Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1935)

October 2nd, 1935 Thi amateur photographer P 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER a ICTURES by Novices SOME CRITICAL COMMENTS on the Beginners' prints reproduced on the opposite page UNLESS and until the beginner has had some little experience of enlarging, he finds it difficult to appreciate how much better a picture may be when cut down to its bare essentials than when it represents the whole of what is contained in the negative. Trimming always seems to involve something of a sacrifice, and, in the usual run of things, it is not until he finds that it is .possible to fill the whole of a piece of printing paper from a portion only of the negative that he begins to understand its supreme importance in picture¬ making. Pictures by Enlargement. No. 2 of the prints reproduced on the opposite page — " Barrowman's Aard,” by B. E. Woods — is a case in point. The subject is very well seen ; the figures are by no means badly caught ; and the feeling of sunlight, as the pictorial motive, is nicely rendered and perfectly adequate. The figures seem diminutive, how¬ ever, and the sunlit area is compara¬ tively small in relation to the some¬ what uninteresting mass of surrounding shadow tone. The latter is obviously in excess, and, with the removal of a good quarter inch all round, the proportions of light and shade become better adjusted and the scale of the figures more significant. To the worker of some experience — to whom the picture is the thing — the suggested trim is a necessity, and the wastage of the negative — if it can be so considered — is beside the point. It counts for nothing beside the fact that the picture is better without it ; but, to the average beginner, the feeling of waste out¬ weighs pictorial considerations alto ■ gether. Subject and Selection. When he starts enlarging and sees the negative projected on the easel, and still more when he gathers that there is little wastage of printing paper, the value of including essentials only becomes apparent, and, in time, he, too, reaches the stage of placing the picture above material. Moreover, because it is seldom pos¬ sible to determine precisely how much should be included and how much left out at the time of exposure, it will become the general practice to allow a margin over and above what is likely to be required, by means of which it will not only be possible to permit of subsequent adjustment at leisure, but the habit of trimming to suit the needs of the picture will also be acquired. No. 1, “ Windy Hill,” by R. B. Harvey, is a subject in which there are two prominent objects — the mill and the group of trees. Neither can be said to exert a greater attraction than the other, and the attention is divided between them. In the interests of compositional unity, one should be definitely su¬ preme ; but the trees, while possessing the greater mass, are placed too near the edge to assume any real strength of position, and the mill, while having the advantage of placing, has not scale enough to overcome the greater weight of the trees. If it were pos¬ sible to add a little more on the righthand side to bring the mill more into the picture, its strength would be greater, and if, at the same time, a quarter-inch trim were made from the left, the balance would swing over in favour of the mill, and the division of interest would be avoided. Margin and Stance. As far as can be seen, however, there is no margin on the right, and it is not feasible to make the required addition on that side. That being the case, the only way of making a satisfactory composition is by trim¬ ming so as to exclude the trees altogether, which, of course, severely limits the pictorial attraction. Had the viewpoint been more distant, the needful margin would have been provided. It would then have been possible for the arrangement to have been amended as suggested and in accordance with the requirements of the subject. Besides this, the dis¬ parity in scale between the trees and mill would have been reduced, and the difficulty of adjusting their rela¬ tive attractions would be lessened. ” Landscape” (7), by E. G. Roughton, is one of those rare examples where the subject, just as it stands, does not need any alteration or adjustment to improve the composition. In ‘its class it is an excellent bit of work, and the cloud formation of the sky com¬ bined with the landscape in sunshine and shadow make an attractive and harmonious ensemble. Technique and the Print. Its shape, which is rather more square than usual, seems to indicate that a measure of trimming has already been adopted, and, if so, the wisdom of allowing a margin is again demonstrated. From the technical standpoint, too, it is a sound piece of work, and so is No. 8, “ Lumbering,” by C. H. Freese. The latter, however, would derive a certain measure of concentration if the suggestion of competition created by the inclusion of the strip of sky at the top were removed, and a more distant viewpoint would enable the figures and cart to be shown in better proportion. When a group of this length is taken from the rear and the stance is so close, the nearer parts seem disproportionately exaggerated, and, had it been practicable, it would have been wiser to have stayed farther back. As far as the line of sight is con¬ cerned, it could not have been better chosen, for the subject is seen at a good angle, and it is only because the cart is given an excessive importance that the more distant viewpoint would have been preferable. It would also have the advantage of permitting a slight addition on the left, which, in view of the presence of the figure, would be advisable. Unusual Viewpoint. The downward direction of the line of sight is justified, in this instance, by the fact that the main interest lies in the foreground, but, as a rule, there is no virtue in any departure from the normal unless there is a sound reason for it. Had the tree tops in No. 6, “ High in the Air,” by F. Mackel, been of a more attractive form, and had there been a cloud effect of striking forma¬ tion, the upward viewpoint might have been commended, but, in the existing circumstances, neither of these ex¬ cuses is available and the departure from the normal is scarcely warranted. That the normal point of view is preferable is well shown, not only by those examples already discussed, but also by Nos. 3, 4 and 5, all of which have their points, and do not rely upon eccentric methods of approach. " Mentor.” 2 1 335