Landscapes commonly reveal over-exposure of the sky or inadequate exposure of the ground and objects, because the amounts of light emitted by these respective portions differ so much. To obviate this difficulty an early photograph worker devised, and indeed used, the arrangement of a circular aperture before the lens, slanting so that it might not admit such large parallels of light from the sky as from the ground portion. The device is more easily understood from the accompanying sketch ([Fig. 10]).
Fig. 11.—A method of securing “modeling” in portraiture.
The portrait hunter should rejoice to realize that, by judicious procedure, persons of the coarsest complexion may be flattered in their likenesses. Not the least valuable dodge is to render freckles and red blotches invisible by the use of orthochromatic plates, and, if necessary, a yellow screen, which articles prevent the pink skin from securing any advantage over the insular blotches in point of actinic light value.
A supplementary method of securing pleasant portrait effects is to mount a disc of cardboard (A, [Fig. 11]), round whose edge holes of various sizes from 1⁄4 to 5⁄8-inch diameter and about 1⁄2-inch apart are cut (B, [Fig. 11]), in front of the camera on a spindle (C, [Fig. 11]) as shown. Any one of the holes should be adjustable exactly in front of the lens, and the mode of usage is to spin the card disc rapidly whilst the exposure is being given. This should, of course, be proportionately longer than usual.
Novel Results
Excellent imitations of crayon pictures are to be produced by taking the required photograph through a negative screen, which has been made by copying to equal size or slight reduction, a piece of rough drawing-paper rubbed evenly with charcoal. It is employable in two ways, either by keeping it in contact with the sensitive plate in the dark slide whilst the photograph is being taken—a slightly longer exposure being given—or else holding it in the frame on the opposite side of the negative to the sensitive paper during printing, which is conducted in the sunshine.
By systems of double or triple printing, all manner of novel results are obtainable. The only difficulty presented in this work is that of correct registration, but if printing paper—the most usual medium—be employed, this should not be insurmountable even at the first trial. As a first instance of these compositions, suppose out of black paper 4 inches by 6 inches, a piece be removed the shape of the negative portion required, and this mask be used to print through on to a sensitized postcard. The black shape removed should have been gummed on to tissue paper and this used, after the picture portion has been secured, to print a border—showing the grain of the translucent paper—around the photograph.
For a second, and last, example of triple printing, proceed by first preparing the negative of a picture frame, in which, however, an ordinary plain canvas surface has superseded the work of art. The idea is then, by multiple printing, to introduce a camera view into this frame image, and so make the result resemble the copy of another painting.
Cut a black paper mask with an aperture the exact size of the canvas image in the frame negative, and through this mask print the photograph required a shade lighter than usual. Then substitute the frame negative, and, with the same mask in place, secure a slight record of the inner canvas image over the photograph already printed. This gives the requisite oil painting effect. Lastly the piece of black paper, originally removed to form the mask, is fixed over the canvas image of the frame negative and the sensitive paper replaced in position, so that registration and printing of the frame periphery is secured. Then toning and fixing ensue, and the “fraud” is complete.