Camera Craft magazine — part 3 Product booklet

OMith

Process Dorkers

The

By Wr Sranxs

In this Department questions addressed to Camxna Cnarr, regarding photo-engraving,
will be answered with care. Due research will be made wherever it is necessary for a correct
answer. ‘The experiences of printers and engravers are requested, and any suggestions soill
be gladly received. An effort will be made to supply the best information obtainable regarding
the working and development of the three-color process. If you have any unusual experience
with your work or have trouble with your chemicals, worite to The Process Worker, CAMERA

Cnarr,

The Last of the Pioneers of Collodion

‘The death of Frederick York, on December
17, 1904, at the age of 81 years, ended the
career of the last of the pioneers of photog-
raphy, both mechanical and pictorial, Mr.
York died in Bridgewater, England, and in
his youth was one of the first_men who
endeavored to make a cut by photo-mechanical
means, He was a co-worker with Fox Talbot,
who may be said to be the pioneer photo-
engraver. His method is really the one used
today; only now it is perfect. Mr. York
was the man who stood up for collodio
in the days when others were against. it.
His career was most interesting.

Intended for the law, a few months in the
office convinced him that he had no vocation
for the profession, and so the articles were
not signed. He was apprenticed in 1839 to
f chemist. at Bristol. At that time Fox
‘Talbot's discovery attracted general notice,
and Mr. West, of the Observatory at Clifton,

wade photogenic paper, and sold it to chem-
ists to retail at one shilling a packet, Tt
‘was used principally for printing fe
lace, ete, This was his first introduction
to photography. In the winter of 1853, when
residing at Bath, he had severe hemorrhage
from the Tungs, which confined him to the
house for four months. The doctor advised
his going to a warm climate, and he decided
‘on going to the Cape of Good Hope, which
he did the following year. He called on a
friend, Mr. Cogan, of Bath, to have his
portrait taken, and having told him of hi
plans, he suggested his going in for photog:
raphy, and kindly offered him every assist

ance and the use of his studio. Although
Gaguerreotype was then the recognized pro-
cess, his friend was working collodion—in
fact, was one of the pioncers of that pro-
cess, On his arrival at the Cape, in Janu-
ary 1855, he found there was an opening,
‘and he decided on abandoning physie for
photography. The things he took out were
soon used up and could not be replaced for
five months, as there were no st
ning to the Cape at that time, and collodion
Yhere was unknown. Iodide or bromide of
ammonium could not be obtained, ‘The Dutch
ether turned blood-red when iodides were
added, and the spirit of wine was so care:
lessly distilled that it was almost useless.
He had to redistil both ether and spirit,
to make guneotton and the iodides and bro-
mides of ammonium; and nitrate of silver
the made out of Mesican dollars. He mastered
it all, and may be considered the first who
introduced the collodion process into South
Africa, Contrast all this with the facilities
of the present day, and this raises the thought
‘of how few photo-engravers there are, even
those considered master-workmen, who could
do what Mr. York did over half a century
ago.

Beveling Three-Color Blocks

Many printers make complaint that the
bevel on the three-color blocks often inter-
feres with running the plates on the new
patent bases. To make money from three-
color printing it is necessary to run several
plates at the same time, and in order to
get them to register it is necessary to use

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180 CAMERA

the patent bases, A three-color eut made

on the same thickness of copper and beveled
the black

same as one ordinary cut can

Searcely be used on these bases for the reason
that the clamps bend the thin bevel and even
hold it. Th copper
nce the cut erlaid
heavy cardboard. If the photo-engraver
do it he will help the printer and

help himself, if he will put three-color euts

refuse to thin also

bein, with

the also

CRAFT

I was enabled to make the three photographs

which show more than any number of words

can tell the right way

to photograph a painting.

Fading Day,” is
The rich foreground contains

and the wrong way
The picture, which
is entitled almost orang

green in tone

owns, purples and greens, and shades off
into the delicate yellow of the sky. ‘The
white black.

The photographing of every oil painting is

picture contains neither nor

more or less of an experiment. But nobody

can do this work successfully unless they

No. 3. Photograp
‘anier: Isoetirontatic

from an ofl paint
Plate through

Photographing Oil Paintings

Although the work of photographing an
oil painting is not always done by the
Photo-engraver it is generally done for
him, ‘The idea of photographing a paint:

is to keep visual” effect of the

picture. ‘That is, to make the black and white
reproduction produce the same effect of light

and shade as the colored original. This can
only be done by matching the tone of the
pieture with the ray filter and the plate

A delicate yellow produces the effect of light

0 our eye but to the ordinary photographic

plate it is quite dark. ‘Through the kindness

of Wm. Keith, the great landseape painter

a chuars-eslored “ray iter

Wm. Keith. The a

This gi

the

was made on a
visual “effect” of

know just what the visual effect of the
picture is. In making the negative for No. 1
I used a Cramer fast isochromatie plate and
© canary-colored ray filter. ‘The exposure
was all the plate would stand and was
developed with a four per cent solution of
rodinal. It will be seen that while the
sky is Iuminous the greens of the foreground
have had a chance to impress the plate

that the filter was not

all the blue

wing to the fact

dense enough to shut out rays,

No. 2 was made on the same kind of a
plate with an orange filter. It took about
twice the exposure. In this picture nearly
all of the blue rays were shut out with the
consequence that the green “took” black.