7* 



RECREATION. 



6-inch focus. This will not cost more than 

 a cheap rectilinear, and, except for strictly 

 architectural and high-speed work, will 

 prove much more satisfactory. 



Use slow plates. Carbutt's B 16 are ex- 

 ceedingly good. No doubt there are other 

 slow plates equally as good, but these and 

 my single Dallmeyer are what I use when 

 I want extra fine work. Use the developer 

 recommended by the maker of the plates. 

 It may be advisable to add 1-3 more water 

 and let the plate develop more slowly. 

 This is a thing you must not hurry. 

 Over-exposure and over-development are 

 not so common as the other extreme. Do 

 not take portraits on any consideration 

 whatever! If you stick to this you will 

 save yourself from much vituperation and 

 many an uneasy hour. Practice on the 

 garden gate, a leafless tree, plants or any- 

 thing your friends won't want copies of. 

 Practice focusing first; see that your cam- 

 era is level; make a rule of having the 

 base of your plate level no matter what 

 you are taking. You can buy a small 

 spirit level for 10 cents at any hardware 

 store, so you have no excuse for crooked 

 pictures. A little help from a friend who 

 does time work will assist you in getting 

 a correct idea of exposure. Try making 3 

 exposures in quick succession on one ob- 

 ject; make the first of what you consider 

 the correct duration, the next 50 per cent. 

 longer, and the last 50 per cent. less. For 

 instance, if No. 1 is exposed I second, give 

 No. 2 lYz seconds, and No. 3 r /z second. 

 Mark each, develop side by side in the 

 same dish, and see which is best. 



Do this a few times and you will, if you 

 use your brains, learn a good deal. Keep 

 some of your failures and the notes be- 

 longing to them. Keep a record of every 

 exposure made and its result also. Stick 

 to one make of plates and of paper and do 

 as the makers advise you. 



H. H. Williams, Charlottesville, Va. 



, HOT WEATHER HINTS. 



Many enthusiastic amateurs dread the 

 hot, sultry weather of our summer months, 

 knowing- it means for them frilled plates, 

 choked-up negatives from the too warm so- 

 lution, fog and pitted films — the result of 

 slow drying in warm weather. With the 

 following precautionary measures I now 

 have little trouble, although the mercury 

 in my dark room often registers 85 degrees. 



Always do developing in the morning, 

 as that is the coolest part of the day. 

 Bring in a bucket of cold water, and on this 

 float your developing tray and the grad- 

 uate., which is to contain the developer. 

 Leave them on the water until the last min- 

 ute. Set your bottle of developer 

 in a mug. Pour cool water around the 

 bottle until mug is full, and leave a few 



minutes. Change several times, and your 

 developer, also, will be cool. Every- 

 thing is now ready but the hypo. 

 In hot weather use this only when freshly 

 dissolved. It is much better to dissolve it 

 in the tray in which you want to use it, as 

 the process cools the tray. For a 4x5 

 plate measure into the tray y 2 oz. hypo anu 

 add 2 oz. of cool water. Let dissolve and 

 place on a convenient shelf in dark room. 

 When ready to develop, lift graduate out 

 of the water, where it has been cooling, 

 pour into it the usual quantity of developer, 

 and take out developing tray, seeing that 

 there is no water inside, as a little water 

 on a plate previous to developing will cause 

 ugly spots. 



Nothing now remains but to light your 

 lamp and proceed with your work, which 

 should not occupy over 15 minutes under 

 normal conditions. Dark rooms are close 

 and disagreeable in warm weather, and one 

 is generally in a hurry to get out into the 

 open air. So after plate is put into the 

 hypo, cover the tray and set it in a dark 

 corner. You can now open the door, put 

 out your ruby lamp, and begin cleaning 

 up. Fix for 10 or 15 minutes, rocking tray 

 now and then. Washing, in hot weather. 

 should not last over 20 minutes. Use plenty 

 of cool water and change every 3 minutes, 

 if running water is not at hand. Do not 

 handle negative any more than necessary 

 until dry, as the heat from the hand is likely 

 to injure film around edges. 



Have you been troubled with a deposit 

 settling all over the face of your plate 

 while washing it face up? Get a dish just 

 large enough to support the negative by 

 its corners. A small breakfast plate is 

 about the proper size for a 4x5. Place 

 negative in dish face down, allowing the 

 water to run freely over and under same. 

 An almost speckless negative will be the 

 result. 



Rapid drying in hot weather Is impor- 

 tant. If a good current of air, free from 

 dust, cannot be had, soak your negative in 

 alcohol a few minutes, and stand away 

 to dry. 



E. L. Dupuy, Blackstone, Va. 



(SPOTTING OUT NEGATIVES. 



In reply to Ferdinand, Port Jervis, 

 N. Y. : Spotting out means retouching a 

 negative or a print by means of a small 

 brush charged with pigment. A negative 

 to be spotted out is set on a retouching 

 easel, which is simply a thin board in- 

 clined at an angle of about 45 degrees and 

 having a hole in it through which light 

 may be reflected from a sheet of white 

 cardboard. A hood to prevent other light 

 reaching the eye is mounted on the board. 

 The operator sits facing a window, and 

 the negative being placed over the hole is 



