Aug. 27, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
335 
Sportsmen’s Cameras.—VI. 
The subject of exposure is too broad to be 
treated here save in the briefest manner. 
Furthermore, there are booklets to be had. for 
the asking' which give far wiser advice than I am 
capable of imparting, so I will confine my re¬ 
marks to a few hints that sportsmen may find 
useful in their particular line. 
I was very proud of the first bulb-actuated 
shutter that came into my possession. It was a 
new toy, as I regard it now, but then it was a 
very important accessory to a folding camera 
whose lens was an excellent one. This shutter 
was the one-time famous iris diaphragm shutter. 
It could be set in a multiplicity of ways, just as 
the stop could be adjusted to any size smaller than 
fuy opening. The dealer took considerable pains 
to impress this on my mind. At that time I con¬ 
sidered that he was helping me; now I know 
expose for the shadows and let the high lights 
take care of themselves. 
On the water, when the light was strong I 
found I could get the best results with F 32 stop 
and one-hundredth speed, and sometimes I 
stopped the lens away down and used the two- 
or three-second exposure, but preferred instead 
to make time exposures. 
That old shutter was a good one in its day, 
and a trifle better than many of the ordinary 
shutters sold now; hence I have referred to it as 
an illustration of the novice’s use of between-lens 
shutters. There came a day when it refused 
longer to be overworked, and I sent it to the 
factory for repairs. These and the express 
charges cost $2.80. It must have been a black¬ 
smith who tinkered it, for it balked frequently 
after that. A camera hospital man added $1 
more to what it had cost me, without curing its 
complaint, and about that time, in one of the 
With the reflecting camera it is well to stick 
to one aperture, say the 1 14 -inch for the smaller 
sizes, and the full opening of the lens, until you 
have had time to observe the result. You can 
vary the tension of the curtain spring as you like. 
After that try stopping the lens down. These are 
only a very few of the possibilities of the focal 
plane shutter, but for general work they are 
sufficient. Later on try the ^ 4 -inch slit, with 
tension and diaphragm variations. It is seldom 
necessary to go into more complicated details, 
for these two slits may be worked as slow as 
you like, and a good deal faster than any of the 
between-lens shutters. If the lens be a good 
anastigmat, you can do all ordinary instantaneous 
work with the two slits mentioned and three 
lens stops: full opening, F 16 and F 32, running 
the curtain tension up or down, as seems best. 
The fewer combinations employed the better, and 
it is well to make it a practice to have one good 
DIFFICULT SUBJECTS—NEGATIVES MADE WITH REFLECTING CAMERA. 
White geese against a bright water background. Exposure, 1/370 second; lens stopped down. Geese flying; sky slightly overcast, but light strong. Exposure, 1/1000 second; lens open. 
that he was largely interested in parting me and 
my $18. Naturally, all those stops and speeds 
confused me, but I thought each one would be 
useful on occasion. 
After a part of the glamor of the thing had 
worn off I planned to try it out carefully, and 
after experimenting with a few speeds and stops, 
settled down on the least possible number with 
which I could do the work, and fixed them in 
my mind, so tha.t I would not forget them in a 
moment of haste. One combination was: the 
open lens and a shutter speed of one-fifth second 
for exposures where there were shadows, for 
dull days and the like; increasing to one-twenty- 
fifth, one-fiftieth or even one-hundredth when 
there was motion to overcome or if the light 
was strong. The other combination: F 16 stop 
and one-fifth second, increasing to one-tenth and 
infrequently to one-fiftieth. These were easily re¬ 
membered, for it must be understood that one 
combination was frequently used for a number 
of exposures. I was often surprised to find how 
many exposures were excellent when the full 
opening and slow speed of one-fifth second were 
used; now I know that I was getting away from 
the beginner’s fault of under-exposing nearly all 
plates, and following that time-honored axiom, 
exchanges, I was shown a drawer full of new 
iris diaphragm shutters marked down to $2 each. 
I discarded mine and purchased the latest thing 
in imported shutters, said to work at 1/150 
second. 
This gave excellent satisfaction, save in one 
respect. In making time exposures, in which it 
was set so that one pressure of the bulb was to 
open it and another pressure to close it, it would 
open and close instead, and several plates were 
spoiled before I found what was the trouble. 
Testing it, I found it would close automatically 
about once in five times. I took it back to the 
dealer. He and I both tried it for half an hour; 
it never failed once to work perfectly. I took it 
home and it balked. The camera hospital man 
took it apart, cleaned it and said it worked per¬ 
fectly. It did until I tried it next time, but be¬ 
tween its attacks of nervousness I got good work 
from it, and came to regard it much as the 
farmer did his clock, which had lost a hand— 
familiarity with its faults supplied what it lacked. 
Now and then you may find a shutter that even 
the maker cannot repair properly, but that is a 
part of the uncertainty which lends a charm to 
photography, and the general run of shutters are 
excellent. « 
all-round combination always ready for use. 
When you put the camera away release the ten¬ 
sion on the curtain spring. 
If you ask an old outdoor photographer to 
tell you something about exposure, it is likely he 
will assist you very little. He cannot explain 
why, and will not admit the truth, which is that 
he guesses at stops and speeds. But do not 
imagine that he makes grave mistakes. You 
might call him a good guesser, but fail to givF 
him proper credit. The truth is that while he 
does go by guess, as we say, his actions are 
based on vast experience and the acquirement 
of knowledge by degrees so slow that he comes 
to act unconsciously, without analyzing cause and 
effect. In other words, his knowledge haS been 
absorbed through long experience in the field. 
Ten to one he takes no notes and cannot tell you 
positively what time and speed he employed in 
making a given negative, but do not wager that 
he cannot duplicate it any day. 
To arrive at this stage of success requires 
study, observation and experience. CtVie of the 
best mechanical aids is the exposure meter, which 
registers in a practical way the strength of light, 
so that, taking the light value it gives as a base, 
expressed in seconds, and comparing these figures 
