7« 



RECREATION. 



nearly the right exposure 9 times out of 

 10; but the image on the ground glass is 

 deceptive, and there is an endless variety 

 of subjects where the most expert photog- 

 rapher is puzzled, and hardly knows what 

 exposure to give. 



For example, dimly lit landscapes under 

 trees; autumn foliage with non-actinic red, 

 brown, yellow and dark green leaves; 

 heavy black foregrounds with well lit dis- 

 tances, need all the latitude possible, and 

 there is where the advantage of the slow 

 plate comes in. In doubtful cases like those 

 mentioned, a full exposure may be given, 

 and 5 or even io seconds will not prevent 

 a good negative from being obtained; 

 while with a rapid plate a difference of 2 

 or 3 seconds may ruin the resulting nega- 

 tive, tor it is almost impossible to get any- 

 thing but a flat picture from an over ex- 

 posed rapid plate. 



In development, a slow plate will stand 

 more variation and rougher treatment 

 without fogging. It is more easily re- 

 strained, and can be forced without losing 

 its printing cpialities. to an extent that 

 would be the total ruin of a rapid plate. 

 The greater intensity of a slow plate al- 

 lows one to use a dilute developer, thus 

 keeping the plate under perfect control 

 and saving many negatives that would 

 otherwise be lost through over exposure. 

 With a rapid plate no such treatment is 

 allowable, and over exposure can not be 

 corrected by diluting the developer, as the 

 resulting image will be flat, thin and worth- 

 less for printing without intensification. 

 Such a plate can only be saved by the ad- 

 dition of plenty of bromide from the begin- 

 ning. Even then it is necessary to vary 

 the component parts of the developer so 

 often that the whole process becomes per- 

 plexing and uncertain. My advice there- 

 fore is, use a slow plate for landscape 

 work, give generous exposure and dilute 

 your developer. 



Settle on one formula for developer. I 

 say in all confidence there is nothing like 

 pyro. In papers there should be a little 

 more range, but I would not use gelatine 

 for anything except to save more expen- 

 sive papers in testing new negatives. The 

 different degrees of roughness in the matt 

 surface papers adapt themselves well to 

 varying effects, and as a rule one manu- 

 facturer puts out all of them. For an all 

 around paper I prefer Aristo_ Platino. 

 After much experience in handling that 

 paper it seems to me that each time I use 

 it I get better results. A volume might be 

 written about the proper printing of Aristo 

 Platino to get the full beauty of the paper 

 with negatives of different density, and yet 

 another about the variations of toning. 



Beautiful effects may be obtained by 

 those liking sepia prints by printing one 

 shade darker than the finished picture is 



desired, toning, then omitting the platinum 

 bath and fixing in a solution of hypo, one 

 ounce to 20 of water, for 20 minutes. These 

 brown prints turn yellow if the hypo is too 

 strong, so weaken the bath and leave in 

 longer. 



The only way to master your diaphragm 

 is to burn a few boxes of plates in experi- 

 menting. Select a good view, take it wide 

 open until you get your focus and time 

 right, and then set your diaphragm at the 

 first stop. This will shut off, say, % of your 

 light and will, therefore, be 4 times as slow 

 as wide open. If you used Y^ a second 

 wude, multiply by 4 and it will give you ap- 

 proximately the time to use at the first 

 i-top. The more you shut off your light, 

 lessening the diaphragm, the longer time 

 } ou must give your exposure. To learn 

 just how much light to stop off and what 

 length of exposure to give under varying 

 conditions is the secret of the diaphragm. 

 It must be mastered before there can be 

 even a modicum of success. As a rule, 

 wide open for snaps, and a mastery of 

 stops 16 and 32 are all that will be re- 

 quired for common work. Much may be 

 done toward finding the proper stop to 

 use by focusing on a landscape and then 

 watching the picture on the ground glass 

 while you lessen the diaphragm. When 

 you begin to lose definition at the corners 

 of the glass your stop must not be les- 

 sened. You can then calculate your time 

 on the quantity of light you have shut off. 



As to composition, waste less money on 

 practicing, in reality throwing away plates 

 and paper, and get some good books. 

 "Robinson's Elements of a Pictorial Pho- 

 tograph" would be a boon to any amateur. 

 There are some elements of composition a 

 picture must have. There must be a fore- 

 ground, a background and a middle dis- 

 tance. There must be high lights, half 

 tones and shadows. There must be an ef- 

 fect of atmosphere, breadth and spon- 

 taneity. There must not be either sky or 

 water of wdiite paper. There must not be 

 anything to make either a vertical or a 

 horizontal line across the middle of a pic- 

 ture to divide it into sections. If you have 

 a mass of trees, rocks or a building on the 

 left, there should be something on the 

 right to preserve balance. This is espe- 

 cially true of pictures introducing water. 

 If you take a group of trees and an object 

 on a left bank, and instead of balancing it 

 with a bit of trees and bank on the op- 

 posite side, you simply let that part of the 

 picture and the foreground run off into 

 water, you ruin your effect and lose your 

 opportunity and plate. 



The question of clouds is a bug-a-boo. 

 Some photographers recommend iso-chro- 

 matic plates and a long exposure; some 

 make 2 exposures, snapping the clouds and 

 timing the landscape, and printing from 



