A STUDY OF THE COLOR PHOTOGRAPH. 



THE color photograph is found to 

 be most useful in developing 

 the color sense in children. 

 The act of recognizing vari 

 ous colors and shades is educative. 

 When we consider that all the effects 

 of the color photograph are produced 

 by combinations of the three primary 

 colors we at once step into a realm of 

 thought and observation that is bound 

 less. The danger is that we may at 

 tempt too much with the abundance 

 of material at hand and, by forgetting 

 the limitations of the unformed mind, 

 confuse instead of enlighten. 



It is well for the teacher to know the 

 process by which the color photograph 

 is produced, but young children who 

 know little of the laws of light are not 

 expected to understand it fully. In 

 advanced classes the following will be 

 found beneficial: 



A natural object is placed before a 

 camera and a water screen is adjusted 

 so no rays but the yellow may reach 

 the photographic plate. A negative is 

 thus obtained recording all the yellow 

 that appears upon the surface of the 

 object, whether it shows as pure yellow 

 or in combination with other colors. 

 With the camera and object in exactly 

 the same position and another screen 

 which absorbs all the rays but the red 

 ones coming from- the object, a nega 

 tive of the red is obtained. A third 

 negative of the blue in the object is 

 similarly got, and we have an accurate 

 representation of the form and all the 

 colors of the object separated into red, 

 yellow, and blue. 



From these negatives three half-tone 

 plates are made upon copper. A half 

 tone plate is an acid etching produced 

 by photographic process with fine 

 lines crossing each at right angles so 

 that the picture appears as a series of 



microscopic square points which de 

 crease in size in the lighter portions of 

 the plate. 



Red, yellow, and blue inks of the 

 rarest quality are used in printing from 

 these plates, with great care exercised 

 as to getting the exact depth of color 

 required for each. By placing a sheet 

 of fine tissue paper beneath a plate 

 printing red, the red is deepened, an 

 other sheet makes it more intense, and 

 others are placed under the plate, if 

 necessary, to get the rich red required 

 to blend with the yellow and blue to 

 make the exact reproductions of na 

 ture's colors which appear in the color 

 photograph. 



The order of the printing is yellow 

 first, and when this is thoroughly dry 

 the red is laid on, and the blue a day 

 later. As the color is nowhere a solid 

 mass, but a series of points, one color 

 does not hide another, but the three 

 colors shine through and make the 

 blendings which appear in the beauti 

 ful and delicate shades and tints of the 

 color photographs. 



Do not manifest surprise when you 

 find pupils wholly or partly color blind. 

 The boy who cannot find a red marble 

 in the grass will show by his conversa 

 tion that red and green are the same 

 to him. His is an extreme case, but 

 there are many who are slow to name 

 the primary colors and totally fail to 

 recognize differences in tints. 



For ordinary purposes there should 

 be little effort given to the namirNg of 

 the shades. If the colors are talked 

 about by name, enough is done in the 

 line of language. But classes become 

 readily interested in comparing reds, 

 and blues, or greens to say which is 

 the deeper or the purer. The location 

 of a patch of color often changes its 

 apparent intensity. Contrast with sur- 



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