before touching anything else. 
 Now you may take the second plate from its 
 holder and go on with the development of it, 
 while the first one is resting in the fixing- 
 bath ; but as it is your first plate, we would 
 advise you to wait for about 10 minutes and 
 see the developed negative before attempting 
 more. After the lapse of this time lift the 
 plate from the tray, always by the edges, and 
 look at it in front of the developing light. A 
 surprising change ought to have taken place : 
 all of the grey-white should have vanished 
 and the plate show the negative picture in all 
 its varied ranges of grey and grey-black, a 
 certain element of light and brightness having 
 appeared. Here, in black and white — or light 
 — is the negative image of the scene you 
 pointed your camera at, only, as it is a nega- 
 tive image, everything is reversed. The bril- 
 liant light of the sky is black, and the dark 
 green of the trees, the grey of the rocks or 
 earth are of a lighter hue, while the whole 
 image is reversed, right hand for left hand as 
 it really appeared. If you had taken the 
 plate, as you may freely do now, out into the 
 white light before the fixing solution acted 
 upon it, it would have darkened all over in a 
 few minutes ; but now the developer has 
 brought out the picture by its action, the sil- 
 
8o The Photographic 
 
 ver salts, decomposed in proportion to the 
 strength of light which fell upon the plate, 
 have become grey or black, and the Hypo 
 solution has permanently fixed and held this 
 record by dissolving away all the free silver on 
 the sections which the light did not strike. 
 
 A thorough washing in clear, clean, cool 
 water will complete the work. 
 
 Thorough washing must not suggest the 
 wash-tub or soap and water, but only water, 
 and plenty of it, the washing being accom- 
 plished by frequent changes of water, or best 
 of all, in running water, the stream being of 
 just sufficient volume to change the whole 
 body of the water every few minutes, and the 
 washing kept up for about two hours. If the 
 plate is then sponged off with a tuft of absor- 
 bent cotton, which must be wet before being 
 used, it may be placed in the drying rack, 
 which allows the moisture to drain all to one 
 corner and the plate to dry evenly over its 
 surface. If a negative crystallizes on the film 
 surface after drying, it is an evidence that the 
 Hypo has not been entirely eliminated, and 
 shows that your washing is somewhere at 
 fault. 
 
 When the negative is dry, and you come to 
 examine it in the white light of day, you can 
 criticize it to your best ability, noting a few 
 more points about plates. 
 
Primer: The Development. 8i 
 
 A FOGGED plate is thin and flat, and the image 
 is lost, as a ship is, in the haze of the fog. 
 The cause of fog is either that the plate has 
 been light-struck in handling (that is, white 
 light has met it before developing); or the 
 developer has been too strong in alkali; or 
 there has been lack of bromide ; or over-ex- 
 posure ; or the developer has been too warm. 
 
 A WEAK NEGATIVE with dear shadowsis caused 
 by under- development, and it looks very much 
 like an under-exposed plate, except that the 
 high lights are not black, but weak. 
 
 Weak developer, too weak, will give a neg- 
 ative full of detail, but weak and lacking in 
 contrasts and snap. 
 
 A negative too dense means over-develop- 
 ment, the developer being too strong or too 
 warm. 
 
 A weak negative and a strong negative 
 may be treated to change their quality after 
 fixing. 
 
 Intensification, or strengthening a weak 
 negative, is entirely safe, and will not cause a 
 negative to fade if properly done. To inten- 
 sify proceed as follows : Wash the negative 
 for not less than two hours to eliminate the 
 Hypo — every trace of it — and then immerse in 
 a saturated stock solution of 
 
 BI-CHLORIDE OF MERCURY. 
 
 {This chemical is given a line of full capitals 
 
82 The Photographic 
 
 because it is one of the most violent poisons 
 known, and must be handled with extreme care. ) 
 Allow the negative to remain in this until it 
 is bleached (or turned white), and then remove 
 from this bath and place in a solution com- 
 posed of 
 
 Ammonium Chloride i ounce 
 
 Water lo ounces 
 
 Allow the plate to soak for five minutes 
 (rocking the tray), and then wash in running 
 water for lo minutes. Then place in a bath of 
 water to which a few drops of strong ammo- 
 nia have been added. In this bath it will 
 blacken all over. Remove and wash in run- 
 ning water for loto 15 minutes, and dry. If 
 found too intense it may be reduced by im- 
 mersion in a weak Hypo bath and then washed 
 for not less than one hour. 
 
 Reduction, or reducing the density of a 
 negative, is accomplished as follows : Make 
 a solution of Red Prussiate of Potash, one 
 ounce of it to 15 ounces of water, and mark 
 this "Stock Solution," and note that it also 
 is a strong poison. 
 
 To reduce, take a fresh Hypo bath and add 
 to it a few drops of this solution, immersing 
 the negative in it. (The more potash, the 
 more rapid the reduction. ) Watch the plate 
 carefully, and when sufficiently reduced, rinse 
 in clear water to stop the process, and then 
 
Primer: The Development. 83 
 
 examine. If the negative is now satisfactory, 
 wash for one hour to eliminate the Hypo. If 
 certain local spots require further reduction, 
 take a mop of absorbent cotton and dip in the 
 potash solution and rub on the dense spot, 
 examining constantly until right, and then 
 wash. This work may all be done in day- 
 light or white light, and experience with the 
 procedure will save many a plate from ruin, 
 and assist in producing a negative which can 
 be printed from with greater readiness. 
 
 The quality in development which leads on 
 to success is, first and markedly, cleanliness. 
 The chemicals must be mixed with care, the 
 bottles, trays and graduates well washed, and 
 everything kept separate. The fixing solution 
 must not mingle with the developer or come 
 in contact with it, and it was with this in view 
 that you were directed to wash and dry your 
 hands after the fingers had immersed the plate 
 in the Hypo. A little thoughtlessness in these 
 matters often produces a surprising amount of 
 trouble, and the worst of it is that the begin- 
 ner, under these circumstances, cannot tell 
 where to look for the cause. By avoiding 
 "every appearance of evil," you have at 
 least one source of assurance, and when any- 
 thing goes wrong you can trace it the more 
 easily. Of course, the experienced workman 
 allows himself a degree of license, and may do 
 
84 The Photographic 
 
 things which the beginner ought not to allow. 
 In the dark-room so much is dependent on 
 mere sense of locality that the freedom of 
 work done in daylight cannot be permitted. 
 
 The plate-holders, while in the dark-room, 
 must be kept away from the solutions and the 
 water ; there is always a chance of them being 
 splashed with a solution, and fresh plates put 
 in the holder in ignorance of the trap. The 
 holders are meant only to contain clean, fresh 
 plates, and they must therefore be guarded. 
 Before filling them with new plates the record 
 tablets should be cleaned by rubbing with a 
 damp cloth, the record having been copied if 
 desired, and a number given to each plate, 
 small gummed labels, just large enough to 
 fasten to the unused margin of the plate, 
 being furnished by the stores ready to attach 
 when the corresponding plate is taken from 
 the rack. After every use of the holders it is 
 wise to dust them out with a soft brush before 
 re-filling. 
 
 The plates in the rack will take a few hours 
 to dry, depending largely on the state of the 
 weather, for in damp, muggy weather the 
 drying of the film takes place slowly. Until 
 they are perfectly dry they must be let alone, 
 although as you go further on in photographic 
 work you will learn methods of speeding the 
 drying in special emergencies. 
 
Primer: The Development. 85 
 
 The six plates in the three holders, if all 
 have been used, may be completed in an 
 evening, the procedure in the case of each one 
 following in regular order. But for the be- 
 ginner, unless unusually apt or accustomed to 
 chemical work, this amount of labor will be 
 unwise to commence with, for haste makes 
 waste in photography, as in many other things. 
 
 After your developing work is finished the 
 trays, etc., must be washed clean with run- 
 ning water. Never use soap or any cleansing 
 agent on your dark-room appliances, since a 
 fraction of the alkali in the soap, left on a 
 tray or graduate, may make discord, and all of 
 the chemicals you use are readily soluble in 
 water, so that rinsing thoroughly with that 
 fluid gives all the cleansing results you need. 
 
 When from any cause a plate is slow to de- 
 velop, keep even the safe light away from it, 
 and only bring the tray before the light as 
 occasion requires your looking at it. With 
 the quicker variety of plates beyond No. 25 
 sensitometer, as marked on the package, it is 
 wisest to have a clean piece of cardboard 
 large enough to entirely cover and lap over 
 the edges of the tray while waiting for the 
 developer to act. It not only keeps out the 
 light, but in a warm room, it 'also prevents 
 the heated air from acting, as it will, as an 
 accelerator in the effect of the developer. 
 
86 The Photographic Primer. 
 
 A moderate coolness is essential to good 
 development. Warm solutions, or an over- 
 warm room causing them, do more than 
 chemical damage, since they may bring about 
 an organic change in the gelatine film of the 
 plate and soften it so that it will pucker or try 
 to leave the glass at the edges. In practice 
 this is called frilling, and has often ruined a 
 valuable negative. As it is only caused, with 
 good plates, by too strong developer, or heat 
 in the dark room, or transferring the plate 
 directly from the developer to the Hypo with- 
 out washing, it can be entirely avoided by 
 using precaution. In the dog-days of sum- 
 mer ice water and ice in the developer and 
 Hypo solution may be necessary. 
 
 And, to conclude this chapter, over-care is 
 a symptom of danger. It leads to nervous- 
 ness, and a being wants a cool head in a dark- 
 room ! There is a line of finicky handling of 
 everything you work with which simply makes 
 your pursuit a bore and a nerve-eater. Take it 
 to your heart that thousands of negatives 
 as precious as yours have gone under before 
 your time, and there is no very great gap in 
 the world after all ! 
 
Section III. 
 THE PRINTING. 
 
 m m 
 
 HERE is a popular impression that 
 the immediate result of "taking 
 a picture" is a finished photo- 
 graph in the camera, and the un- 
 initiated will express surprise at 
 your inability to answer their many inquiries : 
 "Did you get it?" "Is it a good one?" "Let 
 me see it?" The negative will always be a 
 mystery to the unenlightened ; it is an unreal 
 affair, so different from the ordinary concep- 
 tion, and so little understood. 
 
 In photography, the negative is what the 
 type is in printing, and "sun" impressions 
 can be struck from it in large quantities, just 
 as the types print themselves upon the sheets 
 of paper. It might be said to be an electro- 
 type of certain impressions of nature, capable 
 of yielding many prints. 
 
 In printing a photograph, various sub- 
 stances — usually paper — coated with a light- 
 sensitive chemical film, are used to receive 
 the impression from the negative, the light 
 
 (87) 
 
88 The Photographic 
 
 action being similar to that in the production 
 of the negative. The light passing through 
 the thin parts of the negative blackens or dis- 
 colors the paper, while the denser parts hold 
 back the light. As the opacity of the nega- 
 tive varies in different parts, according to the 
 light-values received, so the paper will show 
 gradations of tone and color corresponding to 
 the amount of light transmitted by the nega- 
 tive. Therefore, the thin parts of the nega- 
 tive, which represent the shadows in the view, 
 allow a large amount of light to pass through 
 and make a strong impression on the paper, 
 while the high-lights or bright parts of the 
 view are black and opaque in the negative, 
 holding back the light and making but little 
 impression. 
 
 The sensitive papers on which the prints 
 are made are of many varieties. The use of 
 the negative and the action of the light is the 
 same in all of them, the only variation being 
 in the way the print appears on the paper, or 
 the way it is brought out or fixed there, and 
 the amount of light required for its produc- 
 tion. We shall restrict ourselves to the prin- 
 cipal varieties, which include 
 
 (Plain Salted taper. 
 Albumenized " 
 Bromide 
 Aristotype " 
 
 Platinum Paper. -{ The Platinotype. 
 
Primer: The Printing. 89 
 
 Iron Papers. \ or 
 
 u - ■ 
 
 f Ferro-Prussiate, 
 
 or 
 . Blue-Print Paper. 
 
 We will first describe, in broad terms, each 
 of these processes, and follow later with more 
 detailed instructions for their use, giving the 
 necessary manipulation for each. 
 
 The Plain Salted Paper is the oldest of 
 this group, and, while not popular with the 
 professional photographer at the present time, 
 it is a very beautiful and artistic process, and 
 deserving of careful attention at the hands of 
 the Amateur Photographer, as he is not re- 
 stricted in his work by the demands of a some- 
 times vulgar public. This process gives 
 black and brown prints, devoid of gloss or 
 luster, resembling in its fine effects the richest 
 engravings. Plain, chemically pure photo- 
 graphic paper, saturated with a solution of 
 Ammonium Chloride, is sensitized with Ni- 
 trate of Silver, the two chemicals uniting in 
 the substance of the paper to form the light- 
 sensitive Silver Chloride. 
 
 Albumenized Paper is similar to the Salted 
 Paper, except that instead of being "salted " 
 with a solution of Ammonium Chloride in wa- 
 ter, the surface of the paper is covered with a 
 coating of Albumen or white of egg, in which 
 the salt has been thoroughly incorporated. 
 This paper is also sensitized by contact with a 
 Nitrate of Silver bath, but here the silver com- 
 
9° The Photographic 
 
 bines not only with the salt to form a silver 
 chloride, but also with the albumen to form 
 an organic albuminate of silver, which is 
 itself light-sensitive, and assists in the pro- 
 duction of the picture. The sensitive film 
 being on the surface of the paper, and having 
 a transparent depth, gives to the picture a 
 depth and brilliancy impossible with the plain 
 Salted Paper. Albumen Paper gives black, 
 brown and sepia tones. 
 
 Aristotype Papers are similar to the Albu- 
 men Paper, except that they are coated with 
 an emulsion of Silver Chloride in either Gela- 
 tine or Collodion. The Silver Chloride in 
 this case being formed in the emulsion first, 
 and the paper then coated with the sensitive 
 emulsion, while in the " Salted " and "Albu- 
 men " paper a double coating is necessary, 
 the paper being treated first with the Salting 
 Solution and then with the Silver Solution, 
 the Silver Chloride being formed in the film 
 during the second coating. The Aristotype 
 Papers claim superiority because of their ex- 
 tremely high gloss, their long-keeping quali- 
 ties before use, and that they may be bought 
 ready prepared for the printing-frame. These 
 advantages are offset in the opinion of many 
 by the lack of artistic effect, due to the high 
 gloss, and the harsh, chalky tones as com- 
 pared with Albumen Papers. 
 
Primer: The Printing. 91 
 
 The Bromide Papers differ from the other 
 Silver Papers in their sensitiveness to hght, 
 the black and sepia tones obtained, and the 
 methods of developing, the picture not being 
 visible during the process of printing. In 
 this class of papers the light action is pro- 
 duced by employing a Bromide of Silver and 
 not a Chloride. In these features they re- 
 semble the dry-plate, and, in fact, the chemi- 
 cals and chemical action obtained is the same 
 as in the production of the negative, the sen- 
 sitive emulsion being spread upon paper in- 
 stead of glass. 
 
 Platinum Prints are made, as the name 
 implies, with the Salts of Platinum in place of 
 Silver. The softness of these prints goes be- 
 yond the finest photogravures, and they are 
 probably the most beautiful of all photo- 
 graphic reproductions. The prints have no 
 gloss, and the tones vary from a beautiful gray 
 to a rich, velvety black. 
 
 Blue Prints are made on paper coated 
 with an Iron Solution. They are extremely 
 beautiful if properly made, and possess great 
 artistic merit, the bad repute into which they 
 at one time fell being due to improper coat- 
 ing of the paper and careless manipulation 
 on the part of the operator. Apparently 
 the easiest to handle of all photographic 
 papers, every tyro in the art of printing felt 
 
92 The Photographic 
 
 himself to be above instruction, and licensed 
 to the most careless and slovenly manipula- 
 tion. Feeling himself a past master in the 
 art of blue printing, the paper was invariably 
 blamed for every defect, and any sugges- 
 tion that the negative or the operator was at 
 fault met with the universal comment, "Do 
 you suppose I don't know how to make a 
 blue print ? ' ' Well, usually he didn' t ! This 
 paper renders faithfully every gradation of the 
 negative, and is remarkably rich in soft and 
 delicate definition, the color of the print being 
 a rich Prussian blue with beautiful china- 
 white high-lights. 
 
 Before describing the work of printing a 
 photograph, we will say a word regarding the 
 apparatus, and refer to some of the opera- 
 tions and the reasons for performing them. 
 
 The Printing-Room should have a southern 
 exposure, and from the window of the room 
 should project a shelf for holding the printing 
 frames. This shelf ought to be provided with 
 supports for holding the frames at such an 
 angle that the light can fall in parallel rays 
 on the negative, so that the edge of the frame 
 may cast no shadow on the picture. Blocks of 
 wood against which the frames may lean will 
 answer the purpose. The window may have 
 a curtain, or the room be divided off, to enable 
 the operator to load and unload his frames 
 
Primer: The Printing. 93 
 
 and examine his prints in subdued light. 
 Running water is an absolute necessity, if any 
 amount of work is to be done and good 
 results desired. A keg with a faucet and a 
 lined box for a sink will answer, where run- 
 ning water is unobtainable. Empty dry- 
 plate boxes or similar receptacles are useful 
 for holding the sheets of paper before and 
 after exposure. The printing-room should 
 be supplied with tables and shelving for bot- 
 tles, chemicals and apparatus. Four trays 
 are necessary; those of hard rubber are best. 
 One for "silvering," one for washing the 
 prints, another for "fixing," and a fourth for 
 the final washing. The tray for silvering 
 should be at least 10x12 inches in dimensions 
 — the professional usually uses 20 x 24. The 
 object is to silver as large a sheet as possible 
 at one time and cut into smaller sizes when 
 dry. Of course, the larger the tray the more 
 bath must be used, and as the first expense 
 in making up the silver bath is considerable, 
 this must influence the amateur in the size 
 selected. The " toning " may be done in the 
 tray used for the first washing, and likewise the 
 fixing and final washing of the prints may be 
 carried on in the trays used for fixing and 
 washing the negatives. It must be distinctly 
 borne in mind that the trays used for silver- 
 ing, preliminary washing, and toning must 
 
94 The Photographic 
 
 never come in contact with the Hypo or fixing 
 solutions, and prints, after being in the fixing 
 solution, must not be placed in these trays. 
 The same care should be used with the fingers 
 in working with the prints. After the hands 
 have been in the fixing solution or in the last 
 wash water, they must be washed before again 
 handling the silver or toning trays or solution. 
 A Fuming-Closet or Box can, for the first 
 experiment, be a very simple affair, and a 
 suitable contrivance will readily suggest itself, 
 but for a permanent fixture the following may 
 be used, the dimensions varying according to 
 the size and number of sheets you expect to 
 handle. Take a tight box two inches wider 
 inside than the narrowest measurement of 
 your sheet of paper, and about eight inches 
 higher than the longest way of the sheet, and 
 to the front of the box hinge a door to open 
 like a closet. Four inches from the real bot- 
 tom have a false bottom, perforated with holes 
 one-eighth inch in diameter and about one 
 inch apart. One inch below the top, on the 
 inside, tack to each side of the closet a strip 
 to act as ledges on which to hang cross 
 strips which hold the paper to be fumed. 
 Now, after the paper is silvered and thorough- 
 ly dry, it may be fastened by pins to strips of 
 wood, and these slats, with the paper hanging 
 straight down from them, are slid in one after 
 
Primer: The Printing. 95 
 
 the other on the ledges in the fuming-box. 
 On the real bottom of the box a saucer filled 
 with one or two ounces of the strongest 
 Ammonia — not Aqua or Household Ammonia 
 — is placed, and the door closed. The fumes 
 arising will strike the perforated bottom and 
 being thus evenly distributed will pass through 
 to the upper section and come in contact with 
 every part of the hanging sheets of paper. 
 The use and need of the fuming-box will be 
 described under its proper heading. 
 
 The Printing-Frame can be described 
 easily by comparing it to a heavy picture 
 frame with a ledge for holding the glass or 
 negative, a perfectly flat and substantial 
 wooden back which is in two sections, hinged 
 together, and removable from the frame. 
 Pivoted in the center of each section is a 
 curved brass spring, which, when the back is 
 in position, swings around and fastens under 
 catches on the sides of the frame, thus hold- 
 ing the back in place and bringing pressure 
 to bear on the negative. A felt pad is placed 
 between the negative and back of frame to 
 make the pressure more uniform and secure 
 perfect contact between the negative and 
 sensitive paper. We do not advise any 
 amateur to make his own frames, as they are 
 offered in great variety, at very low prices, by 
 the various stock houses. When using one 
 
96 The Photographic 
 
 frame for printing negatives of various sizes, 
 a sheet of glass being first placed in the frame, 
 the negative may be centered on this, but it is 
 best to have different sizes of frames to cor- 
 respond with the negatives, as the uneven 
 surface of the glass and the additional pres- 
 sure may cause the negatives to crack. The 
 back of the frame is made in two sections, to 
 allow of inspection of the paper during the 
 process of printing, as one section, with the 
 spring caught under the catches, holds the 
 negative and paper from shifting while the 
 other is raised. 
 
 A Dampening Box is useful for moistening 
 albumen and plain paper before it is silvered. 
 If you attempt to float a dry sheet of paper 
 on the silver bath it will curl up and be un- 
 manageable, and the sheet will not absorb 
 the silver evenly. To avoid this the paper 
 is slightly dampened before silvering, but as 
 this cannot be done by wetting the paper, 
 which would spoil its surface, it is accom- 
 plished by keeping it for 24 hours in a 
 moist atmosphere. The box is made as fol- 
 lows : Take a tight box three inches larger 
 in width and length than your paper, and six 
 inches deep. Tack a strip to each of its long 
 sides two inches from the top on the inside ; 
 make a lid with lips to come down over the 
 outside of the box and act as a cover ; secure 
 
Primer: The Printing, 97 
 
 bottom and top well with battens to prevent 
 warping, or line the box with painted tin. 
 Across the strips mentioned lay slats about 
 two or three inches apart. In using the box, 
 place two clean blotters, chemically pure, on 
 the bottom, and on these lay the albumen or 
 plain salted paper, placing on top of it two 
 more blotters. Four to six blotters, which 
 have been thoroughly saturated with water, 
 but are not dripping, are to be laid on the slats 
 and the lid of the box put on. The paper 
 will be found nice and limp when needed for 
 silvering, but it must not be kept in the box 
 many days, or it will mildew. 
 
 The Silver Bath in its simplest form is made 
 by dissolving chemically pure Nitrate of Silver 
 in distilled water, the average strength being 
 50 grains to the ounce. The bath may vary 
 within the limits of 30 and 80 grains of 
 silver to the ounce of water. Some operators 
 add other substances to the bath for various 
 reasons, and with some special papers this 
 has advantages, but for our purpose it is 
 unnecessary, and we shall adhere to the sim- 
 ple formula here given : 
 
 Nitrate of Silver (c. p.) 60 grains 
 
 Distilled Water i ounce 
 
 Dissolve and keep in a glass stoppered bot- 
 tle^ in bright daylight. After using the silver 
 bath a few times it will often be found to turn 
 
9^ The Photographic 
 
 red, and cause dirty brown streaks to appear 
 on the paper. This is caused' by the organic 
 matter which is dissolved from the paper and 
 carried into the bath, and when it is in this 
 condition it is not fit for use. The object in 
 keeping the bottle in bright light when not in 
 use is that the albuminate and chloride of 
 silver held in suspension may be acted on by 
 the light and precipitated to the bottom ; care, 
 of course, must be used to filter out the pre- 
 cipitate before use. After a time, however, 
 even this precaution will not be sufficient, and 
 it will be necessary to clear the bath. A sim- 
 ple and very effective method is to add to each 
 pint of silver solution an ounce, or more if 
 necessary, of Kaolin — White China Clay — 
 and shake up thoroughly and pour into a 
 filter. If the first part runs through cloudy, 
 pour this back into the funnel and refilter it 
 until it comes through clear and sparkling. 
 Of course, a clean bottle must be used. 
 When filtered, the bath is again ready for 
 use. After repeated use fresh Nitrate of Sil- 
 ver should be added to keep the bath up to 
 strength, as every sheet of paper floated robs 
 the solution of some of its silver. A lump of 
 Silver Carbonate, kept in the bottom of the 
 bath, preserves its neutrality. The free nitric 
 acid in the used bath combines with the Sil- 
 ver Carbonate to form fresh Silver Nitrate. 
 
Primer: The Printing. 99 
 
 The Toning-Bath for the Salted, Albumen 
 and Aristo papers is a solution of Chloride of 
 Gold and other chemicals, to be mentioned in 
 each formula, in water. It is a well-known fact 
 that if a print on any of the above papers be 
 "fixed" without any intermediate process, it 
 will have a disagreeable red tone, and lack all 
 of the beautiful qualities we are accustomed 
 to expect in a photograph. The necessary 
 intermediate process is that of toning, in 
 which a layer of Gold is deposited on the 
 image of silver formed during the printing. 
 The print may be said to be "plated" with 
 Gold. The object of adding other chemicals 
 to the bath is to bring about an alkaline reac- 
 tion and regulate the "speed" of the bath. 
 The tone of the print depends on the rapidity 
 with which the deposit of Gold takes place. 
 If the action be slow and the Gold deposited 
 in very fine crystals, the resulting image will 
 have a ruby color, while a rapid action causes 
 the Gold to precipitate in larger crystals and 
 produces a blue or purplish color. The 
 Chloride of Gold is best purchased in tubes 
 containing 15 grains each, and the con- 
 tents of this tube immediately added to 15 
 ounces of distilled water contained in a glass 
 stoppered bottle. This makes it more conve- 
 nient for measuring, as each ounce of water 
 
100 The Photographic 
 
 •will represent, approximately, one grain of 
 Gold. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, we will 
 leave the subject, to resume it again when 
 treating of the operation of toning, at which 
 time a few formulae will be given. 
 
 The Fixing-Bath is made by dissolving 
 one ounce of Hyposulphite of Soda in six 
 ounces of ordinary water. This solution de- 
 composes readily, and should be mixed fresh 
 for each day's work, and not used over again. 
 Remember that all vessels used for holding 
 the fixing solution must not be used for any- 
 thing else. 
 
 For our first experiments in printing we will 
 begin, as did the "Fathers of Photography," 
 with 
 
 Salted Paper : Obtain from your stock 
 house a few sheets of the Rives Plain Photo- 
 graphic Paper, having a smooth surface and 
 measuring i8 x 22 inches. Examine the two 
 sides of the sheet carefully, and you will see 
 that one is smooth and possessed of a beauti- 
 ful finish, while the other is very slightly 
 "pitted" as if it had lain while moist on a 
 fine wire cloth. The smooth side is the right 
 side to coat. Mark this so that you will know 
 it at a glance. Place this paper in your 
 dampening box for 24 hours ; when ready 
 for use, prepare a sufficient quantity of the 
 
Primer: The Printing. loi 
 
 following salting solution to well fill your 
 tray: 
 
 Ammonium Chloride (pure) .... 8 grains 
 Distilled Water x ounce 
 
 After pouring this solution into your tray, 
 take a strip of clean paper and skim the top, 
 to remove all dust and dirt. Now lift a sheet 
 of paper from your dampening box and, tak- 
 ing it by two diagonal corners, bring the 
 hands close together ; holding the sheet 
 over the tray, allow one of the free corners 
 to touch the solution, gradually lowering the 
 sheet, spreading the hands apart as you do 
 so, until its whole surface is in contact with, 
 and floating on, the bath. If it shows a ten- 
 dency to curl up, breathe slightly on it — do 
 not blow — and the moisture of the breath will 
 cause it to uncurl and lie flat ; if it curls 
 badly it has not been dampened properly, and 
 needs a longer time in the dampening box. 
 Now, supposing the sheet to be resting on the 
 solution, lift it carefully, first by one corner, 
 inspecting the under surface to see that no 
 air-bells are formed ; after looking at this, 
 try the other corners, till you get a view of 
 the whole sheet. If any air-bells are present, 
 break them with a glass rod or stick kept for 
 that purpose, and allow the sheet to again 
 rest on the solution. If the air-bells are not 
 broken, the paper will absorb no solution in 
 
102 The Photographic 
 
 these places, and they will show as white 
 spots in the photograph. After the paper has 
 remained in contact with the solution for 
 three minutes, it is raised by taking hold of 
 one corner of the sheet, and slowly and 
 steadily lifted until another corner is free, 
 when this is also grasped, and the whole sheet 
 raised with a slow, uninterrupted motion ; it 
 is then hung by clips on a line to dry, the end 
 leaving the solution last being always kept the 
 lower, while a strip of blotting paper attached 
 to the lower end absorbs the moisture drain- 
 ing to the bottom, and assists in uniform dry- 
 ing. Follow with another sheet, and so on, 
 till all are salted. After the paper is thor- 
 oughly dry it maybe stored away until needed, 
 as it keeps perfectly. ' 
 
 These manipulations have been given with 
 considerable detail, and as they apply as well 
 to the silvering of the paper, it will not be 
 necessary to repeat them fully. The Salting 
 of the paper may also be accomplished by 
 immersing it in the solution, one sheet after 
 another, avoiding air bells, and allowing six 
 or eight sheets to lie in the solution for five 
 to ten minutes. This is more apt to spoil 
 the surface of the paper, however, and is not 
 as instructive, as practice in salting is valua- 
 ble experience in silvering, which must of 
 necessity be done by floating and not by im- 
 
Primer: The Printing. 103 
 
 mersion. Those who prefer to buy their 
 paper ready salted will find a brand on the 
 market, under the name of "demons Plain 
 Salted Paper," which is thoroughly reliable, 
 Mr. John R. demons, the manufacturer, 
 being one of the pioneers in photography. 
 Many advise the addition of gelatine to the 
 salting solution, but the writers can say from 
 experience that unless it is present in large 
 quantities it is valueless, and if present in 
 quantity the amateur will find it impossible 
 to salt evenly, as the solution collects in 
 "tears" while drying, and to coat perfectly 
 with this heavy solution a special machine 
 is necessary ; therefore we confidently advise 
 the simple formula given. 
 
 Having salted and dried our paper, we 
 place it in the dampening box preparatory to 
 silvering. When ready, we prepare our sil- 
 ver bath as already given, and, pouring the 
 solution into the silvering tray, which has 
 been placed in the dark-room, or a room 
 lighted by artificial light, we skim off the 
 surface to remove dust and dirt, and prepare 
 
 To Silver the Paper. Taking the sheets 
 one at a time from the dampening box, we 
 float each in turn on the silver bath as de- 
 scribed in "Salting," being careful, of course, 
 to have the right side or salted surface in con- 
 tact with the solution. Examine carefully for 
 
104 The Photographic 
 
 air-bells, and allow the sheet to float for about 
 two minutes ; then lift it slowly and steadily, 
 and fasten on a line to dry, as previously 
 described. The room in which the sheets 
 are hung must be free from all daylight, and 
 warm and dry, to hasten drying. If the room 
 is damp and the drying unduly prolonged, 
 the prints will be flat and lacking in bril- 
 liancy, as the solution will sink into the paper. 
 The amateur will find it convenient to silver 
 his paper in the evening, and, after thorough 
 drying, put it away for use the following day, 
 but it does not keep well more than one or 
 two days. It is preserved best under pres- 
 sure in a printing-frame, with a sheet of dry 
 blotter on each side of the package. Of 
 course, to keep it in a frame it is necessary 
 to cut the sheets to the small sizes ; the only 
 drawback to this is the extra trouble of fum- 
 ing small pieces instead of the large sheets, 
 but this is not a serious obstacle. The paper 
 must be fumed Just before printing, as it 
 turns yellow and spoils rapidly after fuming. 
 Having prepared our paper and dried it thor- 
 oughly, we place it in the fuming box for 
 15 minutes and fume with strong Ammonia. 
 This is done because au acid reaction in 
 the paper interferes with the printing and 
 toning. Fuming counteracts any acidity, and 
 gives to the paper a certain degree of mois- 
 
Primer: The Printing. 105 
 
 ture. In printing the image, the light acts 
 on the Silver Chloride and reduces it to the 
 Sub-Chloride, at the same time liberating 
 Chlorine. If the Chlorine thus liberated has 
 no chemical with which it can combine, it 
 attacks the print and causes it to darken in 
 spots. But when the paper has been fumed 
 with Ammonia the liberated Chlorine com- 
 bines with the Ammonia to form Ammonium 
 Chloride, a harmless product. The paper is 
 removed from the fuming box, and, still care- 
 fully guarded from light, is cut to the required 
 size. The small sheets are now placed in a 
 dry-plate box or any suitable receptacle, and 
 carried to the printing room. Selecting our 
 negative, we dust it off carefully and place it 
 in the printing-frame with the film side 
 upward or inward in the frame ; on this lay.a 
 sheet of the plain silver paper, placing the 
 coated -or sensitive side in contact with the 
 film of the negative ; on the paper a felt pad 
 or sheet of blotting or soft paper, and over all 
 lay the back and fasten firmly in place. Now 
 turn the frame over, see that no dust is on 
 the surface of the glass, and that the paper 
 is not creased or folded, and put it on the 
 printing shelf, resting against a block so that 
 the surface of the negative receives the light 
 in direct rays, to avoid casting shadows on 
 the paper fgam the raised edge of the frame. 
 
io6 The Photographic 
 
 Whether we put the frame in direct sunlight 
 or bright diffused light will depend on the 
 quality of our negative. If the negative is 
 very thin or of moderate density, it is best to 
 have it looking away from the sun toward 
 the clear sky, as it will print more slowly and 
 evenly, but dense negatives had best be 
 printed in direct sunlight. Having allowed 
 the picture to print a few minutes, we take 
 up the frame and, stepping back from the 
 window into the subdued light, unfasten one 
 spring, and, raising that end of the back 
 board, lift the paper and inspect the print. 
 If all has gone well, the picture will stand 
 out clearly and distinctly in beautiful bluish- 
 black colors, but it is necessary to carry the 
 printing process beyond what would seem 
 right, as subsequent operations tend to reduce 
 the intensity of the print. No definite rule 
 can be given for printing, as every negative is 
 a law unto itself, but in a general way. Salted 
 Paper should be printed until the shadows 
 are very dark, the fine detail begins to be 
 lost and the high-lights lose their white color, 
 becoming slightly tinted. The latitude to be 
 allowed in this and all the processes must 
 be learned by experience, as it cannot be 
 described in words. 
 
 Our print, being judged sufficiently strong, 
 is removed from the frame, and, carefully 
 
Primer: The Printing. 107 
 
 guarded from light, is slipped into an old dry- 
 plate box or some suitable receptacle until 
 all the negatives for the day have been printed. 
 If on inspecting the print we find that one 
 part of it has printed too dark and other 
 parts not enough, we must "doctor" the 
 negative so that the thin parts can be held 
 back, and print more slowly. This is done 
 with tissue paper usually, or it may be accom- 
 plished by "reducing" the dense part of the 
 negative, as described in another chapter of 
 the book. Or again, if only one section, as a 
 corner, is too thin, it can be shaded by hold- 
 ing a piece of paper or card board above the 
 frame to cast a shadow on the thin portion, 
 moving the card board constantly, so that no 
 sharp line of shadow will show on the print. 
 If the tissue paper is used, the following is a 
 simple method : Moisten a piece of tissue or 
 tracing paper, and paste it to the glass side of 
 the negative; hold it up to the light, and with 
 a pencil trace out the paris which print too 
 dark, then with a sharp knife cut away the 
 balance. This will be apt to show a distinct 
 line if printed in a bright light ; to avoid it, 
 place a second piece of tissue paper over the 
 front of the frame, so that it stands away from 
 the negative about a quarter of an inch, and 
 this will produce a soft, diffused light. A little 
 crayon or black lead may be rubbed into the 
 
io8 The Photographic 
 
 tissue which is pasted on the negative, if some 
 parts still print too rapidly. It pays to 
 "doctor" a good negative, but a poor one 
 had best be thrown away, and another ex- 
 posure made. 
 
 To return to our prints, which are ready for 
 Toning. Take a clean tray, free from 
 Hypo, and place in it a sufficient quantity 
 of the following solution : 
 
 Citrate of Soda 3 grains 
 
 Distilled Water i ounce 
 
 Put the prints in this solution, one by one, 
 
 seeing that no two stick together, and allow 
 
 them to soak for fully five minutes, rocking 
 
 the tray occasionally. Pour off this solution 
 
 and discard it, as it will not answer for future 
 
 use ; now wash the prints thoroughly by 
 
 frequent changes of water for 20 minutes 
 
 (which can be done in the same tray), and 
 
 after all the free silver is eliminated, place 
 
 the prints in the toning bath, which has been 
 
 freshly prepared by the following formula : 
 
 Gold I grain 
 
 Water 24 ounces 
 
 Table Salt 5 grains 
 
 Carbonate of Soda 5 grains 
 
 The Gold is measured by taking one ounce 
 
 of the "stock" solution of Gold previously 
 
 mentioned. Test the alkalinity of the bath 
 
 by placing in it a strip of red litmus paper, 
 
 which it should turn blue; if the paper is not 
 
Primer: The Printing. 109 
 
 turned blue, add sufficieut Carbonate of Soda 
 to accomplish this. This bath does not keep, 
 and must be prepared each time. The prints 
 should bekept/a^if up in the bath and the 
 tray rocked by placing under it a stick or 
 pencil and "see-sawing" it: Occasionally 
 change the prints so that those on the bottom 
 will come on top, and see that all are under 
 the solution. The toning may be carried on 
 by daylight or lamplight, but if in daylight, 
 they must be handled in subdued light, say on 
 the opposite side of the room from the win- 
 dow, and it is well to begin by toning but a 
 few prints at a time, as it is awkward for the 
 beginner to manage many at once. After an 
 immersion of a few minutes the prints will be 
 seen to change color to a sepia or else a pur- 
 plish blue tone. To test the completion of the 
 process, the prints are lifted from the bath 
 from time to time and examined by transmitted 
 light — by looking through them at the bright 
 light. When the fine detail or delicate por- 
 tions begin to show a bluish color, the process 
 may be stopped by throwing the prints into 
 a pan of clean, fresh water, if sepia or light 
 brown tones are desired, but for blue-black 
 tones, the process must be continued until the 
 denser detail also shows blue by transmitted 
 light. Red spots in the prints are caused by 
 finger marks, the gold refusing to deposit 
 
no 
 
 The Photographic 
 
 where the perspiration from the hands has 
 left a greasy film; handling the prints with 
 wet fingers will avoid this. As some prints 
 tone more rapidly than others, each one 
 must be removed from the bath and placed 
 in a pan of water when it is considered right, 
 and all not toned for the same length of time. 
 Having placed all the prints in water, they 
 are washed for five minutes, with two or 
 three changes, and transferred to the 
 
 Fixing-Bath, which has been freshly pre- 
 pared. In this they remain for 20 min- 
 utes, being frequently moved about, that the 
 solution may come in contact with all. The 
 fixing-bath consists of 
 
 Hyposulphite of Soda i ounce 
 
 Water (ordinary) 6 ounces 
 
 Be careful not to dabble your hands in the 
 fixing-bath and then in any of the other solu- 
 tions or trays, and keep the fixing tray sepa- 
 rate from the others, both while in use and 
 out of use. After fixing for the proper length 
 of time, the prints are placed in clean running 
 water and washed thoroughly for about three 
 hours. It is also an advantage during the 
 washing to place the prints one at a time on 
 a glass slab and gently sponge both surfaces, 
 then throwing them back in the wash water. 
 When thoroughly washed, the prints are ready 
 to dry ; this may be done by hanging on a 
 
Primer: The Printing. i:i 
 
 line like a small "wash," or placing between 
 blotters. The latter method is apt to cause 
 trouble if the blotters are not chemically pure. 
 
 Prints on Plain Silver Paper, if made 
 according to directions, afford fine opportuni- 
 ties for coloring, and if water color paper be 
 used, the finished result can scarcely be told 
 from a genuine water-color picture. For 
 those possessing aptness in the coloring line, 
 this is a fascinating branch of photography, 
 as nothing enters into the coating of the 
 paper which can in any way change the sur- 
 face of it. The colors can be applied as easily 
 as to plain water-color paper, making in the 
 finished print an artistic effect hardly possible 
 with the gelatine-coated Bromide Papers 
 which are so often used for this work. 
 
 Some of the most artistic prints which the 
 authors have ever made were printed on heavy 
 rough surfaced water-color paper, the surface 
 resembling canvas in its appearance. These 
 prints are beautiful, whether colored or not, 
 and are specially adapted to large, bold work. 
 The paper may be purchased of any artists' 
 material house, and is salted best by immer- 
 sion in the salting bath, the sheet being first 
 sponged with distilled water in place of using 
 the dampening box. 
 
 After salting and drying, it is silvered by 
 tacking it to a board and applying the silver 
 
112 The Photographic 
 
 solution with the aid of a camel's hair brush 
 three or four inches wide and bound in rub- 
 ber. The paper is first stroked lengthwise 
 and then across, the operator making sure 
 that every part is thoroughly covered with 
 the silver solution. If the paper refuses to 
 take the silver, it may be dampened first. 
 The "Three Crown" toning bath given under 
 Albumen Paper Prints gives beautiful effects 
 with this heavy paper, but it must be borne 
 in mind that strong, vigorous negatives are 
 better adapted to the plain salted papers 
 than are weak ones. A silver bath for Salted 
 Paper, giving good results without fuming, 
 is made as follows : 
 
 Nitrate of Silver 50 grains 
 
 Nitrate of Ammonium 30 grains 
 
 Liquid Ammonia, strongest. ... 3 drops 
 Distilled Water i ounce 
 
 This bath keeps well, and only requires fil- 
 tering before use. With it the paper does 
 not require fuming, and it works equally well 
 with Salted or Albumen paper. 
 
 Albumen Paper. Very probably no pho- 
 tographic paper has been so popular and so 
 universally used as Albumen. This beautiful 
 paper certainly deserves the favor to which it 
 has attained, and its successor has not, in 
 the opinion of the authors, yet appeared. 
 Albumen prints combine the artistic beauty 
 of plain surface prints with the richness and 
 
Primer: The Printing. 113 
 
 depth of glossy paper without any of the 
 objectionable features of the latter class. 
 The manipulation is simplicity itself, and if 
 carried out with any judgment the results 
 are uniformly satisfactory. The paper is 
 handled much the same as plain salted paper, 
 and is, if anything, easier to work. 
 
 Albumen paper is found on the market 
 ready coated, the difficulties in albumenizing 
 being such as to limit the manufacturing to a 
 few large firms who have had an extensive 
 experience covering many years. The coating 
 of the paper consists of Albumen or white of 
 eggs, in which is incorporated Ammonium 
 Chloride. The Albumen is prepared by a 
 special process, which makes a clear, limpid 
 solution free from all the stringy, sticky prop- 
 erties so familiar to us as characteristic of 
 white of egg. As stated in the beginning of 
 this chapter, the image is formed, not alone 
 of Silver Chloride, but Silver Albuminate as 
 well, the Nitrate of Silver bath having a cer- 
 tain affinity for the Albumen as well as the 
 Ammonium Chloride. This, together with the 
 fact that the coating is on the surface of the 
 paper and has an appreciable thickness, al- 
 lows of deeper printing, which brings out all 
 the detail- in the dense shadows, making it 
 clear and apparent in the transparent depth 
 of the Albumen. 
 
114 7"ib« Photographic 
 
 For our experiment we purchase from the 
 stock house a dozen sheets of a standard 
 brand of Albumen paper and place them in 
 the dampening box for 24 hours. The sheets 
 are then floated on the silver bath, already 
 given, for two to three minutes, care being 
 taken to have the surface of the bath clean 
 and free from scum, the manipulation through- 
 out being the same as with the salted paper, 
 except that it is necessary to be very care- 
 ful to avoid cracking or breaking the paper 
 by rough handling, or spoiling the surface 
 with moist fingers. Albumen paper and prints, 
 when rolled for carrying, should always be 
 rolled with the Albumen side out, as the 
 film is less liable to break. 
 
 After silvering and drying, the sheets are 
 fumed for 15 to 20 minutes, cut to size, and 
 placed in a box and kept from light. Select- 
 ing our negative we expose as before, but the 
 printing is not carried as far as with the plain 
 salted paper, it being sufficient to print up clear 
 and strong and carry a shade or two beyond 
 what we want the finished print to be. If, 
 after toning and fixing, the print is light and 
 has a washed out, faded appearance, it has 
 not been printed enough ; if dark and heavy 
 looking, the exposure has been too long. 
 When the day' s printing is finished, the prints 
 are placed one by one in a pan of clean water 
 
Primer: The Printing. 115 
 
 and while thoroughly protected from light 
 they are washed for 20 minutes in several 
 changes of water, the washing continued un- 
 til the water runs off clear and loses its milky 
 appearance. They are then ready for toning. 
 We have at our disposal many formulas for 
 toning baths, all possessing some peculiar 
 advantage in the hands of those familiar with 
 them. We give a few of the most popular. 
 An excellent bath, and exceedingly simple 
 withal, is that of Abney & Robinson : 
 
 Formula No. i — 
 
 Chloride of Gold i grain 
 
 Carbonate of Soda 10 grains 
 
 Distilled Water 10 ounces 
 
 It must be used immediately after mixing. 
 This bath gives sepia and purplish brown 
 tones, depending on the quality of the nega- 
 tive and the depth to which toning is carried. 
 
 Formula No. 2 — 
 
 Acetate of Soda i drachm 
 
 Gold 5 grains 
 
 Distilled Water 12 ounces 
 
 To get the best result from this bath, it 
 must be at least a week old. With proper 
 care it keeps indefinitely. The tones are pur- 
 ple or brown, according to the length of time 
 the print is immersed. 
 
ii6 The Photographic 
 
 Formula No. 3 — Three Crown Toning Bath. 
 Solution A. 
 
 Powdered Borax 150 grains 
 
 Double-fused Acetate of Soda . . go grains 
 
 Bi-Carbonate of Soda 45 grains 
 
 Distilled Water i quart 
 
 Solution B. 
 
 Chloride of Gold 15 grains 
 
 Distilled Water 2 ounces 
 
 Mix all of Solution A with one ounce of 
 Solution B, and reserve the balance to 
 strengthen the bath when exhausted. This 
 bath keeps indefinitely, and only requires the 
 addition of a little Gold (Solution B) as it 
 loses strength. It must be filtered before use. 
 All three baths here given are excellent, but 
 No. 3 has given us greater satisfaction than 
 any we have tried. The range of tones pos- 
 sible are very great, and if used in combina- 
 tion with the Three Crown brand of Albumen 
 Paper, the prints work up beautifully, and 
 sepia effects and delicate browns unknown on 
 other papers are the result. In cold weather 
 the toning bath should be about the tempera- 
 ture of the blood. The prints after washing 
 are placed in one of the above baths and kept 
 constantly moving, face up. They are exam- 
 ined from time to time by transmitted light, 
 and for sepia tones are removed as soon as 
 the delicate half-tones appear slightly blue. 
 Dark brown and purplish black tones need 
 
Primer: The Printing. 117 
 
 further toning, but if carried too far the prints 
 after fixing will have a flat, faded, disagree- 
 able color. As the toning is completed throw 
 the prints into a pan of fresh water and wash 
 thoroughly, when they may be transferred to 
 the following fixing-bath. Double fixing, 
 that is, passing through two fixing-baths will 
 insure greater permanency to the prints : 
 
 Hyposulphite of Soda 4 ounces 
 
 Water i pint 
 
 Ammonia (strong) 30 drops 
 
 The addition of the ammonia prevents the 
 blistering of the film, so common with highly 
 albuminous papers. After the prints remain 
 in the fixing bath for 20 minutes, they are 
 washed thoroughly in running water for not 
 less than three hours, and it is again sug- 
 gested, as in printing plain silver paper, that 
 the prints be sponged off once or twice during 
 the final washing. As albumen prints have 
 an irresistible tendency to curl up while dry- 
 ing, and thus crack the surface, the authors 
 dry them between blotters, but it is absolutely 
 necessary to have chemically pure blotters — 
 obtainable at photo stock houses — and use 
 them for nothing else, being careful to discard 
 them altogether when stained or soiled. 
 
 Aristotype Papers are very popular at this 
 time with many amateurs, but the authors 
 have little to say in their favor, except the 
 good keeping qualities of the paper before 
 
ii8 The Photographic 
 
 use, its convenience in being manufactured in 
 all the photographic sizes, ready to use with- 
 out any preparatory manipulation, and the 
 great saving of time resulting therefrom. For 
 these advantages it seems to us that artistic 
 merit and permanency of results are sacrificed. 
 We are not joined in that opinion, however, 
 by many of the most prominent photogra- 
 phers, both professional and amateur, so the 
 question must remain an open one for each to 
 decide personally, and as all the many manu- 
 facturers send full directions for working each 
 particular brand, it is not necessary to go into 
 the operations here. 
 
 Bromide Papers. A comparatively recent 
 development in photographic printing is the 
 "Bromide" paper. This paper, as already 
 stated, is coated with a sensitive emulsion of 
 silver in gelatine, much the same as the film 
 used on the dry-plate. In this process the 
 Bromide, in place of the Chloride of Silver, is 
 used as a sensitive salt, and as it is much more 
 sensitive to light than the former, the light of 
 day is not necessary in the production of the 
 image ; in fact, it cannot be used ordinarily, 
 as it is too intense. The prints are usually 
 made by exposure to a gas jet or lamp-light 
 for one or more seconds, according to the 
 density of the negative. The great disadvan- 
 tage with Bromide paper is that the image 
 
Primer: The Printing. 119 
 
 is not visible during printing, and cannot be 
 watched to judge the exposure ; it is brought 
 out by development in a chemical bath after 
 exposure, as in the case of the negative. 
 The authors are able to regulate the time to 
 a nicety by making a long exposure to a weak 
 light, such as made by a candle, instead of 
 a short exposure to bright light. It is our 
 practice to have in the dark-room a table and 
 a candle or incandescent electric light with a 
 ground glass globe. If the former, the dark 
 lantern is lighted, and in the security of the 
 ruby light the package of Bromide paper is 
 opened, a sheet removed, and placed in the 
 frame with the right or sensitized side of the 
 paper in contact with the negative, and the 
 remaining sheets carefully replaced in the en- 
 velope. The frame is now set «/ on edge on 
 the table facing the unlit candle and about 
 18 inches away from it. The candle is lighted 
 and an exposure of thirty or forty seconds 
 made ; the candle is then extinguished and 
 the sheet of paper developed as described 
 later. If the image develops up harsh and 
 with no detail, but is black and white, the 
 exposure has been too short, and can be 
 lengthened according to judgment. If the 
 image comes up quickly and is full of detail 
 but weak and gray, and the high-lights tinted, 
 the exposure has been too long. The advan- 
 
I20 The Photographic 
 
 tage of the weak light consists in the great 
 latitude possiblis in regulating the exposure, 
 which is impossible with a bright light where 
 the exposure is only a fractional one at any 
 time. It is understood that all the operations 
 must be conducted in the dark-room with the 
 same care regarding white light that is used 
 in developing dry-plates. After developing, 
 the prints are washed in two or three changes 
 of the clearing solution, followed by four 
 changes of water, fixed in Hypo, and given a 
 thorough final washing, as with other silver 
 papers. 
 
 Directions for Working Bromide Pa- 
 pers. In giving detailed instructions for mak- 
 ing these prints, we cannot improve on the 
 directions given in a pamphlet sent out by the 
 manufacturer of Nepera Bromide Paper, and 
 therefore quote the following : 
 
 Exposure. On account of its great sensitiveness, 
 whicn equals that of a dry-plate, Bromide paper 
 should be handled only in good ruby light. If this 
 elementary recommendation is not followed, much 
 annoyance from ' 'foggy ' ' prints will be the result. For 
 enlargements, daylight is generally preferred ; while 
 for contact prints the usual sources of artificial light ; 
 viz., candle light, kerosene lamps, gas light or electric 
 light, can be used with more advantage on account of 
 greater steadiness. The time of exposure depends on 
 several conditions : Intensity of the light, distance 
 from the light source, quality of the light, and density 
 and color of the negative. 
 
 Yellow artificial light— candle, kerosene or incan- 
 descent electric light — on account of its smaller actin- 
 
Primer: The Printing. 121 
 
 ism, requires a longer exposure than daylight or arc 
 light. 
 
 If a candle is taken as a light source, it will require 
 about 25 to 35 seconds' exposure for an average albu- 
 men negative placed at eight inches distance from the 
 burning candle. For an incandescent lamp of i6- 
 candle power, placed at the same distance, it would 
 take only one-sixteenth of this time, say about two 
 seconds. 
 
 *If the negative is placed at a greater distance from 
 the light source, the time of exposure will increase in 
 the iame proportion as the squares of the distances in- 
 crease. That is, a negative which prints in z§ seconds 
 at 8 inches, will require four times 25 seconds or 100 
 seconds at 16 inches, and nine times 25 seconds or 225 
 seconds at 24. inches. 
 
 Developers. Although Bromide paper can be de- 
 veloped with Eikonogen or any other developer, we 
 recommend, however, as most reliable and giving the 
 purest whites, the Iron Oxalate developer, and our 
 Metol Quinol developer. 
 
 Iron Oxalate Developer. 
 
 Solution I. 
 
 Neutral Oxalate of Potash 16 ounces 
 
 Hot Water 48 " 
 
 Solution 2. 
 
 Proto Sulphate of Iron 8 ounces 
 
 Hot Water 24 " 
 
 Citric Acid 15 grains 
 
 Let both solutions cool off before use, and put them 
 in separate bottles, where they will keep for months 
 in good condition. The Iron Solution should be kept 
 well corked, and should not be used if not perfectly 
 clear and green. 
 
 Immediately before use, measure off four volumes 
 of Solution I, and pour one volume of Solution 2 into it 
 while stirring. Do not pour Solution 1 into Solution 2, 
 as this will not give a clear solution. 
 
 We do not recommend any Bromide of Potassium 
 as restrainer ; we would advise, however, for the same 
 purpose, the addition of one-fifth or more of old but 
 clear developer, which acts as an effective restrainer, 
 
 * Italics our reconstruction. 
 
122 The Photographic 
 
 gives better blacks, and allows the image to appear 
 gradually. It is always better to start development 
 with a weak developer, containing some old developer, 
 and afterwards, when the image has begun to appear, 
 fresh developer can be added in required quantity; 
 and finally, if necessary for bringing out the last de- 
 tails, an entirely fresh developer can be used. If you 
 have no old developer, then add one or two drops of 
 a lo per cent, potassium bromide solution for every 
 two ounces of developer. 
 
 Development should be carried out in the proper 
 time. Too quick development will give greenish 
 blacks and flat prints ; too slow development may pro- 
 duce yellowish whites. 
 
 After the paper has been exposed, lay it in a tray 
 with clean water and let it soak, avoiding air bubbles, 
 until it is perfectly limp ; pour off the water, flow the 
 developer over it in one sweep, and rock the tray to 
 and fro, so that the paper is always evenly covered. 
 The picture will gradually appear. As soon as the 
 details are out, and the desired strength is attained, 
 pour the developer off' and apply the following 
 
 Clearing Solution. 
 
 Acetic Acid No. 8 about i draclim 
 
 Water i quart 
 
 This clearing solution should be flowed over and 
 under the print and the tray rocked for about one min- 
 ute; then pour off; and the same operation is re- 
 peated at least twice, taking care to wash the back as 
 well as the face of the print, which will prevent the 
 iron in the developer from precipitating on the print. 
 The print is then to be rinsed in four change.s of fresh 
 water and submerged in the following solution, con- 
 tained in a separate tray, for at least 15 minutes 
 longer : 
 
 Fixing-Bath. 
 
 Hyposulphite of Soda 8 ounces 
 
 Water 64 ounces 
 
 Do not expose the print to daylight before it is en- 
 tirely fixed. After the print is perfectly fixed, it should 
 be washed thoroughly in repeated changes of water 
 for about one and a half hours. 
 
Primer: The Printing. 123 
 
 Mktol Quinol Developer. 
 
 Warm Water 750 parts, or 27 ounces 
 
 Metol I " "is grains 
 
 Sodium Sulpliite Crystals , . 40 " " i}^ ounces 
 
 Hydrojiuinone 4 " " 1 drachm 
 
 Potassium Bromide . . . . % " "4 grains 
 Potassium Carbonate 20 " "5 drachms 
 
 Dissolve the chemicals one after another in the same 
 order as indicated by the formula. This stock solu- 
 tion will keep indefinitely in well stoppered bottles. 
 For use, dilute a sufficient quantity with an equal vol- 
 ume of water. This diluted developer can be used 
 over and over again until it becomes discolored or 
 works too slowly. In the latter case some fresh de- 
 veloper may be added to it. Be careful not to mix 
 any iron developer with this one, and use clean bot- 
 tles and trays. 
 
 Metol Quinol will give a steady and gradual devel- 
 opment. If the print has been exposed properly, it 
 will take a few minutes before it comes up to the re- 
 quired strength. Strong developer will bnng out the 
 print more quickly, but it may cause grayish blacks 
 and loss of " snap." After developing, wash and fix 
 the print in the same way as described above for 
 the Iron developer. But the Acetic Acid clearing 
 solution can be omitted with this developer. The 
 greasy feeling produced by alkaline developer solu- 
 tions may be avoided by dipping the fingers in diluted 
 acetic acid or vinegar. 
 
 To avoid yellow prints, the foUbwing points must be 
 observed : 
 
 The Iron Developer must be acid, and entirely clear. 
 
 Too long development, owing to under-exposure 
 or too weak developer, must be avoided. 
 
 The clearing solution must be used as directed. 
 
 Fresh Hypo solution is required every day. 
 
 The washing must be thorough after fixing. 
 
 The Prints must not remain in the wash water over 
 night. 
 
 The Water should be clear and free from Iron. 
 
 Causes of Failure. Flat or mealy prints are caused 
 by over-exposure, alkaline oxalate, excess of iron, or 
 a developer too cold, or too old, or muddy ; also, by 
 too hard water. 
 
 Image developing too rapidly, and becoming too 
 dark, is caused by over-exposure or a too strong de- 
 
124 The Photographic 
 
 veloper. The contrary will happen if the developer is 
 too weak or if the prints are under-exposed, or if too 
 much old developer is used, or if too much bromide 
 has been added. 
 
 General foggy appearance may be caused by the 
 paper being light-struck, or the developer being too 
 strong, or by impurities in the developer; under- 
 exposed and over-developed prints will show the 
 same effect. 
 
 General yellowish stain may be produced by a 
 muddy developer, too long development with a weak 
 developer, under-exposure, imperfect washing after 
 development, impure water, old or exhausted Hypo 
 bath, or the prints becoming light-struck before they 
 were entirely fixed^ 
 
 Irregular development of the image may be caused 
 by imperfect soaking of the paper before developing, 
 or by not distributing the developer evenly over the 
 entire surface of the paper. 
 
 Black spots or finger marks appearing while de- 
 veloping are generally produced by' Hypo-soiled 
 fingers. 
 
 Hypo is the enemy of Bromide paper, and should 
 be carefully avoided before fixing, as the smallest 
 trace of it which enters into the developer or the trays 
 will cause stains or spots. 
 
 Greenish blacks are caused by over-exposure, in- 
 complete development, or too much old developer. 
 
 Blisters are caused by air bubbles appearing be- 
 tween the paper and film, causing the latter to loosen 
 itself from its support. Whenever they appear, the 
 surest way to save the print is to perforate the blister, 
 by means of a needle, so as to let the air escape be- 
 fore the blister has become too large. Blisters are the 
 result of handling the paper too roughly in the baths, 
 causing them to wrinkle or to fold ; they are also 
 caused by too strong Hypo or Acetic Acid, or a too 
 great difference in the temperature in the different 
 baths. 
 
 A good preventive for blisters is the use of a little 
 common salt in the first wash water after the Hypo. 
 Blisters will never occur if all the baths have the same 
 temperature, and if the Hypo is not too strong. 
 
 Bromide prints are as permanent as en- 
 
Primer: The Printing. 125 
 
 gravings, and soft, beautiful effects in either 
 gray, black or sepia tones can be produced, 
 according to the exposure and development. 
 
 Prints on Bromide paper may be colored 
 to resemble water colors by using a very weak 
 solution of gelatine and water as a medium 
 for the color. Take a small quantity of gela- 
 tine and allow it to swell in cold water until 
 it is thoroughly softened, then pour off the 
 cold water and add hot to the softened gela- 
 tine, placing the vessel over the fire and 
 stirring until the gelatine is dissolved and in- 
 corporated with the water, which should not 
 be thick when cold, but only slightly sticky. 
 This solution is used in place of ordinary 
 water for working the colors. Never boil a 
 solution of gelatine, as this is not necessary, 
 and destroys its adhesive qualities. 
 
 Platinotypes are among the most beauti- 
 ful and artistic of photographic reproductions, 
 and as the image is as permanent as the paper 
 on which it is printed, they have decided ad- 
 vantages over the ordinary silver prints. The 
 keeping qualities of the coated paper before 
 use are somewhat poor, however, and as the 
 image is only partly printed out, and finished 
 by development, the handling of the paper 
 requires rare judgment. In this country the 
 paper is manufactured by Willis & Clements, 
 and is for sale in sealed tubes in the principal 
 
126 The Photographic 
 
 photographic stores, the necessary develop- 
 ing salts being furnished with each order of 
 paper. In printing, place the negative and 
 paper in the frame in the usual manner, and 
 expose to diffused daylight until the image 
 appears fairly well defined, of a grayish 
 orange tint, with detail slightly visible in the 
 middle tones. When printing from thin nega- 
 tives care must be used not to over-expose ; 
 as soon as the image is faintly visible it may 
 be enough. The paper is removed from the 
 frame and, the developer having been mixed 
 according to the directions accompanying it, 
 the print is floated on the developer as in silver- 
 ing paper ; lift it quickly to see if air-bells are 
 present ; if any, touch them off and refloat ; 
 the picture will develop up rapidly, and when 
 considered sufficient the development is 
 stopped by placing it in the acid clearing- 
 bath. 
 
 Clearing and Washing. The clearing- 
 bath consists of 
 
 Water 60 ounces 
 
 Muriatic Acid (c. p.) i ounce 
 
 Give the prints three changes of acid baths 
 of 10 minutes each, and follow with three 
 good washes in plain water, say 15 or 20 
 minutes altogether. For more detailed in- 
 structions, our readers are referred to an in- 
 teresting little pamphlet published by Willis 
 
Primer: The Printing. 127 
 
 & Clements, from which we have quoted in 
 part. 
 
 Ferro-Prussiate, or Blue-Print Paper. 
 Probably no photographic process offers as 
 many chances of success to the beginner as 
 the "Blue Process." This is not because 
 the work needs less care, or is tolerant of 
 slovenly methods, or the finished prints are 
 inferior even when at their best ; such an ad- 
 mission would be a libel on an already much 
 abused but beautiful process. The sole rea- 
 son lies in the simplicity of the manipulation 
 and the absence of troublesome baths. The 
 paper may be prepared by the amateur him- 
 self, or he may use with success some standard 
 brand found on the market ready prepared. 
 The paper, if properly coated and stored in 
 a dry place, will keep in good condition for 
 many months. The prepared paper, if bought 
 from a reliable dealer, will be found highly 
 satisfactory and very low in price, the 4x5 
 size costing about 20 cents for 25 sheets. 
 
 This paper, as now made by the larger 
 manufacturers, is coated by machinery on the 
 highest grade of plain photographic stock, 
 specially sized at the mills in Rives, and 
 gives results which cannot be approached by 
 the old methods. For those who desire to 
 prepare their own paper, we give the follow- 
 ing directions: Select a few sheets of your 
 
128 The Photographic 
 
 plain Rives paper, such as you used for salt- 
 ing, but which have not been in the damp- 
 ening box, mark the right side so you will 
 know it, and tack a sheet to a board, right 
 side up. Prepare the following solution, and 
 keep it from the light: 
 
 Red Prussiate of Potash i ounce 
 
 Citrate of Iron and Ammonium . lyi ounces 
 Distilled Water lo " 
 
 Mix thoroughly and filter ; this solution 
 will have a deep wine color, and dry on the 
 paper a lemon yellow. If the solution is 
 green and has a precipitate, the Ammonium 
 Citrate of Iron is old and spoiled, or you have 
 been given Citrate of Iron instead. The 
 chemicals being ready, they are poured into a 
 bowl, and with the aid of a camel's hair brush 
 about three inches wide and bound in rubber, 
 the solution is spread upon the paper by 
 stroking first lengthwise and then across, 
 being careful to cover the whole surface as 
 thinly and evenly as possible ; this will be 
 difficult at first, but will come with practice. 
 The paper is immediately lifted from the 
 board and hung up to dry ; if allowed to re- 
 main on the board, the chemicals will strike 
 through and give flat prints. It is advised by 
 some to coat the paper by floating, but it is 
 very difficult, as the solution flows to the bot- 
 tom of the sheet in drying and causes that 
 
Primer: The Printing. 129 
 
 part to be heavy while the top is very thin. 
 Heavy drawing paper having a rough surface 
 gives, with bold or large negatives, a very 
 handsome effect, and for marine views, espe- 
 cially if large, the results are superb, but the 
 drawing paper must be used the day it is 
 coated, as it has chemicals in its sizing which :, 
 cause the coating to spoil after a few hours. 
 This does not affect the finished prints, how- 
 ever, if they are completed before the paper 
 spoils. 
 
 Having prepared our paper, or purchased a 
 package of some standard brand, we print as 
 follows : Place the negative, previously 
 dusted, in the frame ; on this lay the sheet of 
 Blue-Print Paper, coated side in contact with 
 the film ; next lay down the pad, and on all, 
 the back-board of the frame, which is then 
 clamped in place. Carry the frame to the 
 window and print in sunlight unless the nega- 
 tive is very thin, as this paper prints more 
 slowly than silver or platinum paper. After 
 a few minutes' exposure, examine in subdued 
 light, and the paper will be found to have an 
 olive-green color in the shadows, and lemon 
 yellow in the high-lights ; replace the back- 
 board and continue printing until the deep 
 shadows corresponding with the thin parts of 
 the negative take on a bronzed color, but not 
 until the whole picture stands owX deeply bronzed; 
 
13° The Photographic 
 
 when the proper depth is reached, remove the 
 print from the frame and place it in a tray of 
 clean water, making sure that the whole sur- 
 face is wetted immediately, and that no air 
 bells have formed. So sensitive is this paper 
 that the moisture which strikes through from 
 the back of the sheet, in the parts not wet, will 
 spoil the coating in these spots in a few 
 seconds, and they will appear as blue stains in 
 the finished print, and unless you are very 
 observant you will be puzzled to know the 
 cause. The manufacturer is usually censured 
 for these spots. After immersing the print, 
 throw the water over it and keep it in motion. 
 The chemicals will be seen to float off in a 
 cloud; after five minutes' washing, change the 
 water; repeat this in five minutes more, and 
 then turn the prints face down and allow them 
 to wash for not less than 30 minutes. It is 
 absurd to shorten the washing because the 
 prints are washing down too light, or the 
 chemicals leave the paper entirely, and noth- 
 ing remains but a white sheet. What is 
 needed is a longer exposure to light. The 
 water does not bleach the print, but fixes it, 
 and brings out. the beautiful blue color of the 
 chemicals which have been acted on, and 
 washes away those not affected by light. If 
 after washing, the print is dark and a dull 
 blue color, with the high-lights tinted, the 
 
Primer: The Printing. 131 
 
 exposure has been too long. Shortening the 
 washing of the print will cause it to fade and 
 the high-lights to turn gray, the Iron not being 
 thoroughly eliminated. 
 
 If the prints are not satisfactory, look to 
 your negative before condemning the paper. 
 Remember that no process can give a print 
 full of detail and even in gradation if these 
 qualities are not in the negative. If the 
 paper prints blue and washes out white it is 
 all right, and will give beautiful prints if prop- 
 erly treated. After washing, the prints are 
 hung up to dry and as the surface has no 
 glossy coating, they will not curl, and can be 
 folded without injury. Don't try to burnish 
 them or enamel the surface ; it will not im- 
 prove the appearance, and certainly will rob 
 them of their charm for the artistic eye. 
 
 There is a popular impression that Blue- 
 Print paper is not sensitive, and can be 
 handled in white light with impunity. Don't 
 believe it ; even subdued light will injure its 
 tones and keeping qualities ; treat the paper 
 with as much respect as you would silver 
 paper, and it will reward you with prints 
 which will be faithful reproductions of your 
 negatives, rendered in a way that cannot fail 
 to please, and to their first charm will be the 
 added pleasure that they will not fade or turn 
 yellow with age. 
 
132 The Photographic Primer. 
 
 In purchasing blue paper ready prepared, 
 do not reject it if the coating has turned to a 
 brown or light olive color, as it will do this 
 with age and yet wash out white. Paper 
 which has turned to a greyish blue color is 
 spoiled. The color, however is very deceptive 
 to the inexperienced, and no paper should be 
 condemned until it has been tested by washing 
 in clean water for a full half hour ; if it refuses 
 to wash out white, it has spoiled. Paper 
 which has turned a little, and washes out 
 grey, is nicely adapted to some views where 
 a soft grey tone is desired and the brilliant 
 china-white tones of the fresh paper are 
 objectionable. 
 
PART III 
 
Section I. 
 
 -9, 
 
 MOUNTING. 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 HEN the prints are fixed and 
 washed, they may be mounted 
 immediately on their perma- 
 nent support, without drying. 
 To do this, however, the print 
 must have been studied out as to size, and 
 the paper trimmed before toning. It is for 
 the reason that this can so seldom be done 
 satisfactorily, in advance, that prints are gen- 
 erally dried and then trimmed. 
 
 Some little art is required in trimming a 
 print, as only the best section of the picture 
 ought to be preserved, and it is necessary to 
 decide what is superfluous and irrelevant. 
 As usually trimmed, the photographer seems 
 to be simply intent on keeping the regular 
 size of the print — in other words, he trims 
 for the negative and not for the picture. The 
 neatest way to see the value of the picture is 
 to lay it upon the sheet of glass used as a cut- 
 ting block, and place over it the plate glass 
 form furnished by the supply houses, and 
 
 (I3S) 
 
136 The Photographic 
 
 shift the form until the margins of it define 
 what you wish to cur from two sides, regard- 
 less of the others. When these are trimmed 
 with a moderately sharp knife-blade, the glass 
 can be shifted on the print, and, without much 
 difficulty in keeping the lines square or at 
 right angles, another side can be trimmed, 
 and so on in turn. In this way you may trim 
 a 5x8 print down to 4x6}^, or some other 
 size, but if the right effect governs your cut- 
 ting, it cannot help but give you happy re- 
 sults. Some people, perhaps, would regret 
 the "waste" of paper; their diagnosis of 
 economy is at fault. It is well to trim all the 
 prints you have ready at once, and, clearing 
 away the cuttings, place the prints in clean 
 water to soak a few minutes until limp. Don't 
 soak them in the full vigor of the word, but 
 only enough to make them limp. Then gather 
 them and place face downward, one upon 
 another, on a sheet of glass. Take a piece 
 of blotting paper and gently press the super- 
 fluous moisture from the pile of prints. 
 
 The mounts, or cardboards, are then to be 
 brought out and placed to one side, and the 
 upper corners of the point for the print marked 
 upon each one with a faint pencil tick, to 
 insure placing it correctly. Then, with a 
 flat brush cover the back of the topmost print 
 with Higgins' or any good photo-mounting 
 
primer: Mounting, 137 
 
 paste, and be careful that the edges and the 
 whole back of the print are faithfully covered 
 with the paste. The print is then to be care- 
 fully raised by one corner (a dull knife-blade 
 is handy, for albumen paper tears easily when 
 wet), and turned and held suspended over the 
 mount. Allow the top edge to drop until 
 the corners correspond with the pencil ticks 
 on the mount, and then gently lower the whole 
 print until in contact with the card. Take 
 a piece of clean, white linen, not starched, and 
 place over the print, and gently rub the sur- 
 face with a flat-bladed paper cutter or some 
 smooth object, rubbing from the center of 
 print towards the edges, so that superfluous 
 moisture or paste are forced there and ab- 
 sorbed by the cloth. Look at the print fre- 
 quently to be sure that it is smooth, and that 
 the edges are adhering. Then lay the mount 
 aside to dry, making sure, before doing so, 
 that no scraps of paste are around on the 
 mount or print; if any are present wipe them 
 off with a soft, damp sponge. A superior 
 device in mounting is the neat print roller 
 manufactured by The Scovill & Adams Co., 
 of New York, and called the "Champion." 
 With this roller the air-bells are rolled out 
 and the surface of the paper kept from being 
 scratched or marked as when using the paper- 
 cutter. 
 
138 The Photographic 
 
 All prints have a tendency to curl the 
 mount unless kept under pressure. A sim- 
 ple way to prevent this is to paste on the 
 back of the mount a piece of tough white 
 paper, corresponding in size with the print. 
 The contraction of this paper opposes the 
 shrinking of the print, and keeps the picture 
 nearly flat. 
 
 It must be remembered, with albumen 
 paper, that it always stretches in one direction, 
 and that in some subjects this creates bad 
 results by actually changing the proportions of 
 the picture. With portraits this tendency 
 makes itself decidedly prominent. 
 
 Professional photographers always burnish 
 their prints, hence the high luster and polish 
 found on the surface of their work. The 
 burnishing is done by passing the mounted 
 photograph between steel rollers, which are 
 heated by a lamp. This reduces all the 
 slight inequalities in the surface of the pic- 
 ture, and gives it a finished appearance. 
 
 The choice of mounts or card supports for 
 photographic prints is very much a matter of 
 personal taste or whim. All kinds, colors, 
 sizes, etc., may be obtained of the dealers. 
 Thick mounts are generally made with bev- 
 eled edges, to do away with the clumsy ap- 
 pearance which a very thick card edge gives. 
 
 If you wish to mount a print on thin paper 
 
Primer: Mounting. 139 
 
 and prevent curling or wrinkling, it can be 
 done in the following way: Take the print to 
 be mounted and smooth it with a warm flat- 
 iron, and indicate on the paper the position 
 of the four corners of the print just inside of 
 its outer edge. Make a thick solution of gum 
 arable, and, with a ruling pen, draw a wide 
 line of mucilage from point to point. Allow 
 the gum arable to become sticky, and then 
 place the print in position under weights. 
 When dry the mount will keep smooth and 
 not curl. 
 
 The mounting of bromide prints, and vari- 
 ous methods of obtaining different effects in 
 doing so, are fully described in the circulars 
 accompanying the makes of different manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Blue-prints can be mounted at any time, 
 and require no more careful handling than an 
 ordinary print or engraving. They keep very 
 flat, and need no extra care of any kind. 
 
Section II. 
 
 '^ 
 
 PRESERVATION. 
 
 jJEGATIVES are best kept singly 
 in stout bags or envelopes, the 
 full notation concerning them 
 being written upon the outside. 
 They are thus easily found, and 
 scratching is avoided. 
 
 Prints can be kept in many ways. They 
 can be mounted by simply pasting the corners 
 in an ordinary scrap-book of the limp page 
 kind ; or a better method is in vogue, in which 
 double leaves uncut at the outer edge are sub- 
 stituted for single sheets in the book and the 
 corners of the print are caught under a diag- 
 onal knife-cut made at the right point in one 
 thickness of the leaf to receive the corners of 
 the print which you intend placing there. 
 This has two features of merit. You can re- 
 move any print at any time without damage 
 to the book or picture, and in turning the 
 flexible leaves the print conforms to the curve 
 of the bend of the book, slightly moving be- 
 tween the corner slits. When the prints are 
 
 (140) 
 
Preservation. 141 
 
 pasted at the corners they are liable to wrinkle 
 if they be silver prints, and a crease soon de- 
 velops into a rupture of the paper. Besides, 
 they can only be cut or torn out. In mounting 
 prints in flexible albums or scrap books, the 
 prints may be soaked in a weak solution of 
 glycerine and water, which will make them 
 more limp and less likely to curl. 
 
 If the amateur does not object to bulk, and 
 has no desire to remove his prints from the 
 album, there are all sorts of expensive and in- 
 expensive albums made in which the leaves 
 are simply card-mounts held to the binding 
 by flexible muslin strips, and are removable 
 for convenience in mounting. The prints are 
 mounted on these cards precisely as on the 
 single cards. The main objection to the card 
 albums, as has been said, is their bulk and 
 weight. Where many prints are to be pre- 
 served, this will often be found a serious an- 
 noyance. 
 
 A series of prints, mounted on cards, may 
 be very neatly preserved in good shape by 
 punching holes in the edge of one margin with 
 an eyeletting punch, and forming a flexible 
 hinge of ribbon or cord passed through the 
 holes. A tough paper cover, made of felt 
 wall-paper, or something similar, neatly let- 
 tered, adds to the attractive quality, and keeps 
 the dust off the prints. 
 
142 The Photographic Primer. 
 
 If you have many prints of one size, or many 
 prints mounted on one size card mount, they 
 may be arranged in boxes of the telescopic 
 order, such as are sold to contain letters or 
 business papers. The prints can be slidden 
 into the box, and the tight case excludes the 
 dust. A labeled row of these standing in a 
 bookcase is unobtrusive, and gives easy and 
 ready-reference access to the prints. 
 
 These suggestions are offered simply to cre- 
 ate a starting point for the beginner, who will 
 want to develop some pleasing method of his 
 own for keeping his photographs, a method in 
 which he will feel the pleasure of his proprie- 
 tary rights. The main thing in all ways of 
 preservation is to exclude dust and dampness. 
 
Section III. 
 
 ENLARGING. 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 SMALL picture, such as that 
 made bya4x5or5x7 camera, 
 has many pleasing and attrac- 
 tive points. It is not too small 
 to show a great deal of detail, 
 and the picture is so compact that the eye 
 readily takes it all in. Besides this, econ- 
 omy in plates, sensitive paper, etc., are pru- 
 dent virtues. 
 
 But the desire for a larger showing of some 
 special picture will always speed the inclina- 
 tion to purchase a larger camera. Without 
 making this further investment, however, and 
 afterwards finding that your larger apparatus 
 grows dusty because it is so heavy to cart 
 around, while your smaller box has incessant 
 service, there is a method of procuring the 
 larger picture from the small plate and getting 
 a result as attractive as if given by the big, 
 expensive camera and plates. Recent years 
 have seen the development of methods of pho- 
 tographic enlargement, and the writers propose 
 
 (143) 
 
144 The Photographic 
 
 to give a few hints as to how they have worked 
 one of these methods inexpensively. 
 
 In PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGEMENT, by which 
 
 we mean the printing of a large picture from 
 a small plate, the negative image is projected 
 onto the surface of a piece of bromide papen 
 instead of being in contact with the paper in 
 a printing-frame. The negative is placed back 
 of a lens in the same way that a magic lan- 
 tern slide works, and the image focused to 
 the size we desire, on a white screen. In 
 the magic lantern the slide is & positive, or a 
 print on glass, and the image cast in this case 
 is the picture as a print would show it ; but 
 in enlarging, the image cast on the screen is 
 the reverse of nature, the bright parts of the 
 picture being dark and the dark parts light. 
 A tree, for instance, seen on the screen, as 
 cast by a negative, is a mass of blazing white 
 boughs and trunk, and so the reversion fol- 
 lows with all objects. As the sensitive bro- 
 mide paper in printing from the negative 
 prints black where the light strikes through 
 the thin or clear parts of the negative, so the 
 same paper prints the enlarged image of the 
 negative cast upon it. 
 
 All of the light used in the operation must 
 be behind the negative, and everything else, 
 the camera, the operator and the screen for 
 the bromide paper must be in darkness as 
 
Primer: Enlarging. 145 
 
 sincere as the darkness of the dark-room. As 
 the piece of bromide paper must be spread 
 out on the screen, and it is so sensitive to 
 light, the necessity for this will be seen at once. 
 Of course, the dark room light may be in use 
 all the time to assist in the operations. 
 
 Two sources of light are convenient for the 
 amateur ; one of them is sunlight, free to his 
 use, without cost. Enlarging by daylight is 
 quicker than by artificial light, although more 
 care and stopping down of the lens is required to 
 produce soft tone effects. A window of a room 
 having no other source of light must be chosen, 
 and a light-tight screen made to fit in the whole 
 extent of the frame. This can be done by 
 making an ordinary frame of one by two-inch 
 strips, and the whole area covered with black 
 silesia in double thickness, or a combination 
 of one thickness of black and one thickness 
 of red silesia. (This is the cheapest material 
 we know of.) If the frame fits against the 
 jamb, sill and head, the sash bead forms an 
 offset, and there ought to be no crevices left 
 for sunbeams or chance rays of light. Before 
 the screen is placed in position, the lower sash 
 of the window should be raised and a mirror 
 at least eight times larger than the area of the 
 plate you are enlarging from placed at an angle 
 outside the window, so that its reflection, 
 when you look at the slanting mirror on a 
 
146 The Photographic 
 
 horizontal line, shows nothing but the sky 
 in the looking-glass. We will assume that a 
 table or support will bring the center of the 
 back of your camera at a height of four feet 
 from the floor. The mirror should then be 
 held on its slant so that the center of its di- 
 agonal height will be the center of the back 
 of your camera when placed upon the table. 
 Using this same center point, a hole is cut 
 through the silesia of the screen about an inch 
 larger than the entire back of your camera, 
 and a drawing cord of rubber elastic inserted 
 in a seam made around the opening. The 
 silesia should have some fullness on its frame, 
 so that the rubber elastic can contract the 
 opening at least one-third of its area and can 
 be made to bind tightly around the back of 
 your camera. 
 
 The table is now pushed close to the win- 
 dow and the camera, extended, and with the 
 lens pointed towards the inside of the room, 
 and the back towards the window, is placed 
 upon it. As four feet is the height we have 
 assumed as most convenient for the operator, 
 and as tables are rarely made that high, a 
 piece of planed board about twelve inches 
 wide, and nailed to some firm supports, must 
 be placed upon it, and the extra height thus 
 gained. 
 
 An ordinary plate-holder offers the easiest 
 
Primer: Enlarging. 147 
 
 method of holding the negative at the rear of 
 the camera, but as the light must pass through 
 the plate, the septum or middle division in a 
 holder must be cut out neatly to a line which 
 will be an eighth of an inch less than the size 
 of the plate all around. The plate thus held 
 is sure to be parallel with the lens, and the 
 slide can be used at will, to shut it off from 
 the camera. Of course the holder is sacri- 
 ficed in the cutting, and can only be used 
 for this special purpose thereafter. 
 
 The clear sky in the mirror will now be 
 reflected on the back of the negative, furnish- 
 ing an illuminant of immense power, too 
 strong and not sufiSciently diffused for the 
 purpose. It is necessary to place a piece of 
 ground glass at least two inches back of the 
 negative. If it could be closer, and your cam- 
 era has a ground glass frame which does not 
 fold but remains back of the holder when it is 
 in the camera, everything would be complete. 
 But you must have the ground glass further 
 away, and as we cannot know the kind of 
 camera you are operating, we must leave 
 your ingenuity to work unaided, except by 
 telling you what we did ourselves. In our 
 experiments the camera used was an ordinary 
 one of the simplest type, in which the ground 
 glass folded down at the back, and the holder 
 dropped into its place and was secured by a 
 
148 The Photographic 
 
 catch at the top. This being the case, we re- 
 moved the ground glass frame entire and set 
 the plate-holder, altered for the purpose, in 
 its place. An ordinary shallow cigar-box, 
 minus lid and bottom, and a little larger than 
 the back of the camera, held the ground glass 
 as a frame, and a sleeve of black cloth about 
 6 inches long was glued to it, with the elastic 
 in its outer edge. The cigar-box frame, 
 painted black inside, was permanently fixed to 
 cross strips in the window screen and a light- 
 tight joint made around it. The camera, 
 with its plate-holder, could then be pushed 
 up to the cigar-box frame with its piece of 
 ground glass at the outer side next to the win- 
 dow, and the rubbered-edge of the sleeve 
 slipped over the back of the camera, mak- 
 ing a light-tight joint. 
 
 These arrangements made, the room itself 
 is like a big camera, and you are inside of it. 
 With the cap off the lens, the bright, queer 
 looking negative picture will be seen reflected 
 on the opposite wall, more or less distinct as 
 the chance position of your focus gives it. If 
 the wall is white, and not too far off, you can 
 probably get a sharp image by moving your 
 camera-front backward and forward until you 
 arrive at definition, just as in taking a picture. 
 The distance will, of course, have to be re- 
 duced to suit the size of your bromide paper, 
 
Primer: Enlarging. ' 149 
 
 so that some movable screen must be used 
 which can be shifted backward or forward in 
 relation to the camera until the right condi- 
 tions are established. The three points to be 
 fixed are the distance between your lens and 
 the negative (done as in focusing with the 
 camera in the field) ; the distance between the 
 lens and the screen or support on which the 
 bromide paper is to be placed, and, necessa- 
 rily, the size of the image on the screen. A 
 very little experiment will enable you to make 
 some general calculations which will help you 
 to avoid experimenting afterward. 
 
 There are several things necessary to 
 secure perfect exposure, and they must be 
 carefully attended to. There must be no 
 shadows on the mirror; if the sun is over- 
 head, the mirror may be in the sunshine if it 
 is all over it ; the mirror must cast the light 
 on the ground glass ; the negative, lens and 
 screen must be absolutely parallel with each 
 other. Any deviation in the last mentioned 
 condition will result in distortion. 
 
 It is difficult to get the screen square with 
 the lens and negative, and yet have it possi- 
 ble to shift the screen backward and forward. 
 Personally we overcame the difficulty by hav- 
 ing the board support of the camera long 
 enough to receive the screen (for which pur- 
 pose we used a light drawing-board), and to 
 
150 The Photographic 
 
 have it arranged on a sliding frame controlled 
 by the square edges of the plank support, the 
 camera being kept square by confining its bed 
 between two strips nailed to the plank. The 
 board and screen can easily be tested with a 
 right-angled triangle. The camera and screen 
 once squared, always held the same relations, 
 no matter how much the screen was shifted 
 backward or forward. In the regular appa- 
 ratus, made for the purpose, the screen 
 travels on a floor track with castors and run- 
 ning gear. 
 
 When the right focus is established for the 
 size of the enlargement, and the negative 
 picture is sharp and clear on a piece of white 
 paper pasted on the drawing board, the 
 corners of the image can be marked with lead 
 pencil ticks and the lens cap replaced, shut- 
 ting out the image and the resulting reflected 
 light. If the dark lantern is lighted the pack- 
 age of bromide paper can be opened and a sheet 
 removed and placed on the screen at the posi- 
 tion indicated by the pencil ticks, being 
 stretched smoothly and held by thumb tacks 
 in sufficient quantity to keep the edges from 
 curling. (It is best to have the image a little 
 smaller than the sheet of sensitive paper.) 
 This done, the lens cap is removed and the 
 exposure made on the paper. The wisest 
 way to judge of the time is to expose on some 
 
Primer: Enlarging. 151 
 
 small strips of bromide paper which will take 
 a part of the image, timing each one differ- 
 ently, then developing and noting the result. 
 It might also be wise to mark the time in 
 pencil on the back of each strip, so that you 
 will not lose track of it. The use of the stops 
 in the lens is a question to be considered, 
 but the smaller stops can hardly do service, 
 since they prolong the exposure to a weari- 
 some length. 
 
 When the exposure is made the lens is 
 covered with the cap and the bromide paper 
 removed from the screen and placed in a light- 
 tight receptacle until you wish to develop it. 
 A new negative may then be placed in tfie 
 holder, and the work proceeded with at your 
 pleasure. 
 
 The development of the enlargement is 
 exactly the same as the development of a 
 small bromide print, although of course you 
 will need trays of adequate size. 
 
 Almost any kind of lens can be used in this 
 work, but view lenses are the best) with the 
 whole opening slightly stopped down. Wide 
 atigle lenses can be used where the space for 
 working in is restricted. 
 
 To make enlargements at night requires a 
 considerable expenditure in the matter of a 
 pair of condensing lenses whose circle will 
 cover the corners of your negative to be en- 
 
152 The Photographic 
 
 larged from. To use them the writers made 
 a frame of half-inch poplar wood about six 
 inches deep and an inch larger all around 
 than the diameter of the lenses. Two boards 
 served as mounts or supports for the glasses, 
 each board having a hole the exact area of the 
 lens and the glasses held in place by small 
 brads. The lenses thus mounted were placed 
 in the box frame, being held about an inch 
 apart by strips of wood forming a stop bead 
 between the two. This box was placed imme- 
 diately back of the plate-holder with the 
 negative to be enlarged in it, without any 
 ground glass an/3 with about four inches be- 
 tween the nearest lens and the negative. The 
 light used was a regular sized Rochester oil 
 burner without any shade, and with an eight 
 inch reflector placed so that the center of the 
 white flame, the center of the reflector and 
 the center of the lenses coincided. The 
 illuminating power furnished in daylight by 
 the sky, the mirror and the ground glass were 
 thus replaced for night work with the happiest 
 results and but slightly prolonged exposure. 
 The difficulty which may have already occurQid 
 to the reader's mind, i. e. , how to separate the 
 light from the room in which the enlargements 
 are made, was gotten over in this instance by 
 cutting a square hole in the partition between 
 an out-kitchen and the main kitchen, and 
 
Primer: Enlarging, 153 
 
 there placing the box frame with the lenses 
 in it. By this means the light was excluded 
 as completely as the daylight in the other 
 method, and as the frame for the lenses was 
 a permanent affair it was onl}' necessary to 
 fit in the lens boards, set up the lamp and 
 camera and screen supports, and everything 
 was ready, while a wood panel closed the 
 box opening when not in use. 
 
 For daylight enlarging — if one owns a 
 mirror which can be used — the expense in- 
 volved will not exceed five dollars, and may 
 be less. For the night enlargement — grant- 
 ing that you have a lamp with as good a flame 
 as the one mentioned — you will only need to 
 buy a reflector costing about half a dollar, the 
 lens boards, which a carpenter can make with 
 a pointed saw, and — the condensing lenses! 
 The pair of these cost, we believe, for use on 
 a 43^ y- 5% plate, ten dollars. In both cases, 
 of course, you need the trays for development, 
 washing and fixing, three in all. 
 
 Your enlarged pictures, if you will cultivate 
 a happy stock of patience at the outstart, will 
 yield you a great many dollars' worth of plea- 
 sure and satisfaction. 
 
ADDENDUM 
 
Addendum. 
 
 -•> 
 
 THE HAND-CAMERA: ITS 
 
 SNARES AND VIRTUES. 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 HE growing strength of photog- 
 raphy as a popular amusement 
 and relaxation called forth, some 
 yeairs ago, lighter and more di- 
 minutive cameras than had pre- 
 viously been made, until the final development 
 on this line was the hand-camera, designed 
 for instantaneous exposures, which were eith- 
 er made while the camera was carried in the 
 hand, or while the box simply rested on any 
 temporary support which might be handy 
 to the operator. One of the strongest ob- 
 jections to photography amongst those who 
 sought it as an amusement, pure and simple', 
 had always been the weight of the apparatus 
 and its cumbersome form, so that in the ear- 
 lier days of amateur apparatus a most forcible 
 argument was made by showing the old-style 
 artist, pack-laden with the weight of his wet- 
 plate apparatus, and, as the reverse of this 
 the then modern amateur with his natty little 
 
 (157) 
 
158 ne Photographic 
 
 box swung jauntily at his side. Yet these 
 outfits of the '8o's are to-day almost as obso- 
 lete in respect to weight and compactness as 
 is the wet-plate apparatus. A decade has 
 seen the portable camera, minus tripod, carry 
 the world with the strength of a fashionable 
 fad. To be able to "make a picture," irre- 
 spective of the merit in the same, became the 
 devouring ambition of a delighted public, the 
 joy of the plate-maker, and a source of groan- 
 ing to all those who loved real artistic work. 
 The hand-camera, the "detective" camera, 
 the box-too-small-to-be-seen-camera, is one of 
 the greatest modern delusions; not, be it said, 
 because the manufacturers always promise 
 miracles, but because the public expects them. 
 In only a few instances are the cameras of 
 this class advertised to do more than they 
 really will ; but it must be noted, in passing, 
 that the firms who do promise the wonders 
 are a great nuisance and damage to the art 
 on all hands. To the uninitiated it is very 
 charming and agreeable to believe that by 
 expending a few dollars they can produce 
 the beautiful pictures they have seen in port- 
 folios and windows, sans experience, sans 
 skill. It would be interesting to know how 
 many of these adventurous beings have stored 
 away their snap cameras in a loft, or given 
 them to the boys to play with. It requires 
 
Primer: The Hand-Camera. 159 
 
 but about a month to show the purchaser 
 that a camera only works in partnership with 
 care and study. The man or woman who only 
 pushes the button and lets some one else 
 "do the rest" might well let the business 
 alone, for without experience in the chemi- 
 cal work of photography the negatives are 
 good only by accident, and "the rest" con- 
 stantly yields a stock of blurred, imperfect pic- 
 tures from which a kinder heaven would save 
 all of us. Of course, if persons of an inquir- 
 ing mind simply want the sensation of work- 
 ing a snap-shutter and indulging in the dream 
 that they have taken a picture, any cheap 
 affair will satisfy the craving ; but one with 
 an ambition to make good pictures, to really 
 take delight in the work, ought to make a 
 better start with the regular, simple tripod 
 camera, reserving any expenditure for the 
 other sort of apparatus until the technique 
 of the business is well mastered. Cameras 
 are made in which the hand-camera idea is 
 well developed, and they are furnished with 
 ground glass, bellows and focusing rack, all 
 contained in a compact case. They may be 
 carried in the hand and used, under favorable 
 conditions, without a tripod, but they also 
 allow the operator to use them in the legiti- 
 mate manner necessary to careful photo- 
 
i6o The Photographic 
 
 graphic work. These are the so-called 
 "folding" cameras. 
 
 For it must not be taken from the fore- 
 going words that a good picture cannot be 
 made with a hand-camera, but that the 
 amount of judgment and skill necessary in 
 using one successfully is much in excess of 
 that required with a regular camera. 
 
 The objections to the hand-camera as a rule, 
 and what we may call its snares, are these : 
 
 It is too ready for use, and likely to be " fired " with- 
 out definite or studied aim. 
 
 For this reason it encourages carelessness and a dis- 
 position to shun study. 
 
 As a following of this it establishes a lower standard 
 of criticism as to results. 
 
 An abbreviated exposure on all subjects is almost 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 The claim that you can make proper time exposures 
 by regulating the shutter is answered by the objection 
 
 That in most of the boxes you cannot focus, for there 
 is no ground glass, and definition becomes a poor rule 
 of thumb. 
 
 The results with any merit are therefore made 
 exceptional rather than assured, and the time and 
 labor are lost to the operator. 
 
 It would be a curious story if one knew 
 how many people had forgotten to take the 
 cap out of the lens hole in their hand-cameras, 
 when they were excited at the possibility of 
 getting a rare picture. One good story is 
 told of a by-no-means amateur operator, 
 
Primer: The Hand-Camera. i6i 
 
 who, while on a trip in the western states, 
 sought to make a snap-shot of a dusky Indian 
 belle in a state of unadorned nature. He was 
 careful, very careful, in his operations, but 
 when the film-roll was developed at home, 
 that particular section of the panorama was 
 void. He remarked the trouble to his wife, 
 who had been with him at the time. "Yes, 
 I knew you didn't take the cap off," she re- 
 sponded with demure triumph of virtue. 
 
 Another traveler toured the Yellowstone, 
 and sought to make his lens drink in all the 
 beauties his exposure roll would hold. He 
 was one of the "some other fellow do the 
 rest" kind, and was thunderstruck when his 
 photographer at home informed him that the 
 roll was blank. "Did he ever take the cap 
 off?" No, he had just pushed the button, 
 and trusted the rest to God and nature. 
 
 These be the snares of convenience in a 
 hand-camera! 
 
 That no camera with a film roll has as yet 
 been a constant success, or even a partial 
 one, is the experience and belief of the au- 
 thors. That the film is nearly always false 
 and tricky, is the opinion of a great many 
 thousands of people who have honestly tried 
 to do good work with it. We wish simply 
 to protest against the endorsement of any 
 camera, in the present state of knowledge. 
 
i62 The Photographic 
 
 which uses a roll film, unless it be a trans- 
 fer film, where the backing or body of the 
 negative is not an untrustworthy medium, 
 but paper or some material which acts sim- 
 ply as a temporary support, and from which 
 the gelatine emulsion can be transferred to 
 glass. If it were not for the trouble and risk 
 of failure in the transfer, this would offer the 
 best means of carrying a rolled film in the 
 field. 
 
 The only really satisfactory films made are 
 the flat, cut ones, used in a plate-holder 
 the same as glass plates, the film being held 
 flat in a carrier of pasteboard. But no sat- 
 isfactory arrangement seems to have been 
 devised, as yet, by which these films can be 
 utilized for continuous exposures without re- 
 filling of holders, and they cannot be said to 
 play a part in the hand-camera field. 
 
 It has been said before that one of the im- 
 pediments to full freedom in photographic 
 work is the amount of time necessary to 
 prepare the camera for action, however much 
 reduced with modern apparatus. Some 
 interesting or beautiful subject, fleeting in 
 character, presents itself; but before the 
 camera and the tripod can be unpacked, the 
 opportunity is lost, and with it the chance 
 for a fine picture. It is here that a camera 
 
Primer: The Hand-Camera. 163 
 
 ready for instant use offers its seductive pres- 
 ence, and many of us have tried the best 
 machines made, in the vain hope that this 
 once we might down the foes of uncertain 
 definition and exposure. Beautiful pictures 
 have rewarded some of these attempts, but 
 they were always fortunate accidents, as full 
 of chance as the right union of chemical 
 atoms in the philosopher's elixir of life. 
 
 It is to be admitted that some of the neg- 
 atives, if poor, are very priceless as personal 
 possessions. The blurred picture of some 
 face and form too swiftly removed from us 
 forever, the record of some passing moment 
 which can never again frame itself into being. 
 Records of this character throw a mantle of 
 charity over the shortcomings of the detective 
 camera, but they do not do away with the 
 wasted hours, opportunities and money, fruit- 
 less in every respect, nor do they defend the 
 vice of the multitudes of bad pictures. Mil- 
 let' s rough sketches are full of value to the art 
 world, but only as testimony in regard to the 
 painter's methods. If he had never produced 
 his real masterpieces, but had kept on with 
 vague dashes of brush or chalk, both he and 
 the sketches would have slumbered unknown. 
 
 The nearest approaches to a hand-camera 
 with successful features are the cameras in 
 which the focusing track and bellows are 
 
164 The Photographic Primer. 
 
 self-contained in a case forming the body 
 of the box, so that it requires but an in- 
 stant to open them and throw the front 
 out on its track in full position for work. 
 Used with a glass plate or flat film, and 
 carried in the hand, without tripod, they can 
 be used for quick exposures, and that suc- 
 cessfully, if supplied with small levels to 
 insure holding the camera properly. They 
 ought not to be used thus except in special 
 emergencies, but the fact that they can be, 
 places them in the field with the roll-film 
 camera, with the exception of the limitation 
 as to the number of exposures. This limi- 
 tation, however, is surely a virtue, for it 
 takes away the temptation to heedless and 
 duplicated exposures already referred to. 
 
 If virtue in a photograph is represented by 
 careful selection of subject, good definition 
 and full and regulated exposure, the hand- 
 camera is surely but an adjunct to photog- 
 raphy, and not an active, useful force in it. 
 
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 • • 
 Some Comments on the Book 
 
 "Permit me to say reg'arding' your new book, — 'The Photographic 
 Primer ' — that it is unquestionably the best work of its kind that I have ever 
 read. During' my past seven or eight years of experience in this establish- 
 ment it has been my duty to wait on and ' educate,' so to speak, a great many 
 amateur photographers, — veritable beginners ; and thus knowing the nature 
 of their inquiries and errors as I do, I shall have no scruples in recommending 
 your Primer to them as the best on the market." — Front Mr. Harry H. 
 Hyatt, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 " This admirable volume has been prepared for those 'who are unfamilar 
 with the art, but the manual embodies much information that cannot fail to 
 prove of immense interest to advanced students in photographic practice." 
 ~~Frofn the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 
 
 " This little volume ought to receive a warm welcome at the hands of all 
 amateur as well as professional photographers. It is prepared by two 
 experts, J. C. Worthington and J. C . Millen, M.D , who have endeavored to 
 give in clear and succinct form the precise information needed for the suc- 
 cessful production of photographic pictures. Most of the so-called hand- 
 books and manuals have been written in the interests of manufacturers or 
 dealers, or some individual with an axe to grind, and are advertisements of 
 goods rather than genuine guides to photography. The present volume deals 
 with the subject from the beginning to the end. It explains clearly all the 
 different processes necessary to make a good picture, with instructions as to 
 the manufacture of the various solutions, honr to keep them and how to use 
 them, with suggestions as to the choice of cameras, descriptions of the 
 various kinds of lenses, and explanations of many of the technical terms 
 used in the art." — From the Boston Transciipt. 
 
 "This dainty specimen of book work will prove a valuable addition to 
 the not too plentiful supply of good elementary treatises on this subject. It 
 aims to reach those who know nothing of the art, and goes ' no further in the 
 path of photographic work than the production of a perfect picture by the 
 simplest processes.' The writers appear to have faithfully followed the pro- 
 gramme mapped out for themselves, and have shown excellent judgment in 
 the selection of formulae and in the practical hints for the guidance of the 
 beginner in the dark room. Since the publication of Dr. Ellerslie Wallace's 
 little book, no manual has appeared that promises so well as the ' Primer.' 
 One feature of the book deserve special notice — the chapter on * The 
 Hand-Camera: its Snares and Virtues.' Every amateur has experienced the 
 seductive drawings of the ' Kodak,* and has been led away from the studied 
 effort at 'picture making' to the 'hit-or-miss,' ' push-the-button ' sort of 
 pastime. While not agreeing with the generally adverse verdict of the 
 authors upon the hand camera, their warnings are timely, and should have a 
 good effect." — From the Public Ledger, Philadelphia,