AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



489 



low screen, and give as long exposure as 

 possible. There seems to be a sort of im- 

 perceptible shrinkage always taking place 

 with flowers when they are placed in vases, 

 and the slightest movement of air will, of 

 course, cause vibration, especially when the 

 flowers have long, thin stems. Wiring the 

 stems has been recommended to avoid this 

 vibration, but I have not found it neces- 

 sary. As to the size of stop to be used in 

 the lens, theory says a large stop will give 

 roundness, but as we generally have to 

 place the camera near our srbject, and 

 as fuzziness is not desirable,, a small 

 stop is often requisite to bring all into 

 focus. The matter of development is im- 

 portant. A thin, soft negative is most de- 

 sirable, if we are to avoid a chalky appear- 

 ance of the high lights, and it is better to 

 under develop than to lose all the soft gra- 

 dations of tone which add so much to the 

 beauty of a flower study. 



A charming method of photographing 

 wild flowers would be to take them grow- 

 ing in their habitat, with their background 

 of wood or hedgerow. It is clear, in that 

 case, a perfectly still atmosphere would be 

 an advantage. Much originality would fol- 

 low this method if successfully carried out. 

 As the character and beauty of a flower 

 often lie partly in its stem and foliage, we 

 should endeavor to make the most of these. 

 Foliage is often too dark to come out well 

 with white flowers ;' one is nearly sure to be 

 under or over exposed. A pretty effect 

 is obtained by using a transparent recep- 

 tacle of some kind with the stems of the 

 flowers showing through it. The reflection 

 may be used to give variety to the fore- 

 ground, often a weak part in a composi- 

 tion. 



After we have obtained a satisfactory 

 negative, we have to consider the no less 

 important matter of what printing method 

 we shall use. There are many kinds 

 of printing paper to choose from. 

 First of all, we may exclude any papers 

 with glossy surface. A few flowers have 

 shiny petals, but even those would not be 

 faithfully represented by, say, glazed P. O. 

 P. A matt surface seems in harmony with 

 the grace of a flower, and is a desideratum 

 if it be found necessary to touch out any 

 appearance of spottiness or any distracting 

 high lights. 



URANIUM TONING. 

 Recently the president of the West Sur- 

 rey Photographic Society, Mr. J. T. Price, 

 gave the members a demonstration on the 

 above subject. He attributed the increased 

 popularity of bromide printing to the im- 

 proved papers on the market, while it 

 seemed but natural that there should arise 

 a wish for color, such as carbon printing 

 and other processes gave. This, he said, 

 could be obtained easily and in great va- 



riety, and that much he proposed to show 

 them — the pictorial application he left to 

 each member's taste and ability. He per- 

 sonally did not care for the hot hypo and 

 alum bath. To him it seemed tedious and 

 the effects hardly worth the time taken. 



He recommended uranium toning pure 

 and simple. The bromide print must be 

 clean and free from hypo and iron in any 

 form, therefore not developed with ferrous 

 oxalate, and the dishes and hands must be 

 clean also. He said he made a solution of 

 nitrate of ammonia, one drachm by weight, 

 to 8 drachms acetic acid, and an exactly 

 similar but separate one of ferricyanide of 

 potassium. Both keep well. For use he 

 took y 2 drachm of each, and added to 2 or 

 3 ounces of water. Then, having taken a 

 wetted print, he carefully pressed it be- 

 tween hard blotting paper to insure its be- 

 ing evenly damp, and laying it at the bot- 

 tom of the dish, flowed the solution over 

 it as in development. 



It was now essential that the dish should 

 be constantly rocked to insure even lines. 

 The change commenced at once, and being 

 of the nature of an intensification, the lec- 

 turer pointed out that it was well to have 

 highly developed bromides, unless special 

 effects were desired. In 5 or 10 minutes 

 all the ranges of brown were gone through ; 

 then the red tones began to appear and in 

 20 minutes a deep red was arrived at. At 

 any stage the process could be arrested by 

 blotting off or washing. The last required 

 care, and was best done by laying th<? print 

 face downward in gently running water 

 till the high lights were clear enough, and 

 then blotting off. It was quite possible to 

 wash the whole off, especially if a little 

 ammonia was used. By the same means 

 local reductions might be effected. 



Many modifications of the red uranium- 

 toned print were shown; for instance, by 

 reducing with Howard Farmer's reducer 

 the black under-tones were taken out, and 

 even then further lightened by a bath of 

 weak ammonia water, and a near approach 

 to the Bartolozzi reds obtained. 



When a red print was flowed over with 

 a solution of water, to which a few drops 

 of perchloride of iron were added, a blue- 

 green tone appeared, the addition of acetic 

 acid giving a bright blue, which, after 10 

 minutes' action, was voted by the members 

 equal to Reckitt's. 



As to permanence, he had a uranium- 

 toned print in a black envelope (one of 

 those in which he bought his bromide pa- 

 per) with a piece cut out of the center, 

 lying in a window, exposed to sun and air 

 for several months, and while the envelope 

 was bleached to dark gray, the print showed 

 no change. 



The lecturer also showed how to obtain 

 blue or blue-green tones on bromides with- 

 out previous uranium toning. This was 



