DRIFTING STORM CLOUDS.
W. THOMAS.
DEVELOPMENT.
This part of the work of producing an enlargement will only be lightly dealt with, as the subject is fully treated elsewhere in this volume. The writer prefers the ferrous-oxalate developer for bromide enlargements to any of the more recently introduced developers, but as it requires more skill and judgment to employ it with complete success, beginners may find it better to use amidol or metol, either of which when properly used gives excellent results. Hydrokinone we do not recommend for this purpose owing to its tendency to give rusty blacks in the event of over-exposure, or undue hardness if it has been too short. With amidol a pure delicate black is easily obtainable, and it is moreover a very simple developer to use. Our own plan is to employ a weak solution and give a full exposure, and by these means we find no difficulty in obtaining good gradation and pure blacks. The dish used for development must not be used for other developers or stains will probably occur. Although a quick appearance of the image is usually a characteristic of amidol, no trouble will be experienced when the developer is used in the way we advise, for the picture will be found to develop slowly and regularly, and gradually grow in strength. Quick development by this method would be an indication of over-exposure. A correctly exposed enlargement should take about ten minutes to develop. One stock solution only is necessary. It will keep indefinitely.
| Sulphite of soda | 1 | ounce. |
| Citric acid | 20 | grains. |
| Distilled water | 40 | ounces. |
| Potassium bromide | 15 | grains. |
To each ounce of the above add, just before using, three grains of dry amidol. The exposure must be accurately timed. It is, however, impossible to give useful information on this head, unless such varying factors as the rapidity of the paper, the intensity of the light, the aperture of the lens, and the degree of enlargement are known. The best plan is to cut one of the sheets of bromide paper into twelve strips, and on these make several test exposures, carefully noting the duration of each. It is better (at any rate for a beginner) not to vary the constituents or strength of the developer, but to increase or diminish the exposure until a good result in colour and tonality is obtained. By entering full details relating to the production of a successful enlargement in a notebook, great exactitude in working will be obtained, and there need be little or no waste of material when additional enlargements have to be made from the same negatives at a future time.
A glass dish, though expensive, is very suitable for developing, for being flat-bottomed a minimum of solution can be used, and moreover if the dish should be dirty, the fact is at once apparent. The exposed paper should be soaked in water for a few minutes until uniformly wetted, and any air-bells removed with a camel-hair brush. The water is then poured off, and the developer applied in an even wave, so that the whole of the paper is covered uniformly and quickly. The image will appear slowly, and gradually gain in detail. When all the detail has appeared it may still appear lacking in vigour and contrast, but this will come if sufficient time be allowed. Development should not be stopped until the print is of the full strength required, but it is not advisable to allow it to become much darker than it is desired to appear when finished, because there is very little loss of strength in the fixing bath.