The Barnet Book of Photography: A Collection of Practical Articles

by Various

Fig. 9.

Before leaving this part of the subject it should be noted that in regard to preserving the parallelism of its parts the same care in erecting and fitting up the enlarging lantern must be observed, as was insisted upon in the description of the apparatus for daylight. It will be found convenient, therefore, to mount the lantern on a base similar to that upon which the easel rests, so that both may move on the same rails. The easel described for daylight enlarging will serve equally well for working by artificial light. The complete apparatus is shown at Fig. 9, which is a reproduction from a photograph of the apparatus constructed and used by the writer.

THE NEGATIVE.

In general practice one may find it necessary at times to enlarge from negatives of very dissimilar types, but there is no reason, when the negatives are to be produced with the special object of subsequently making enlargements from them, why care should not be taken to make them of a suitable character. Thin delicate negatives should be enlarged by artificial light; dense, strong ones by daylight. If the negatives are very strong it will be difficult to produce soft and well-graded enlargements with a weak illuminant, the light not being sufficiently intense to properly penetrate the high-lights. A soft and clear negative, with good gradation, fully exposed, and neither exhibiting patches of clear glass shadow devoid of detail, nor of hard impenetrable high-light, will be found most suitable. Fog should be avoided, as also should the yellow stain produced by pyro when improperly used. Not that the pyro developer is unsuitable, for if sufficient sulphite is used, and the quantity of pyro kept down, negatives of very beautiful quality for enlarging purposes may be produced. Great care should be taken to avoid bubbles, stains, scratches, or any kind of mechanical defects, as such when enlarged become painfully obtrusive, and spoil the effect of the best work. It will be found a good plan to bind the edge of the negative before enlarging it with a strip of lantern slide binding, so as to cover the clear glass rebate mark. If this be omitted the margins of the enlargement may become fogged by the lateral spreading action of the light. No hand-work should be attempted on the original negative, for any such treatment will become painfully apparent in the enlargement. If retouching be deemed necessary, it should in the case of a direct enlargement be executed upon the print itself, or upon the enlarged negative or preferably upon the enlarged transparency, when that method of reproduction has been adopted.

DIRECT ENLARGEMENTS.

The following concise instructions for enlarging upon bromide paper will apply equally to the daylight or artificial light methods of working. In the first case the negative is placed in the dark slide of the camera, both shutters being drawn fully out. The camera is then put upon the shelf close up against the opening in the shutter, as shown in Fig. 3, any light creeping in between shutter and camera being blocked out with the focussing cloth. If the enlarging lantern is used the negative will be placed in the carrier, just in the same way as a lantern slide, with the film side towards the enlarging lens. Now the first difficulty that will be experienced will be to get the enlarged image of the required size. It will be well to content ourselves at the outset with a moderate degree of enlargement, say from ¼ plate to 12 × 10, and when proficiency is acquired, larger sizes can be attempted. At first we shall probably not succeed in getting any image at all. In adjusting the various parts of the apparatus we shall find the work easier if we remember that the nearer we place the lens to the negative the further will it be necessary to move the easel from the lens, and the greater will be the enlargement. A useful table of enlargements will be found in the "British Journal Almanac," showing the distance of lens from negative, and negative from paper, for almost any required degree of amplification.

Now it will be found much easier to focus the enlarged image by looking at it through a piece of finely ground glass, than by receiving it on a piece of card or paper, and the adoption of the easel plan of focussing previously described will enable this to be done. The ground surface of the glass (which must be of the same thickness as the piece behind which the paper is to be exposed) should be away from the lens and towards the person focussing, when it is placed in the carrier of the easel, it being retained in position with the spring S., Fig. 2. Focussing must be carefully performed, and is effected by sliding the easel to and fro upon the runners, and which should have been previously rubbed with blacklead.

Bromide paper is made in several varieties, such as smooth, rough, snow-enamel, cream crayon, etc., and is put up either in tubes, or packed flat. The latter is decidedly the more convenient, it being somewhat difficult to take the curl out of paper that has been rolled. The choice of paper is a matter of taste; for landscape work the rough paper or the cream crayon will perhaps be found most suitable. For finer work, and some classes of portraiture the enamel will prove effective. Rough paper is better for strong broad effects, smooth for more delicate work and the rendering of fine detail. The coated side may be distinguished by its tendency to curl inwards. The easiest way of exposing it is to procure two pieces of patent plate glass of the same thickness as the focussing glass, sandwich the sheet of paper between the two, and secure with strong elastic bands. This will hold it quite flat during exposure, and will not disturb the actinism of the lens or impair the definition of the enlargement.