AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



HINTS FOR THE DARK-ROOM. 



F. C. Lambert, in Photo. Times. 



1. A place for everything, and everything 

 in its place, is nowhere of more practical im- 

 portance than in the dark-room. This ap- 

 plies, with especial emphasis, to those 

 articles — bottles, dishes, brushes, etc. — 

 which one is liable to want during the oper- 

 ations of changing or developing plates, 

 etc. 



2. When the eyes are more or less handi- 

 capped, in the dim light, it is a great help to 

 have things so arranged that the sense of 

 touch aids that of imperfect sight, by having 

 the various bottles, measures, etc., used for 

 developing, of different sizes and shapes. 

 Each one is recognized the instant the finger- 

 tip touches it, and this soon becomes of such 

 value that it will prevent mistakes in using 

 the wrong thing — an accident by no means 

 unlikely when the attention is concentrated 

 on some new problem, or when prompt ac- 

 tion is called for to save a faulty exposure. 



3. Each bottle will, of course, have its own 

 label, describing its contents, but usually the 

 light is too dim to allow you to read the 

 label. It is expedient to mark each bottle 

 with a distinctive letter, large arid bold, with 

 either black varnish or white enamel paint. 

 Thus, P, for the pyro bottle; A, for am- 

 monia; B, for bromide, and so on. 



4. Before commencing development, or 

 any other operation which requires the light 

 to be turned low, spend a few minutes (1) in 

 clearing away everything that will not be 

 needed, and (2) putting all those articles 

 which are likely to be wanted each in its own 

 place, so that, should anything unusual be 

 needed, it shall be at hand. 



5. It is not easy to see the graduation 

 marks on the measures. This may be part- 

 ly met by taking a hard lead pencil, bring- 

 ing it to a good point, and then rubbing it 

 into the fine lines cut on the glass. Or the 

 marks may be blacked with a little black 

 varnish, thinned with turpentine and ap- 

 plied with a fine paint-brush. 



6. Everyone knows that the human eye 

 takes time to accommodate its sensitiveness 

 to great differences of contrast. For in- 

 stance, passing out of sunshine into a dark 

 cellar one feels blind at first and unable to 

 see by the light of a candle; but presently 

 this light enables one to see much that at 

 first was invisible. We photographers all 

 know how the sensitiveness of our vision in- 

 creases after being in the red light of the 

 dark-room a short time. 



On entering the room, first arrange, by a 

 good light, all things needed. Then slowly 

 lower the light until it is almost absolute 

 darkness, close the eyes and rest them a 

 few minutes. Then, on opening them again 

 and only slightly raising the light, you will 

 feel not only the great comfort of the rest, 



but will be able to use less light than usual 

 and see more clearly the growth of the 

 image than if you entered the dark-room 

 from bright daylight and began at once to 

 fumble about, upset things and generally to 

 waste time and to experience discomfort. 



Two Irwin girls became infatuated with 

 the idea of having their pictures taken with 

 their heads coquettishly stuck through a torn 

 newspaper, and visited a photograph gallery 

 for that purpose. When the pictures were 

 finished they were horrified to see — what they 

 had failed to notice — that in the newspaper 

 they had stuck their heads through, jusl be- 

 neath their laughing faces, was a clothing 

 firm's advertisement, headed, "Our pants 

 are lined in the seat." — Harrisburg Call. 



"Astronomers are not agreed that all the 

 surface markings on the moon can be ex- 

 plained by volcanic action," says Popular 

 Astronomy. "Those who believe that the 

 volcanic theory accounts for the so- 

 called crater formations with central cones, 

 are not satisfied with such an explanation 

 for the origin of the walled or rampart 

 plains. They confess that the 01 igin of 

 these features and some others are beyond 

 their explanation." 



For hardening gelatine films, Dr. Jenney 

 recommends plunging them for five minutes 

 in a solution composed of: water, 1 litre; 

 alum, 500 grammes, and 3 to 4 grammes of 

 tannin. 



The Atlas Steamship Co., 24 State street, 

 New York, runs a line of commodious steel 

 steamers between New York and Jamaica, 

 Hayti and Costa Rica. Passage, including 

 meals and stateroom, costs only $5 a day for 

 the entire voyage. 



Write for beautifully illustrated pamphlet 

 giving full particulars. Mention Recrea- 

 tion. 



Read Mr. J. R. Painter's advertisement 

 of music-boxes on page xiv. I have exam- 

 ined his goods carefully, and know them to 

 be first-class in every way. 



I have been out shooting only a few times 

 this fall, but had good sport in each instance. 

 Have killed about a dozen ruff ed grouse and 

 about the same number of woodcock. The 

 fall flight of the latter has not set in yet, but 

 I think this moon will bring them. There 

 is a good crop of grouse this fall, as there 

 were plenty left over from last year, and the 

 season has been favorable for breeding. 

 Leonard Bunting, Greenfield, N. Y. 



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