AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



243 



The edict has gone forth that tripod cam- 

 eras must pay a daily fee of 25 francs, and 

 be taken from the grounds an hour after 

 noon. Hand cameras, no matter what 

 size, make or style, may enter free and stay 

 all day. 



This is offering a premium on snap 

 shots. Almost everyone, to avoid the ex- 

 tortionate fee, $4.75, for an hour over a 

 half day, and in a place where all bills ap- 

 proximate highway robbery, will be forced 

 to carry a hand camera. This entails the 

 distortions of fixed focus or the monstrosi- 

 ties of snap shots, and in most cases, of 

 both. It will render interior work practi- 

 cally impossible, and outdoor work will be 

 the usual undertimed black and white af- 

 fairs. 



It is amusing to note how many photos 

 used for illustrated magazine and news- 

 paper articles are labeled "Copyrighted." 

 One wonders why. What could have 

 been the necessity for taking all that trou- 

 ble? 



Of course if you are putting a picture on 

 the market and copyright it to protect it, 

 all very well ; but why copyright photos 

 just for the pleasure of seeing the word 

 printed with them. As each person copy- 

 rights his own pictures, it is not an indica- 

 tion of merit. It simply means that the pro- 

 ducer thinks his own work good. No one 

 would ever dream of reproducing these il- 

 lustrations. One of the July magazines 

 contains an article illustrated by copy- 

 righted photos, and if Dr. John Nicol or 

 Edward Newcomb were sitting in judg- 

 ment on them he would pronounce the 

 entire lot under exposed. 



One of the most exacting tests to which 

 an Eastman Kodak was ever put was re- 

 cently made by Mr. Karl McFadden, of 

 Chicago, the American manager of a Lon- 

 don oil syndicate. Mr. McFadden carried 

 a 4x5 extension front camera on a trip from 

 New York to Florida and the West Indies. 

 He exposed 27 rolls of the dozen roll film 

 and had in the whole lot less than ]/ 2 dozen 

 unprintable negatives. Mr. McFadden is 

 an inventor and a master in mechanical 

 pursuits. The Kodak did its best in his 

 hands, but to even approximate such work 

 would be miraculous for one less gifted 

 along these lines. When one considers the 

 difficulty of a photographer's work in 

 traveling, the lack of time, the motion of 

 boats and cars, shifting lights, tropical 

 climate, etc., this seems surely a phenome- 

 nal record. 



I have seen cameras and kodaks of all 

 shapes and sizes, and in every conceivable 

 condition, I had thought, yet recently I 

 ran on to one that capped the climax. 

 Just a peep of black strap and a buckle 

 caught my eye. I thrust my tripod through 



and hauled forth from the weeds and 

 bushes a sole leather case, some 6x8x10, 

 simply reeking with crude oil, and it 

 smelled to heaven. I could not touch it 

 without soiling my fingers. It looked so 

 like a camera case I couldn't resist the 

 temptation. I knelt and gingerly snapped 

 the clasp. Shade of Daguerre! It was a 

 beautiful Korona camera, almost as oily as 

 the case. I carefully put it back, but I'd 

 give something to know if the lens and in- 

 terior were as oily as the case and camera, 

 and if a photograph could actually be taken 

 with it. 



If you are working in earnest, never set 

 foot outside your door without your cam- 

 era. If you do you will regret it. Make it 

 as much of a rule to pick up your camera 

 as to put on your hat. So fixed has the 

 habit become with me that the Deacon is 

 telling I started to a funeral recently and 

 then turned back and picked up my cam- 

 era. I don't recall the circumstance, but I 

 was taught by bitter experience to take a 

 camera, for I lost on one occasion the 

 rarest fishing picture I ever saw. There 

 was no reason why I should not have had 

 it except that I didn't think I should need 

 a camera, so I took none. On another oc- 

 casion I lost a bird picture fully as rare as 

 the first prize winner in the last Recrea- 

 tion contest. Now when I go the camera 

 goes. 



Broadcloth may be good for a focusing 

 cloth, but I shall stick to my old rubber 

 one for a time yet. It serves 50 purposes 

 besides the original one. It is good to 

 spread over a wet boat seat, or on a damp 

 spot to sit while you wait to make an ex- 

 posure with a set camera. It is good in a 

 sudden rain storm to protect your shoul- 

 ders as well as the camera. It is good to 

 carry home your trophies of forest and 

 stream in. And sometimes, when a shorn 

 and a braided head are watching the 

 ground glass under it, and landscapes shift 

 to fleeting glimpses of glory, it is good to 

 cover what happens there. 



It is amusing to see the professionals 

 painting over their skylights, drawing cur- 

 tains, stopping down lenses and seeking 

 after amateur effects. If you don't believe 

 they do so, study the last photograph of 

 Cissie Loftus, by Hall, and see for your- 

 self if it has not the ear marks of amateur 

 effects all over it. 



BLUE TRANSPARENCIES FORMULA E 

 Pyro Developer.— No. 1 Alkaline Solu- 



tion: 



Pure water 80 oz. fluid. 



Sulphate of soda (crys.) ... 6 oz. troy. 

 Carbonate of soda (crys.) . 6 oz. troy. 



