76 



RECREATION. 



blotting it on clean blotting paper, and 

 then with a brush, dipped into a 10 per 

 cent solution of bromide of potash, painting 

 the overprinted parts. Return to the 

 developer and proceed as usual. A slow 

 working developer is preferred. Wher- 

 ever the bromide of potash is applied it 

 checks the development ; therefore care 

 must be taken not to apply so much as to 

 cause it to run where it is not desired. 



A serviceable addition to the dark 

 room sink is made of a board, 8 or 10 inches 

 wide and a little shorter than the inside 

 width of the sink. About one inch from 

 each end nail 2 cross-strips or blocks, so 

 that one end of the board is ^ to 1 inch 

 higher than the other. This forms 'a sort 

 of bench, 3 or 4 inches high, which sits 

 in the sink with the higher end under the 

 faucet. After this is complete, cover the 

 upper surface with carpet, or some similar 

 material, fold it over the edge and tack 

 underneath. This may form a permanent 

 fixture in the sink, or it can be removed 

 at will. It should never be quite so high as 

 the sides of the sink, and should be placed 

 so the water will strike it at the higher end. 



When a negative is taken from the hypo 

 drop it on the board, and by the time you 

 have attended to a few other things it is 

 sufficiently washed ; or if you are only de- 

 veloping 4 or 5 plates you will need no fur- 

 ther washing arrangement. The carpet cov- 

 ering prevents the plates from slipoing, and 

 it holds a sheet of glass so firmly that while 

 cleaning old negatives or lantern slide cover 

 glass, you can give them a thorough scrub- 

 bing under running water, without fear of 

 slipping. 



An excellent retouching medium for nega- 

 tives can be made by dissolving a small 

 quantity of light colored shoemaker's wax 

 in gasoline, decanting the clear liquid and 

 adding spirits of turpentine. 



Another .good medium is made by add- 

 ing a small quantity of damar varnish to 

 soirits of turpentine. Apply a small quan- 

 tity of either of these to the part of the 

 negative to be retouched and wipe off the 

 surplus with a piece of muslin or your hand. 

 I prefer the latter, as it does not leave lint 

 on the negative. These formulae will per- 

 mit much heavy work on the negative, 

 especially if a fairly soft pencil is used. — 

 Western Camera Notes. 



PRINTING IN CLOUDS 

 This is a good time of the year to pro- 

 cure a few cloud negatives, and if 1 or 2 

 are taken now and again when out picture 

 hunting, a valuable stock will soon accu- 

 mulate. If taken on films, each will give 

 2 views, from the fact of their being re- 

 versible. 



The picture being printed, and the cloud 

 negative having been chosen for the subject, 



the masking of the picture while printing 

 in the cloud is the mam point to be over- 

 come. The joining of the horizon lines is 

 often badly done, and if by chance the pic- 

 ture line is slightly intricate, it is generally 

 here that a weak point exists. 



Provide yourself with a dozen or more 

 sheets of thin white tracing paper, cut to the 

 size of the plate you are working. When 

 you have finished printing your landscape 

 take it out of your frame, place it on a 

 small board, place a piece of tracing paper 

 over it, and retire to the other side of the 

 room. You will then be able to draw with 

 a fine pen over the most important objects 

 in the picture a line from one side to the 

 other, following, of course, the details. 

 Give ample time to this part of the work, 

 for without it you can not succeed. When 

 you have finished this outline, all that is 

 necessary is to fill in the view with India 

 ink, artist's black or vermillion, and let it 

 thoroughly dry, which will take but a few 

 moments. Insert the cloud negative in the 

 printing frame, place the print, with the 

 mask in register, in position in the frame, 

 and print in the cloud to the proper depth, 



If you possess a retouching desk, these 

 masks may be made at night from the nega- 

 tive. With a few pieces of stamp paper 

 attach the edges from front of paper to 

 glass side of the negative to prevent its 

 slipping; afterward it can be detached and 

 then blackened out. The hard lines are 

 softened to a nicetv by printing through the 

 tracing paper, and perhaps a little longer 

 time is required to print. 



With a negative that has clouds, it often 

 happens that in printing the clouds pro- 

 perly the view is overdone. The tracing 

 paper mask is useful in such 'cases. In 

 printing on paper that gives no visible 

 image, such as cartoon, platinotype, bromide, 

 etc., the paper negative and mask should be 

 placed veil into one corner of the frame, 

 and a note made of it on the back of the 

 print, so as to nrovide against any chance 

 of mistakes. Nothing is more annoying than 

 to find, after all your pains, that you have 

 manipulated your sky upside down on the 

 view when you come to develop the pic- 

 ture. 



A good white tracing paper gives no 

 grain that will harm a print, and care should 

 be taken that it is not crumpled. It deteri- 

 orates with age, going yellow, which makes 

 a long printing job; but the paper is cheap 

 enough for one to make a fresh mask when 

 required. — Erudio, in Photographic News. 



MY MOST INSTRUCTIVE EXPERIENCE. 



My most instructive experience was the 

 result of a mistake. When I first started 

 making lantern slides I found difficulty in 

 judging the exposure to give. I exposed 

 many slides with only a few good results. 



