240 RECREATION. 
“My Dear John—Doubtless the little 
camera has reached you. Read pamphlet 
enclosed and you will understand the cam- 
era’s mechanism. I will add, however, a 
few words of advice. 
“Never point the camera toward the sun, 
but away from it. If you are taking a pic- 
ture of persons, try and get them in the 
shade. If under a tree, see that it is one 
with lower branches at least 20 feet above 
the ground. Then place your camera on 
something rigid, holding it absolutely still 
and giving an exposure of 5 to Io seconds. 
A snap-shot, though taken in a bright sun- 
light, is not the best picture obtainable. 
One that you give a little time will pro- 
duce the best results. Of course, if of a 
marine scene in a very bright day, the 
shortest possible exposure with the small- 
est stop (diaphragm) is necessary. Re- 
member vou must use the instantaneous 
shutter for moving objects; and # not on 
the water, it’s better to use the larger dia- 
phragm. 
“As you expose plate after plate, plac- 
ing them in rotation in the back of the 
camera, make a note after each exposure 
describing the scene, time of exposure, 
ete. This will help one materially in 
bringing out the best results in develop- 
ing. For instance, if I am about to de- 
velop a plate where the description leads 
me to believe there is plenty of contrast, 
such as children in white dresses—I can 
mix developer so as not to increase the 
contrast but to somewhat lessen or soften 
the effect, [suse pyro, and “it my. sub- 
ject is a light one, I use 1% grains to an 
ounce of developer; if a dark one, 4 to 5 
grains. Again, if your subject is badly 
lighted, if the day is dull and the contrasts 
are weak, by using developer strong in 
pyro I greatly assist in remedying all 
this. I hope this will convince you of the 
necessity of making a memo of each ex- 
posure. You should learn to judge the 
length of time in a second. To do this 
take your watch and practice counting. 
Keep at this until you can count 10 or 
20 nearly as accurately as your watch.” 
For 2 months I followed carefully his 
instructions, as well as those given in the 
books. Of course I made many failures 
but brought home a lot of good negatives. 
I have since bought a camera and full out- 
fic and am making steady progress. 
J. R. Christe, New York City. 

Will you please give me, through Rec- 
REATION, one or 2 formule for toning So- 
lio paper—gold toning solution? Also 
formula for platinum toning solution, and_ 
tell me how to use same. 
I am a beginner and have struggled 
hard to get a desirable brown color on 
my prints, but the results have not been 
satisfactory. I get all the shades but the 
right one and am getting discouraged. Do 
I leave the prints in toning solution too 
long? I also have trouble with my prints 
not toning evenly—that is,they tone quick- 
er in center than toward the edge. Can 
you give me a little light on this? 
We are about to organize a camera club 
here and as most of the members are read- 
ers. of RECREATION you may expect to 
hear more of us in future. 
Virgil P. Corse, Sandy Creek, N. Y. 
ANSWER. 
I referred your letter to the Eastman 
people, who make Solio paper, and they 
submit the following in reply: 
DIRECTIONS FOR USING SOLIO PAPER. 
SEPARATE BATH FORMULA. 
Wash in 5 or 6 changes of water, or suf- 
ficient to remove the free silver. 
Tone in a plain gold bath, using about 1 
grain of gold to 48 ounces of water. Neu- 
tralize by adding a saturated solution of 
borax, bicarbonate of soda or sal soda. 
When toned, immerse prints in running 
water where they may remain until all are 
ready for the fixing. 
If running water cannot be had, put 
prints into 
SHORT Salt, - - - =) eTLOZs 
Stop: Water, - - - 1 gal. ; 
If there is a large batch of prints to be 
toned do not allow prints to lie in short 
stop solution, but put them into a tray 
containing clear water where they may re- 
main untij all are ready for the fixing. 
Fix 20 minutes in 
Watery =) ay. bag toe ae at oa 
Hypo, Spann MSc 13 OZ. 
Solio Hardener, 2 he) Set hoz; 
To mix with hydrometer, take water one 
gallon, add sufficient hypo to test 25 grains 
to the ounce, and add % ounce of Solio 
hardener. 
On account of its simplicity and cheap- 
ness, we advise the Solio hardener fixing 
bath, but give the alum fixing bath for the 
benefit of ee es Dates te ‘ 
A 
res Ate (Genie ae 
Bah seas of Soda (Ceysta) g oz. 
When diseivca add x oz. of borax disgoived 
in ro oz. hot water. 
This fixing bath must be made about 10 
hours before use. As it keeps indefinitely 
before use it may be made up in large 
quantities. 
Wash one hour in running cold water, 
or in 16 changes of cold water, keeping 
prints separated so the water may have a 
chance to eliminate the chemicals. 
DETAILS. 
The toning bath should tone in 6 or 7 
minutes. 
Tone by transmitted light for the high 
lights and half tones only, paying no at- 
tention whatever to the shadows. 

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