324 



RECREATION. 



substitute may be made by cleaning the 

 gelatine from an old negative and substi- 

 tuting tissue paper. This is much prefer- 

 able to using a fogged plate. A good flash 

 lamp may be made by obtaining a clay 

 pipe, attaching a piece of rubber hose to the 

 stem, and tying some cotton wool around 

 the bowl. Soak the wool in alcohol and 

 put the flash powder in the bowl. Light 

 your cotton wool, and by blowing down 

 the rubber tube the powder will flash. 

 This improvised lamp will be much hand- 

 ier if you make a stand for it of some 

 pieces of wood nailed together, into which 

 the stem and bowl will fit. If you are 

 troubled by 'the solutions in your bottles 

 running down the necks, melt some white 

 wax, dip the necks of your solution bottles 

 in it, and your trouble in that respect 

 will be overcome. Do not print in strong 

 sunlight 'except when using dense nega- 

 tives. Do not handle your paper any more 

 than necessary, and do not wash gelatine 

 prints all night, as it spoils them. Never 

 dry your prints by artificial heat as it 

 hardly ever leads to success. If you have 

 a fixed focus camera dust the lens fre- 

 quently with a soft camel's hair brush and 

 occasionally remove the front board and 

 thoroughly dust the shutter, etc. If you 

 are starting in photography do not buy a 

 so-called complete outfit, but purchase the 

 articles separately from a regular dealer. 



In taking groups do not place the sitters 

 all in a row, as it gives them a formal look. 

 If. prints curl up after toning, it may be 

 remedied by laying the print face down on 

 a sheet of blotting paper, and stroking the 

 back of the print back and forth with the 

 flat edge of the ruler or the back of a 

 knife. Repeat this a few times and the 

 print will be flat. A developing solution 

 will keep much better in small bottles. 

 A large one that allows an air space 

 between the liquid and the cork 'spoils the 

 solution. Keep the bottles well corked and 

 stand them upside down. If possible use 

 only filtered rain water in making a solu- 

 tion and you will be surprised at the su- 

 perior results you will obtain. 



If you ride a wheel, carry the camera 

 suspended from your shoulder in prefer- 

 ence to having it attached to the bars of the 

 bicycle. The latter method gives too much 

 vibration and is likely to jar y L jr shutter 

 out of order. If you are not satisfied with 

 the developer you use, try one of the- py- 

 rogallic acid formula^ recommended in 

 Hammer's little book, which are excellent. 

 A good method to bring out detail in the 

 less exposed parts of the negative is to 

 breathe on those parts. The heat of the 

 breath apparently raises the activity of the 

 developer. Try this little dodge and you 

 will be astonished with the results ob- 

 tained. A good dark room lamp may be 



made with one of the red globes used by 

 contractors on the streets at night, or a 

 red railway globe. Place this in a box 

 resting on 2 strips of wood, for ventila- 

 tion. Place 2 pieces of wood over the 

 front of your box at the top and bottom 

 so as to exclude all white light. A candle 

 will supply the illuminating power, and fit 

 a tin shade over the iront to protect the 

 eyes and cast the light on the tray. 



Chas. Herbert, 

 Roxbury, Mass. 



DEVELOPING SXAP SHOTS. 

 Writing in The Amateur Photographer 

 lately, Osborn Thornbery says, although it 

 takes a great deal of time, plates, especially 

 snap shots, should be developed one at a 

 time, in order to obtain the best results 

 possible from each. Latterly there have 

 been placed on the market many so- 

 called snap shot developers, but these, be- 

 ing usually made up in one solution, are 

 almost useless, as no control can be had 

 over the plate. It is by far best and cheap- 

 est to make up your own developers. Then 

 you know what they contain, and conse- 

 quently know better how to use them. I 

 consider that for snap shots there is noth- 

 ing to beat pyro, as all detail can be 

 brought out, and any desired density ob- 

 tained with a little patience. The greatest 

 objection most people have to pyro is that 

 it stains their hands. This, to a great ex- 

 tent, is their own fault, as it may be easily 

 prevented by using a plate lifter to remove 

 the negative from the dish. If there hap- 

 pen to be any stains on the hands, they 

 may be removed by rubbing with a piece 

 of cotton wool dipped in a 10 per cent, solu- 

 tion of sulphuric acid. This solution must 

 not be used if there L±e any cuts on the 

 fingers. The most suitable snap shot de- 

 veloper is the following : 



a. (density.) 

 One bottle of Schering's pyrogallic acid 

 (dry). 



B. (accelerator.) 



Sulphite of soda (crystals) 2 ozs. 



Carbonate of soda (crystals) 2 " 



Water 10 " 



c. (restrainer.) 



Bromide of potassium 1 oz. 



Water 9 " 



With this formula absolute control can 

 be had over the plate while in the devel- 

 oper, and any class of negative obtained, 

 from a thin, full of detail, to a brilliant 

 dense negative, according to the propor- 

 tions used. For a J / 2 plate snap shot, take, 

 to commence developing, one ounce of B 

 and one ounce of water, add 3. drops of C, 

 then take from the bottle A enough dry 

 pyro to cover half the blade of a penknife, 

 place in the measure, and shake till the in- 



