AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



*39 



water scenes. I like it much; also Tolidol 

 as a developer. I know of 10 photograph- 

 ers who are using Tolidol and they all 

 praise it highly. I have used pyro, metol 

 and hydro, but like Tolidol far better than 

 any of them. Besides it does not stain. 

 Steven Mars, Taunton, Mass, 



SNAP SHOTS. 



Photographic impressions on ivory, suit- 

 able as prints for miniature paintings, can 

 be made by applying the following solution 

 with a brush. 



Silver nitrate 3 grammes 



Nitrate uranium 30 grammes 



Alcohol 100 cubic centimeters 



Distilled water 10 cubic centimeters 



Dry the ivory plate in the dark, and ex- 

 pose in daylight under a negative in a 

 printing frame. After the print is sufficient- 

 ly strong fix in the following: 



Water 100 cubic centimeters 



Nitric acid 5 cubic centimeters 



After which, wash in several changes of 

 pure water, then dry. It is necesary, of 

 course, that the ivory be thoroughly clean, 

 as the slightest fatty or moist spots will 

 give spotted pictures. A good method for 

 cleaning the surface is to scrub it with a 

 common scrubbing brush, using a solution 

 of unslacked lime, after which thoroughly 

 wash and dry. 



I take great interest in your photo de- 

 partment. I have had troubles with my 

 negatives. After they are fixed there are 

 numerous opaque black spots on the film. 

 I sent a negative to Seeds Dry Plate Com- 

 pany and they said the cause of tnis was 

 that somebody had hit my water pipes and 

 knocked off particles of iron. I have no 

 water pipes and I use rain water. Seed 

 should guess again. Do you think the 

 water is the cause or have you had any- 

 thing of this kind happen ? 



O. Denny, Martinsburg, Ind. 



ANSWER. 



It is not unusual to find the little black 

 specks referred to. I have often had them 

 when using plates and films near the sea, 

 and leaving them some time before develop- 



Iment. They may be deposits of iron from 

 pipes, etc., or metallic silver. If the plates 

 are fresh and are developed reasonably 

 soon after exposure you should have no 

 spots. If the spots continue under these 

 conditions the fault must be with your 

 chemicals or methods of development. — 

 Editor. 



nator of hypo; but is both scarce and cost- 

 ly. It is quoted at $4.50 a pound whole- 

 sale. Black silicate paint is excellent for 

 blocking out and adheres to glass beauti- 

 fully. Have used it to label bottles, black- 

 en the inside of a cracker tin, blacken some 

 bright brass, make a pocket slate; and 

 have )4 °f the can left. 



When talking with a friend the other day 

 about the addition of hypo to water having 

 a cooling effect; we wondered how much 

 it cooled it and made the test. We had 

 ordinary tap water at about 74 degrees 

 Fahr. To this we added enough hypo to 

 make a saturated solution and then dropped 

 in the thermometer again. Result, about 60 

 degrees Fahr. No wonder films sometimes 

 blister when transferred from developer 

 to cold hypo. Let the hypo stand some 

 time before using and it will get to normal 

 temperature. — Photo-American. 



Percarbonate of potash is given by sev- 

 eral authorities as a most excellent elimi- 



I would say to G. W. Damon that I do 

 all my printing on Cyko and with a kero- 

 sene lamp. I use glossy and carbon Cyko 

 and find them excellent, the glossy giving 

 fine contrast. I use an ordinary sized lamp 

 and place the printing frames around it; al- 

 lowing % to V/2 minutes according to den- 

 sity of negative. I should advise everybody 

 to leave Dekko alone. It turns brown around 

 the edges after being mounted less than a 

 year, and development can not be forced, 

 as it turns pink. I should like to hear from 

 other readers of Recreation who use 2^ x 

 4% Kodaks if they have any trouble with 

 Eastman film in that size. I have the past 

 year had spots on all Eastman films of that 

 size and none on other films and plates de- 

 veloped in the same developer at the same 

 time. I have shown these spotted negatives 

 to several experts and all say "defective 

 manufacture." 



Phokos, Guelph, Ont. 



Most of our readers may know that there is 

 such a thing as telephotography, and they may be 

 aware of the fact that by simply attaching what 

 seems to be another lens to the camera, the pho- 

 tographer is enabled to bring distant objects 

 within range of the glass. Just as we can see 

 through the telescope distant objects brought ap- 

 parently within our reach, so the camera, with 

 this additional lens, can see and reproduce ob- 

 jects that were hardly visible to the unaided 

 sight. However, the general public evidently 

 knows nothing of this new method of making 

 pictures. An amusing incident, showing the dan- 

 gers of telescopic photography, came under our 

 notice last week. A picnic party on the Blue 

 mountains, out for a day's pleasure, after a time 

 missed 2 of their number, who had wandered 'a 

 wee' on their own account. The photographer of 

 the party, thinking he saw the lovers comfortably 

 seated on a jutting rock, at some distance, ad- 

 justed his telephoto lens, focused the wander- 

 ers, and secured a telltale picture, which would 

 at any time prove a most damaging line of evidence 

 in a subsequent breach of promise case. Picnic 

 parties should beware of telephoto lenses. — Aus- 

 tralian Photographic Review. 



