So many of our new members have written asking how lantern slides are made, and what is required for an outfit, that we publish another paper on the subject.
Most young amateurs have an idea that it requires a great deal of skill to make lantern slides, but any one who can make a good negative can soon learn how to make a good lantern slide. The simplest way is by contact-printing. Select a negative free from spots, scratches, or pinholes. It must have fine detail in the shadows, and no harsh contrasts of light and shade. The regulation size of a lantern slide is 3½ by 4, so choose a negative which will still make a good picture if all but the portion included in these dimensions is blocked out. Cover the part of the negative which is to be blocked out with needle-paper, or paint it with non-actinic paint, applying it to the glass side of the negative. The negative is placed in a printing-frame, and then by a red light, the slide is placed over the part to be printed from, the film side toward the negative.
If one has a lantern the light of which is suitable for printing lantern slides, cover the negative, open the door of the lantern, and then holding the printing-frame about fifteen inches from the light, expose from five to twenty seconds, according to the density of the plate. A plate that prints quickly will need but five or eight seconds, but a denser plate will require a much longer exposure, often as long as thirty seconds. Cover the plate as soon as it is printed, close the lantern, remove the slide from the frame, and place it face up in the developing-tray. Turn the developer over it quickly, taking care that the whole surface of the plate is covered immediately. Any developer that makes good negatives will make good lantern slides. A weak developer is to be preferred to one which brings out the image quickly. Develop till the detail is well out, wash and fix same as a negative.
As every imperfection in a plate is magnified many times when thrown on the screen, great care must be taken in the developing, fixing, washing, and drying. When the slides are washed enough, take a piece of clean surgeon's cotton and wash the film very gently, then place to dry where no dust will settle on the surface.
If there are any spots on the plate after washing and before drying, they may be removed with ferricyanide of potassium in solution. Tie a small piece of surgeon's cotton to the end of a glass rod, dip it into the solution, and touch the spot very lightly. Rinse the plate at once, and if the spot has not entirely disappeared, repeat the operation. The ferricyanide works very quickly, and must be rinsed off as soon as applied.
Negatives which are too large for contact-printing are made into lantern slides by the process known as reduction, directions for which will be given again if requested.
The making of lantern slides is one of the most fascinating branches of photography, and the work is specially appropriate for winter, both in making the slides and showing them with the lantern.
FIRST PRIZE, JUNIOR COMPETITION, LANDSCAPES.
By Anton H. Schefer, New York, N. Y.
