5M 



RECREATION. 



dark current between banks of willows 

 drooping with fringed whiteness, and life- 

 less edges sparking with delicate frosty 

 lacework, or stretches from bank to bank- 

 in glittering, icy sheen. There is beauty 

 in the forests. Never do trees seem to me 

 so large, so stately, so grandly majestic as 

 when they stand stripped and bare, their 

 branches outlined against the sky in fan- 

 ciful frost tracery and snow decoration. 

 Foliage can not compare with it in artistic 

 beauty for photographic purposes. 



The smaller trees and bushes, weighted 

 with their burden of heavenly whiteness; 

 bronzed and red leaves peeping through 

 fche green of pines, laurel and other winter 

 shrubbery, furnish tempting subjects. 

 There are fence corners and brush heaps 

 piled high with drifted leaves, whitened 

 with the snow, pencilled with frost, housing 

 Bob Whites and ruffed grouse. 



The cardinal, the jay, the squirrels and 

 the rabbits are abroad. These latter call to 

 the hunter, and with dogs to heel he goes 

 plowing the snow. Lucky is the amateur 

 who secures a choice bit of winter land- 

 scape wiu. a rationally dressed ^unter and 

 dogs for his life study. The trapper, kneel- 

 ing by his traps; the farmer chopping a 

 hole in the ice-covered river for his cattle 

 to drink; the quaint old people who live 

 in cabins along the river banks; are sub- 

 jects that would have made Corot's mouth 

 water. There are the cutters geting out a 

 summer's supply of ice. Skating parties 

 work in well for figures in a winter river 

 picture. What would you want better for 

 the life of a winter landscape than a muf- 

 fled old farmer hauling home a sled load of 

 icy, moss-covered backlogs? An old mill, 

 picturesque in summer, is even more so in 

 winter. 



There is good material for Salon pic- 

 tures about a barn in the winter. Try the 

 brimming, ice-covered water trough when 

 the cattle come to drink and with great 

 velvety eyes and dripping jaws bellow 

 complainingly over the coldness of the 

 water. Sheep are always good. They are 

 never better than when huddled on the 

 South side of the straw stack on a frosty 

 winter day. There is the old farm team, 

 standing lazily with crossed necks in the 

 sunshine. Focus so the hair will show. 

 Don't be afraid to experiment some on 

 good horse studies. There are no spots 

 photographically available in summer, that 

 are not equally or more so in winter. 



I have been using Solio developing pa- 

 per and have also tried Aristo self toning. 

 The latter curls badly in toning and fix- 

 ing. Even if kept flat in fixing, it curls in 

 the washing. Unless it has constant at- 

 tention it can not be washed thoroughly. 

 I want to try Aristo Platino, but as it is a 



collodion paper, like the self toning, am 

 afraid it also will curl. Can this curling 

 be prevented? If so, how? 



H. R. Pfaff, Jennings, Ala. 



ANSWER. 



To prevent curling cover the bottom of 

 the tray with ]/ 4 inch of water and lay the 

 prints in so they are flat on the bottom 

 and scattered about on top of one another. 

 When all are in, press into a solid mass and 

 stand the tray on edge 15 minutes. Wash 

 in all the water you please and the prints 

 will not, usually, curl, in either wash water 

 or subsequent baths. — Editor. 



Will you please give me a formula, metol 

 hydro preferred, that will produce contrasts 

 in negatives. What ingredients are used 

 for that purpose? For some reason I do 

 not get sufficient contrast in my negatives. 

 They are inclined to be flat. 



A. R. Sedgley, Wakefield, Mass. 



ANSWER. 



Use the formula you now use or the one 

 given for your plates. The plate maker 

 will be glad to furnish you the formula 

 best suited to his plates. To get contrast 

 soak the plates 2 minutes in the following 

 bath before developing, and if at any time 

 during developing more contrast is needed 

 repeat the process. The bath may be kept 

 and used many times. 



Water 8 oz. 



Bromide of Potash % oz. 



— Editor. 



A yearly subscription to Recreation is 

 one of the most practicable and useful 

 Christmas presents you could possibly give 

 a man or a boy who is interested in nature 

 study, fishing, hunting, or amateur pho- 

 tography. 



All boys instinctively love the woods. 

 Recreation teaches them to love and to 

 study the birds and the animals to be 

 found there. If you would have your son, 

 your brother, your husband, or your sweet- 

 heart interested in nature let him read 

 Recreation. It costs only $1 a year, and 

 would make him happy 12 times in a year. 



A Wizard camera is a never failing 

 source of pleasure and profit. You can 

 earn one in a day by sending me 15 sub- 

 scriptions to Recreation. This is the 

 time to get them and be prepared for my 

 next photo competition. 



For 10 subscriptions you can earn an 

 excellent camera; for 15 a better one; for 

 25 a still better. You can get these sub- 

 scriptions any winter evening. 



