AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



161 



alcohol and hyposulphate of soda. Dis- 

 solve the ounce of silver in 10 ounces of 

 distilled or of pure rain water. Set solution 

 in the sun for an hour or so, filter, and 

 add iodide of potassium c. p., 2 grains, or 

 you may, as some direct, coat a plate with 

 collodion and leave it in your bath several 

 hours. I, however, prefer the addition of 

 the iodide by dissolving the quantity named 

 in 1 ounce of the silver solution, and adding 

 it to the bath. Filter again, and add just 

 enough nitric acid, c. p., to slightly acidu- 

 late, as determined by the use of blue lit- 

 mus paper. The bath is now ready. By all 

 means buy collodion ready made ; it is far 

 better and cheaper than any you could 

 make. 



To make the developing solution : Take 

 1 pint rain water, or distilled, dissolve in 

 it 1 ounce sulphate of iron. When dis- 

 solved add 1 to 1^2 ounces acetic acid, 

 shaking occasionally. This is your de- 

 veloper for making negatives. 



Albumenizing the plate : Get some clear 

 glass, 4x5, or any size you want. You can 

 get old negatives and put them into pre- 

 pared lye over night. Then, with plenty of 

 warm water and a stick, remove gelatinous 

 coating, rinse and place them for several 

 hours in a bath of equal parts of commer- 

 cial nitric acid and water. Then wash 

 thoroughly. Be careful not to get the 

 nitric acid mixture on the fingers, as it is 

 corrosive. Having washed the glass plates 

 put them in a rack to dry. Polish with a 

 bit of washed velveteen or cotton batting 

 moistened with alcohol. 



You would best albumenize your plates ; 

 it makes better work, and you will not be 

 so apt to wash off the film in subsequent 

 operations. To do this, shake up the white 

 of an egg in a pint of pure water, and let 

 it stand in the bottle an hour or so. Filter 

 carefully, and add aqua ammonia until the 

 odor of the latter is perceptible. This pre- 

 serves the albumen and makes it clear. 

 Take a piece of glass about 2x6 inches, 

 fasten to one end a layer of Canton flan- 

 nel, previously boiled in water. Dip this 

 brush in the prepared albumen, and stroke 

 the plate carefully with it. Pour on a little 

 more albumen and flow it back and forth 

 over the plate to get an even coating. 

 Drain and stand in rack to dry in a warm 

 place. Prepare a lot of plates and put them 

 in a box to keep. You can tell the albu- 

 menized side by breathing on the plate ; 

 the glass side will show moisture, the other 

 will not. 



To sensitize the plates : Hold a plate 

 albumen side up and pour collodion in a 

 little pool on its center. Incline the plate 

 so collodion will flow first to lower left 

 corner, then to upper left corner, upper 

 right corner and lower right corner. To 

 avoid ridges, incline the plate and rock it 

 steadily while collodion is draining from 



lower edge into the bottle. Then hold 

 plate level and move it up and down until 

 film has set. To test this, touch the lower 

 corner. When your finger leaves an im- 

 pression without stickiness, the film is 

 tacky. Then lower it steadily and rapidly 

 into the silver bath. Let it remain until 

 you see on raising it that all greasy appear- 

 ance has gone and the film is cream colored 

 and smooth. This usually takes 3 to 4 

 minutes. 



Put the plate in a funnel to drain a few 

 second; then put it in a plate holder and 

 expose in camera. Exposure must be cor- 

 rectly timed. Flow plate with developing 

 solution; don't let any run from a glass if 

 you can help it, and keep solution moving 

 evenly on the plate. Be sure to get picture 

 sufficiently dense. Wash with care, and put 

 into a solution of hyposulphate of soda, 

 either saturated or 1 to 5 of water,. After 

 fixing, and washing, put away to dry. 



You will find your plates will often re- 

 quire intensification of the image. To do 

 this .you must redevelop. Wash the plate 

 and flow it quickly with the following 

 solution: Nitrate of silver, 36 grains; rain 

 water, 30 ounces. Pour off excess of this 

 solution and cover plate with fresh de- 

 veloper. This will usually make the shad- 

 ows opaque enough for printing. 



Or, after fixing and washing the plate, 

 place it in a strong solution of sulphuret 

 of potassium until it turns a bluish black. 

 Make the solution by adding potassium to 

 pure water until it is of a dark sherry 

 color. After you have used the bath some 

 time and find your developer works greasy 

 on the film, add a little alcohol, say i l / 2 

 ounces to the pint, or add a little to the 

 solution in the egg cup which you use in 

 flowing the plate. 



TAKE SOME LESSONS. 



I am glad to see the photo department of 

 Recreation grow. The most practical thing 

 for an amateur to do on first receirin^ 

 his camera is to go to some professional 

 photographer, or some amateur who is 

 thoroughly familiar with the manipulation 

 of cameras, and who understands develop- 

 ing and get his advice. If you try to do 

 your own developing unaided or by follow- 

 ing the instructions sent out by the manu- 

 facturers of cameras, you will meet chiefly 

 with failures. You may accidentally get one 

 good negative out of every dozen plates, 

 but if you continue in that way you will 

 need to be backed by the Bank of Eng- 

 land. 



When I bought my camera it was accom- 

 panied by a book of instructions which I 

 followed with the faithfulness of ignorance. 

 The result was I did not get one good neg- 

 ative out of 24 plates. I wasted many 

 plates and supplies in vain experiments. 

 Then I tried having my plates developed 



