406 



RECREATION. 



quired to enable one to make up any of the 

 solutions used in photography. It is simply 

 following a formula, so much of this and 

 so much of that. 



In mixing a developer use at first the 

 formula given by the maker of the plates 

 you are using, and stick to it until you can 

 use it successfully. Not until then should 

 you begin to experiment. Having the 

 means and materials at hand for mixing a 

 variety of formulae, it is natural that one 

 should wish to try every new developing 

 formula that comes to hand, but if you 

 wish to turn out satisfactory work, resist 

 the temptation and stick to your one de- 

 veloper until you have mastered it. 



Not that I would discourage the trial of 

 new methods and new formulae, for this is 

 to many one of the greatest pleasures in 

 photographic work, but one should be sure 

 of a few things before attempting to do too 

 much in the way of experimenting. 



In the matter of chemicals, buy them in 

 bulk, that is to say, in as large quantities as 

 you can use in a reasonable length of 

 time. Buy hypo in 5 or 10 pound lots, so- 

 dium sulphite and carbonate by the pound, 

 and pyro, metol, or whatever it may be, by 

 the ounce. When your chemicals are pur- 

 chased in this way, you will find that the 

 cost of solution is surprisingly small, to say 

 nothing of the fact that they are always 

 freshly mixed and of known strength. 



If once you begin working in this way, I 

 am sure you will never go back to the pro- 

 fessional, but will find increasing pleasure 

 and satisfaction in "doing the rest" your- 

 self. 



C. M. Whitney, Bayonne, N. J. 



THE SEPARATE BATH AND ITS USE. 



Please give me full directions for pre- 

 paring and using the separate toning bath. 



Will a portrait lens, placed over the regu- 

 lar lens, take pictures of landscapes and 

 buildings? 



A. E. S. Roth, Prairie du Chien, Wis. 



ANSWER. 



The toning bath should be mixed one 

 hour prior to use in order to allow it to 

 ripen. To 48 ounces of water add one grain 

 of chloride of gold, then immerse a piece 

 each of red and blue litmus paper. While 

 stirring the bath add 3 or 5 drops of a 

 saturated solution of borax, or a sufficient 

 quantity to cause neither the red nor blue 

 litmus paper to change color. In this con- 

 dition the bath is neutral and in prime order 

 for toning prints. At a safe distance to 

 avoid contamination of other solutions mix 

 your fixing bath, 25 degrees hydrometer 

 test, and to each gallon of solution add one- 

 half ounce of solio hardener. After thor- 

 oughly cleansing your hands from any trace 

 of hypo, proceed to the preliminary washing 



of your prints by passing them through 6 

 changes of clear water, moving them con- 

 stantly and separating them meanwhile. In 

 a bath prepared as above prints should tone 

 in 5 to 8 minutes. They should be carried 

 only far enough to thoroughly clear the 

 high lights, at which stage you will probably 

 notice that the shadows are a deep red ; then 

 pass through a salt bath 2 to 5 minutes, 

 which will arrest toning. After toning, 

 wash well in 3 changes of water, then pass 

 to the fixing bath, separating and moving 

 the prints therein about 20 minutes ; after 

 which wash them in 16 changes of water or 

 one hour in running water. 



The neutralizing agents, such as bicarbon- 

 ate of soda, borax, and carbonate of soda, 

 should be mixed separately, and only added 

 in the manner suggested above to the toning 

 solution after the gold has been added. 



Temperature of the gold toning bath 

 should be about 60 degrees Fahr. The 

 prints, in order to be thoroughly fixed, 

 should remain in the hyposulphite of soda 

 solution at least 20 minutes, being handled 

 constantly meanwhile. A toning bath pre- 

 pared as above will be sufficient to tone 

 properly about half a gross 4x5 paper. A 

 gallon of fixing solution mixed as described 

 above will be sufficient to fix one gross of 

 4 x 5 or cabinet size prints. 



If by portrait lens you refer to the East- 

 man portrait attachment, that combination 

 will not work perfectly at a greater dis- 

 tance than 3^2 feet from subject, and is not 

 intended for the photographing of land- 

 scapes or buildings. — Editor. 



GLYCERINE PROCESS ILLUSTRATED. 



In Recreation of April, 1903, a brief out- 

 line was given of the glycerine process of 

 developing platinum prints as perfected by 

 Mr. Joseph T. Keiley, and now generally in 

 use. This sketch was prepared especially 

 for the benefit of those readers of Recrea- 

 tion interested in photography who, as 

 shown by their correspondence, are ever on 

 the alert to improve and advance. In this 

 issue we reproduce, on pages 344 and 

 345, a number of imprints made by 

 this process by Mr. Keiley, who per- 

 mits their use for the benefit of Recre- 

 ation photographic readers. These prints 

 have been selected for their strength from 

 the illustrator's point of view, rather than 

 for special artistic merit. An examination 

 of them will show how certain parts of the 

 prints have been strengthened and others 

 subordinated. In this manner strong, ef- 

 fective and harmonious contrasts, such as 

 most readily lend themselves to reproduc- 

 tion, have been obtained. Warmth and 

 texture have also been imparted to the 

 print. Many readers of Recreation do 

 excellent photographic work and with 

 thought, care and study are entirely cap- 



