320 



RECREATION. 



AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



" For sport the lens is better than the gun. " 

 / wish to make this department of the utmost 

 use to amateurs. I shall, therefore, be glad to 

 answer any questions and to print any items sent 

 me by practical amateurs relating to their experi- 

 ence in photography. 



A RAPID METHOD OF PRINTING DEVEL- 

 OPING PAPERS. 



Those who are accustomed to using Ve- 

 lox, Cyko and other papers which are print- 

 ed by artificial light, and those who make 

 blue prints, have doubtless often been an- 

 noyed by the necessity of testing each new 

 negative with several strips of printing pa- 

 per in order to determine the proper ex- 

 posure. This means not only loss of time, 

 but a loss of paper and developer, which in 

 the long run amounts to considerable. By 

 means of a simple device, and with the aid 

 of a table or chart, I find I can now either 

 operate several frames at once, or keep one 

 frame constantly printing before the light 

 and carry on development, trimming, wash- 

 ing, etc., at the same time. 



The device shown in Figure I is merely a 



FIGURE I. 



printing frame laid flat on a table. Imme- 

 diately covering it is a loose board, while 

 above the entire device is suspended the or- 

 dinary incandescent electric light, at a dis- 

 tance approximating the diagonal of the 



lowed to continue one minute longer. The 

 part A has thus been exposed 3 minutes, B 

 2 minutes, and C one minute. By develop- 

 ing this strip the operator is able to judge 

 the correct exposure at once. The above 3, 

 2 and one minute exposures are given mere- 

 ly as an illustration. They may be varied 

 to suit the density of the negative or the 

 actinic strength of the light used. The ex- 

 posures may also be increased in number to 

 4, 5 or even more minutes, at the pleasure 

 of the operator. 



On the backs of 5 x 7 frames and larger 

 is found a semi-circle of numbers from 1 

 to 12 inclusive, with a movable pointer, 

 which can be placed at any one of these 

 numbers. To smaller frames such a device 

 is readily attached. To make use of the 

 chart shown in Figure 2 place the pointer 

 on the first frame to be used, at 1. Enter 

 this number in the left column of the chart, 

 and the proposed test in the next column. 

 In the second column from the right jot 

 down the number of prints desired from 

 that particular negative. Make the test 

 exposure, and when the correct time is de- 

 termined, put it down in the column for 

 that purpose. Put in a full sized sheet of 

 paper and start the negative printing. While 

 this one is printing, the second and third 

 frames can be prepared ready to follow 

 the first, putting down their numbers and 

 exposures on the chart as at first. As each 

 print is made, check it off in the right col- 

 umn. In this way one frame may be con- 

 stantly left under the light and during ex- 

 posures the operator has ample time to re- 

 load frames, change negatives, develop 

 prints, etc. He has absolutely nothing to 

 carry in his head except the exposure he is 

 giving the negative under the light. He 

 can pick up any frame out of a dozen, and a 

 glance at the pointer on the back and at the 

 chart will at once tell him the proper ex- 



Negative 

 No. 



Test 



Proper 

 Exposure 



Copies 

 Wanted 



Copies 

 Made 



1 



3 2-1 



2 



4 





2 



6-4-2 



6 



3 





3 



5-4-3 



4K 



2 



1 



4 



1K-1-K 





6 





FIGURE 2. 



printing frame. In the frame are placed 

 the negative and the test-strip; and the 

 cover-board is placed over the frame so as 

 to expose the portion A of the test-strip. 

 This portion is exposed one minute, when 

 the board is withdrawn so as also to ex- 

 pose B. At the end of the second minute 

 the board is removed and the exposure al- 



posure, number of prints desired, and num- 

 ber of prints already made from that par- 

 ticular negative. 



While this process may appear rather 

 cumbersome, a trial will quickly demon- 

 strate its efficiency in saving material and 

 time. 



Wilmon Newell, College Station, Texas. 



