8o 



RECREATION. 



•r, for wide lines, a piece of bone, will in- 

 dent a line on the softer cardboard, and, 

 properly done, the labor is well rewarded. 

 I have made several points of bone, and rule 

 ordinary dark cover paper close to the print 

 with one or another of these tools, to the 

 great betterment of my picture. 



Transparent celluloid diaphragms, dyed 

 slightly yellow with picric acid, may be used 

 for ray filters, diaphragms, and to afford 

 nearly as much light on the plate as full 

 opening would, yet yielding the effect that 

 the real opening in the diaphragm does or- 

 dinarily as regards definition. Diaphragms 

 made of wire screen have been used to ob- 

 tain light and definition at once, but this 

 wrinkle is better, and is not impracticable. 



Excellent thin brass for pinhole photog- 

 raphy can be secured by buying a cheap card 

 of pearl buttons. What the brass is there 

 for is not made known, but it is the best 

 and thinnest brass I know of. 



whatever that may be; and do not shirk 

 seeking long and carefully till the right 

 shape is discovered. Remember always 

 that you are trying to produce a composi- 

 tion of your own brain ; not an advertise- 

 ment for your lens. — Photography. 



COMPOSING THE PICTURE. 



Never place the principal object exactly 

 in the center of the plate ; nor the sky line 

 half way up the plate. These are 2 well- 

 worn art rules. 



They are so far correct that in 99 cases 

 out of 100 the final picture of a pictorial 

 worker follows them more or less closely. 

 Yet if you were present when the worker 

 was composing his picture on the ground 

 glass, I think you would often find him 

 wilaiy transgressing these laws. An al- 

 most safer law for the beginner would be : 

 Get in as much as you think advisable on 

 your screen, as much sky and as much 

 foreground as you think you may possibly 

 need. In fact, take in rather more than 

 you will need. Allow plenty of margin 

 around the edge of your future picture. 

 Compose only as far as the main objects 

 and the general motif are concerned. Leave 

 questions of shape and size till later. 



The view on the ground glass screen 

 should merely be the egg of the final pic- 

 ture. It is a work of art in embryo. The 

 real business of polishing it up, of toning 

 down, of adding final touches, of cutting 

 out what is not wanted, and so on, comes 

 only with the trial proofs. Each print 

 should be carefully considered, carefully 

 cut, carefully sunned. This, after all, is the 

 true composing. 



The trimming knife is, in the hands of 

 the skilled worker, the most useful aid to 

 composition in existence. Ruthlessly cut 

 away everything that is not absolutely 

 necessary, that does not contribute some 

 real help, to the tout ensemble. Do not be 

 afraid to make your print small, or of an 

 odd shape. Narrow prints, upright or hori- 

 zontal, are often highly effective; but do 

 not be pinned down to one style. Let each 

 picture be just the right shape for itself, 



PROTECT YOUR LENSES. 

 Few photographers realize the care taken 

 in the manufacture of a first-class lens. 

 There is scarcely an industry in which the 

 standard of workmanship is so high; yet a 

 lens, when it reaches the photographer, 

 frequently receives no more attention than 

 any other portion of his outfit. After many 

 years' use, the surface of a lens, with or- 

 dinary care, should be in as good condi- 

 tion as when the instrument left the op- 

 tician's hands; but how many do we see 

 free from scratches, or from blemishes? 

 The durability of a lens was forcibly im- 

 pressed on my mind recently by seeing one 

 the surfaces of which were in perfect con- 

 dition, although the lens had been in use 

 10 or 12 years. If lenses are left attached 

 to the camera, keep them capped when not 

 in use. If taken for use out of doors, carry 

 them in a substantial leather case. Clean 

 your lenses periodically and keep them in 

 a dry place, where the temperature is even. 

 To clean the lenses, unscrew them from the 

 tube and carefully dust them with a camel's 

 hair mop ; then moisten the corner of a 

 perfectly clean old linen duster with 

 methylated spirit, and, after wiping each 

 surface, rub it quite dry and polish it with 

 the other end of the duster, folded into a 

 small pad. The chief thing to avoid is the 

 rubbing of any dust or grit on the surface 

 of the lens and thus scratching it. It is, 

 therefore, recommended that each surface 

 should be dusted with the brush, and that 

 only well washed, soft linen rag should be 

 used for the polishing cloth. Dust the 

 lenses again before returning them to the 

 tube. They should be screwed well home, 

 but not too tightly, or the lens may suffer. 

 ■ — The British Journal Photographic Al- 

 manac. 



ON EXPOSURE. 



I wonder how many amateurs ever made 

 a calculation of the latitude their instru- 

 ment gives > them in the matter of exposure 

 when making snap shots. 



Take the case of an ordinary lens and shut- 

 ter for snap shot work, an ordinary make 

 of plates, a lens working at f/8 to f/64, a 

 shutter with speeds from 1 second to 

 i-iooth second, and, say, Cramer plates, 

 ordinary to special rapid, and I think it will 

 surprise many amateurs to know that the 

 greatest possible snap shot exposure with 

 these combinations is 38,400 times the least 

 possible. 



This takes no account of the light, the 

 other great factor in exposure calculations, 



