HOW TO MAKE "DOUBLES."
A photographic operation which gives a great deal of amusement is the making of "doubles." A double photograph is one in which the same person is represented twice, both portraits being taken on the same plate. Doubles are made in the ordinary camera, the only apparatus needed being some device by which either part of the lens or part of the plate-holder is covered. This being done, the person to be photographed takes his position before the camera, half the plate is exposed, and the shutter closed. The subject then changes his position to the opposite side, and the other half of the plate is exposed. When the picture is developed it will look as if made by one exposure.
One way of making doubles is to have a box which will fit the front of the camera so that it will project about three inches beyond the front of the lens. A double door opening exactly in the middle of the box should be fitted to the front of the box. The doors should meet in a close straight line, so that when closed there will not be any danger of light getting into the camera before the plate is exposed. Care must be taken that the doors meet on a line exactly in the middle of the lens, so that when either door is opened only half the lens will be in operation.
Another and simpler way is to cut a plate-holder slide exactly in half, arrange the camera, close the shutter, put in the plate-holder, take out the slide, and slip the half-slide in its place. Make the exposure, take out the half-slide and put in the plate slide, pose the subject for the other half of the picture, and take out the slide and put the half-slide in the holder over the part which has already been exposed.
In arranging for the picture it is more convenient to fix on some line or small object which shall come in the centre of the plate when the exposure is made. The subject to be photographed should stand at least nine or ten inches one side of this central point, for if the drapery of the dress overlaps, the picture will show a blur.
In making the exposure great care must be taken not to move the camera, as if it is moved even the very least bit, a blurred line will appear in the picture showing just where the two exposures join. The focus must not be changed unless a plain background is used. In making the exposures for the two pictures the time of both must be equal. This is more necessary for an exposure made out-of-doors than for one made in the house. If the exposures are unequal in time the negative will be unequal in development, and, as a consequence, half of it will be lighter than the other.
Many interesting and amusing pictures may be made by the means of double photographing. A person may be taken playing checkers or chess with himself, reading to himself, taking his own picture, offering himself something to eat, etc. An amusing picture might be made of a person begging of himself, the first picture being taken in his ordinary walking dress, and the second dressed in ragged clothes and holding out his hat for alms.
AT WAR WITH HIMSELF.
In the accompanying picture the subject is fighting a duel with himself.
Sir Knight Frederick Clapp sends a print, and asks the reason of the spots on the negative from which it is made, and when the next photographic competition is to be conducted. The spots on the negatives which make the print imperfect are caused either by bits of film or dirt in the developer settling on the film, or by air-bubbles forming on the surface of the plate when it is covered with the developer. In either case the developer is prevented from acting on the film, and causes spots which have the effect of halation. Small round holes in the negatives are caused by dust on the plate. The time of the photographic contest has not yet been decided. It will be announced in this column as soon as arrangements are completed.
Sir Knight Calvin Farrar sends a print of the interior of the log cabin built for the recent celebration in Cleveland. Please accept thanks for same.
Sir Knight Richard C. Lord asks for a formula for developer for snap-shots and for time exposures. See answer to Sir Charles Lusenkamp for formula in No. 886. The J. C. tabloids make a fine developer for instantaneous exposures.
"Quad," Pittsburg, Pa., sends a print from a film, and asks what gives it its mottled appearance. As far as one can judge from the blue print, the mottling is due to imperfect fixing, or the film was left too long in the developer without rocking. There is no remedy for the film.
Sir Knight E. D. Ball, Spartansburg, S. C., sends a print, and wishes to know what is the reason of the yellowish-brown color. The trouble is in the toning-bath. Test it with blue litmus-paper. If it turns the litmus-paper red, add enough bicarbonate of soda, a little at a time, until it turns the red color back to blue. Use the bicarbonate of soda in solution.
Edward Bragton, 87 West Thirty-second Street, Bayonne, N. J.; Rachel Kelsey, Baraboo, Wis.; William T. Kelsey, Baraboo, Wis.; J. L. Goodman, 807 Broderick Street, San Francisco, Cal.; H. T. Cooper, 2416 Harriet Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn.; E. Lester Crocker, Tarrytown-on-Hudson, N. Y.; John H. Chamberlain, 6 Franklin Avenue, Dayton, O.; Arthur P. Lazarus, 756 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Cal.; Fred. W. Long, 416 West Adams Street, Muncie, Ind.; Fred. D. Rose, 405 South High Street, Muncie, Ind.; Harry R. Patty, 2533 Michigan Avenue, Los Angeles, Cal.; Wm. H. White, Jun., Pembroke Avenue, Norfolk, Va.; George E. Holt, Moline, Ill., wish to become members of the Camera Club.
Lady Lesley Ashburner, Media, Pa., would like to correspond with members of the Camera Club. Lady Lesley asks for directions for making enlargements, as she did not find it in No. 801, as directed; also how to make ferro-prussiate paper. Look again at No. 801. The article is entitled "Bromide Enlargements." Directions for making ferro-prussiate paper may be found in Nos. 797, 823, and 828.