AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



48; 



AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



" For sport the lens is better than the gun. " 

 / wish to make this department of the utmost 

 use to amateurs. I shall, therefore, be glad to 

 answer any questions and to print any items sent 

 me by practical amateurs relating to their experi- 

 ence in photography. 



CAMERA STUDIES. 

 W. J. Cotterell, in the Camera and Dark 

 Room. 

 Since starting photography I have al- 

 ways carried a small book in which I jot 

 down all kinds of photo notes. I then try 

 the new formulae, receipts and dodges, and 

 if found serviceable transcribe them, with 

 any improvement I can suggest, to a larger 

 book, where they are sorted and indexed. 



A paste, which is the best, home-made 

 article in that line I can find and superior 

 to many of the manufactured articles, is 

 made as follows. Mix about 4 ounces of 

 wheat flour evenly with 8 ounces 

 of water. Boil about 12 ounces of 

 water, adding to it 15 grains of salicylic 

 acid. Pour in the flour and water slowly, 

 stirring all the time, and set away to cool. 

 This will not discolor prints and will be 

 found a most satisfactory paste for photo- 

 graphic and general use. 



Photographing flowers is one of the 

 most interesting branches of the art an 

 amateur can take up. The best flowers for 

 photography are those that are pale pink, 

 yellow, white or variegated. Reds, browns 

 or dark colors do not answer well. Pick 

 out those that have an irregular form, such 

 as chrysanthemums, lilies or poppies. Avoid 

 as much as possible all formal arrange- 

 ment and have the flowers in one plane as 

 nearly as possible. By this I mean have all 

 flowers the same distance from the camera 

 to bring them equally in focus.^ The light- 

 ing is as difficult as the grouping and can 

 only be learned by practice. 



Avoid all sunlight and have a good side 

 light from a North window. Do not place 

 the flowers too near the window, as you 

 are likely to obtain harsh effects. Use slow 

 orthochromatic plates and a color screen 

 for red and yellow flowers. Stop down 

 well, using F22 or even F32. Give a long 

 exposure, 30 to 60 seconds, and develop 

 with the developer you can handle best. My 

 favorite developer for this work is pyro- 

 soda. I use a small quantity of soda to 

 commence with and as the image appears 

 I add soda until I get all the detail possi- 

 ble. Unless you desire to be known as an 

 impressionist, detail is necessary to your 

 pictures. If you are a fuzzy typer, just 

 keep the flowers moving during exposure 

 and the result will be superb but hazy. 



For a background use a plain gray or 

 dark material set back out of focus and 

 at an angle. The average photograph is 

 not improved by tinting, but flower studies 

 in some cases give exceedingly pretty ef- 

 fects when so treated. Take, for instance, 

 a bunch of lilies with just the center tinted 

 yellow. Nothing approaches photography in 

 colors so closely. 



The pyro developer I use is a formula 

 recommended by the United States Gov- 

 ernment as follows : 



A. 



Water 16 ounces 



Sulphuric acid 15 minims 



Bromide 30 grains 



Pyro 1 ounce 



B. 



Water 16 ounces 



Sodium sulphite 4 ounces 



Sodium carbonate 1 ounce 



Potassium carbonate 1 ounce 



For use take for normal exposures : A, 

 2 drams; B, 1 ounce; water, 4 ounces. 



For over exposed plates : A, ]/ 2 ounce ; 

 water, 4 ounces; 10 per cent, bromide, 15 

 drops. Soak in above 2 minutes, then add 

 slowly one dram of B at a time until de- 

 velopment is complete. 



For instantaneous and under exposed 

 plates : B, 1 ounce ; water, 4 ounces. Soak 

 in the solution 3 or 4 minutes. Pour the 

 solution off and add to it A, 1 dram; 10 

 per cent, bromide, 2 drops. 



If a little common sense is used with the 

 above, many a plate can be saved that 

 would otherwise be thrown away as useless 

 when developed in a one solution de- 

 veloper. If you know your plate is over or 

 under or correctly exposed, act accordingly. 

 If you have any doubts on the matter treat 

 it as over exposed and the small number 

 of failures will surprise you. 



Pinhole photography is an interesting 

 pastime. If your lens board is removable, 

 make a piece of wood to fit it. In the cen- 

 ter of this cut a hole about half an inch in 

 diameter. Over this fasten a thin sheet of 

 brass or copper, in the center of which your 

 pinhole is to be made. The best pinhole . 

 is made with a No. 9 needle and will give 

 an opening of about 1/50 of an inch in di- 

 ameter. The focal length at which you 

 will obtain the best results from an open- 

 ing this size will be about 6 inches. In 

 other words, when your plate is 6 inches 

 from the opening or pinhole, you have the 

 sharpest possible picture. It is not neces- 

 sary to focus, and the amount of light on 

 the ground glass being small it is difficult 

 to compose your picture. 



To expose, the best way is to calculate 

 what time you would give the same picture 

 using your lens at fi6. We will say % sec- 

 ond. One second at fi6 is about equal td 



