International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Sixteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Thoughts On Projection Printing |HE average American amateur photographer has been accused of being strictly a negative maker. As a print maker, he seems to fall far behind European amateurs. If this is true, and no doubt there is some truth to the charge, it is a pity, for it means that we have progressed only up to a certain point, and there have quit cold. It is interesting to note how Europeans work. They have not, as a general thing, the money to spend on their hobby as has the average American amateur, and as a consequence, have to guard carefully their exposures. They are not spendthrifts, each negative exposed must yield a good print, and this in itself produces better work, for it can be seen that where pennies must be accounted for, the amateur is going to study his hobby in order to make the most of it within the limits of his purse. The miniature camera has helped us to be careless, for with it, a dozen to thirty-six negatives can be made at a loading, and we feel that a number of exposures wasted are of no importance. The European, however, even with a miniature camera, is forced to make each shot count. In short, he makes fewer pictures than we, but on the other hand, his pictures are, in most cases, superior. It is a case of quality rather than quantity. We Americans have the production of a negative down pat. We have tamed the great evil "grain" with intricate formulas which perform miracles. We produce technically perfect negatives by the hundreds. But after that — what? Our prints are ordinary reproductions of the negatives, nothing more. We do not seem to be able to include the little niceties in prints which characterize the European prints. It is a known fact that printing paper has not the ability to reproduce everything in the negative, and so a certain amount of skillful art work is necessary in order to produce a full, rich print. I happen to be by nature a "purist," that is to say, I believe that when certain art work is necessary on a print it no longer is photography, and I feel that if it is necessary to go into art work in order to produce satisfactory prints, I might just as well go in for painting and produce genuine works of art. Nevertheless, I am aware of the necessity of a certain amount of hand work on a print, this including dodging, trimming, spotting, etc. These are common expressions, yet it is surprising how few workers make use of them. Projection printing is the accepted method of making prints today. As negative sizes have been reduced, the need for enlarging becomes greater. I can safely say that in these modern times very few amateurs work with negatives larger than 4x5 inches. Indeed, the miniature camera might be considered almost standard, although sizes up to 3^4x4j4 are exceedingly popular. The need for enlarging these small negatives is apparent, hence the amateur should pay some attention to the producing of satisfactory prints and not be too easily satisfied with the first print which develops in the developing tray. The careful worker, as has been mentioned, makes comparatively few negatives, but each one is usually perfect. He may work on a single negative for a long time before he the print. He may use dozens of sheets of enlarging paper, trying this kind, that surface, etc. In the end, he will have only one print — but what a print it will be. One such print is worth a dozen which have been printed in the usual careless fashion. All too many amateurs are satisfied with their efforts if they can get a recognizable print of Aunt Tillie or Uncle Henry — but photography is more than this. So it would seem that with a little more care we could all make real photographic prints of which we would be proud. But more attention will have to be given the technique of projection printing. Enlargers available are perfect from every standpoint these days. One can hardly blame equipment, still many cannot seem to turn out decent prints. A great deal of discouragement comes from home-made enlargers which are fashioned from odds and ends — and without any true understanding of the principles involved. While good manufactured enlargers are costly, they often prove to be the most satisfactory and economical in the long run. Of enlargers as equipment, little need be said. They abound and flourish in great numbers. There is no question but that the vertical ty pe is most popular because of its ease of operation and compactness. Recent investigations have shown the desirability of using Photoflood lamps as the illumination source. They reduce the exposure time considerably, but they are best used with a rheostat control device by means of which the intensity of the lamp can be increased or reduced at will, thus affording greater control in enlarging. This idea applies particularly to miniature camera enlargers. Another idea recently brought forth calls for the use of regular chloride (contact) printing paper, such as Velox, Azo, Noko, etc. The speed of such papers is naturally much slower than that of the regular bromide and bromo-chloride enlarging papers ; hence, the use of a Photoflood lamp is strongly suggested in cases where these papers are used. A filter is often used on the enlarger to permit focusing and placing of the image directly upon the sensitive paper. Such filters are usually of an orange-red color. Some advanced workers, however, use a green filter, claiming that some of the modern enlarging papers fog under the usual orange-red filter. For average papers, however, the orange-red filter will be found sufficiently safe. Miniature camera devotees should be cautioned about contrast enlarging papers. As a general thing, contrast papers have a tendency to produce more grain than the normal or soft grades. Possibly the amateur becomes involved by making his negatives too thin, thus demanding the use of contrast papers. The better method, then, is to produce rich, meaty negatives which can be reproduced to best advantage on normal or even soft papers. Negatives with the minimum of grain of this nature can be secured by a slight over-exposure and slight underdevelopment. The proper grade of paper can then be selected to suit the negative without the necessity of depending upon a contrast paper to show what little there is in a thin, weak negative. gets just the right quality and tonal values he seeks in Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.