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W.T.L. Travers (author)
Art.XVIII - Notes on the Practice of Out-door Photography
1871
Magazine page
Google Books
LL/43200
W.T.L. Travers, "Art.XVIII - Notes on the Practice of Out-door Photography" Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume IV, 1871, p.160-164
[Bead before the Wellington PIulosophical Society, 28lh October, 1871.]
THE following notes and suggestions on the practice of out-door photography may possibly be useful to those who propose to follow this art, premising that they are offered as the result of my own experience during the last three or four years.
In the first place it is essential that the operator should use the very best instruments and chemicals, and above all things, as the most important condition of success not only in this, but in all other branches of the art, that he should observe the strictest cleanliness in all the operations. After trying several instruments, I ultimately selected, and confined myself to, a Ross doublet, constructed for whole plates, but which covers, without the least distortion and with perfect definition, as may be observed from my pictures, ten by eight glass plates. I have always used Mawson's collodion, with the accompanying directions for development, and I have found this important advantage from adherence to one formula, that the operator ascertains by experience the best length of time for exposure of the plates under the most varying conditions of light and temperature. I may add, also, that 1 always use the wet process, and for this purpose I have succeeded in constructing portable apparatus of different, but in each case of simple kinds, which I have found no difficulty in carrying safely over country in which a pack-horse alone can travel, and over which, in many cases, it required very well trained pack-horses to make their way at all. Indeed, to those who are compelled to use pack-horses in the more rugged and difficult parts of the Middle Island, for the purpose, for example, of supplying gold diggers and others with provisions, the sagacity and surefootedness of these animals, under kind treatment, recall the anecdotes of the mule in travelling through the mineral districts of Peru, or in crossing the snowcapped passes of the Pyrenees.
The advantage of using the wet process over every form of dry plate is, that the operator knows at once whether he has obtained a satisfactory picture or not, so that he can, by the use of a second or third plate if necessary, correct errors or imperfections appearing on the first trial. It is, in effect, for the purpose of describing the apparatus I use in connection with the wet process that these notes are written, as I venture to think them superior, in point of simplicity and general utility, to any which are to be found described in treatises on photography.
My camera is so constructed as, when completely closed, to occupy a space only four and three-fourths inches deep by eleven inches square, and the dark slide permits of the pictures being taken either the wide or the long way of the glass; but although, as I have before observed, the lens face covers admirably a ten by eight plate, I have reduced the size of the glass to nine by seven, and I never take a picture of less size, for the simple reason that to do BO would involve carrying separate glass boxes, whilst, of course, the larger size includes all that could be got by using a smaller plate. The nitrate bath is carried in a porcelain trough fixed in a strong wooden frame, with a small space between the ware and the wood, from which it is kept generally free by a few india-rubber buffers. This precaution diminishes the risk of damage from any accidental blow or crash. I use a glass dipper, which also fits into a wooden case, after being wrapped round with a soft rag. My developing and cleansing solutions are kept in six-ounce bottles, which fit into a box made of thin board, divided into cells, padded with cotton wool and lined with cloth. I usually carry in these cells two bottles of cyanide solution, and one each of iron, pyrogallic, and silver solutions. The collodion bottle is also fitted with a small wooden box, into which I stuff a few of the cloths which are necessarily used for wiping the developing glasses, etc., when I am at work. A galvanized iron dish, with a pipe about an inch long in one corner for carrying off the waste water, plateholder, developing glasses, a spare silver dipper, and a few other odds and ends which every one accustomed to landscape photography ordinarily requires, complete the materials for the work. When I travel in mountainous or other districts, in which there are no carnage roads, I usually carry all these articles packed in a developing box, which I propose to describe, and which I have found admirably suited for the purpose.
The bath in its case, the camera when folded up, the boxes containing the collodion and developing solutions, etc., are all of nearly uniform thickness, which is about five inches. The developing box, answering to the dark room of the stationary photographer, is made of three-quarter inch well seasoned deal, and is thirty inches long by sixteen inches broad, and five and a half inches deep in the inside. The inside is fitted with straps which are screwed close to the edges, and which are so fixed as, when buckled, to secure in their respective places the various articles laid in the box. On the left hand side I place the bath, lying across the width of the box, next to it, in the middle, the iron washing dish, in which the box containing the developing solutions, the dipper, and any odds and ends, lie, and on the right side the camera and lens, whilst the remaining available space affords room for the collodion bottle, the focussing screw, cloths, etc. When the lid is down, and a pair of straps are fastened round the box, the whole is secure, and it can easily be slung on one side of an ordinary pack-saddle. Besides the articles contained in this box, there are of course, the tripod for the camera, and boxes containing glass for the pictures. The glass boxes are also made of stout deal, with grooves for the glass, and are padded with several thicknesses of old, well-washed calico. Cross legs, similar to those used for supporting a butler's tray, complete the equipment. When I intend taking any large number of pictures, I always carry the necessary raw chemicals (if I may use such a term) with me, as I prefer having the solutions fresh and fresh.
The above photographic outfit, with a tent, provisions, clothes, etc., makes a reasonable load for a pack-horse for an expedition into the mountains to last ten days or a fortnight. 1 now proceed further to describe the dark box when in use. Assuming it to be resting on the cross legs, it is kept firm by four strings attached to the lower corners, and pegged to the ground in the manner of tent ropes. The lid is then raised, and forms the back of the dark box. In the centre of this lid is a small window, fitted with orange-coloured glass, which opens inwards, and is protected on the outside by a shutter which slides over it . Two arms, two inches broad by three-quarters thick, are fixed by hinges to the inside of the box, on the side opposite to the fastening of the lid, and these, when raised, are kept upright by a cross piece of the same dimensions, the whole forming an open frame opposite to and of the same dimensions as the lid. The latter is then attached to this framing by pieces of stout iron wire, which slide into loops in the lid and open frame. The box, when open in this manner, resembles a butler's tray, to which a back (the lid) has been fixed, with a slight frame-work in front, which, if solid, would make it a box thirty inches long, sixteen inches wide, and eighteen inches high. To the edges of the lid and the bottom of the box a tent, which stretches over the framing above referred to, and falls behind the operator, is fixed. This tent, in my case, is formed of three thicknesses of stuff, the inside one of close black holland, the outside of close black cotton twill, and between these a close yellow twill. Over these I throw a light white calico covering, in order to prevent too great heat when working in the sun. I usually select, if possible, some spot near a tree for fixing the apparatus, in which case a string run through the top of the tent-covering enables me to draw it well up, and thus increase the inside height. When engaged in developing, I wrap the hanging end of the tent-covering round me, thus excluding all light. I have found this apparatus perfectly sufficient, even when the actinic condition of the light is most active. For washing the pictures during development, I use a strong tin kettle, ten inches high by six in diameter, which also serves the purpose of a tea kettle for the camp. With an apparatus such as I have described, I have taken nearly two hundred negatives, many of them in very rugged and difficult localities.
In places accessible to a wheeled vehicle I use a dark box, the sides of which are solid throughout, but of very much the same general construction as the other, and which I usually carry at the back of an ordinary spring cart. It opens in front by a lid divided into two parts, one folding on the other, to the inside of which a dark cloth is attached, which falls behind me, and which I wrap round me, precisely as in the other case, when engaged in developing a picture.
In conclusion, it may be useful to those who contemplate engaging in landscape photography in the country, if I add a few words on my own practice, which has been more than ordinarily successful. I chiefly use Chance's patent plate for my negatives. The perfect flatness, smooth surface, and general freedom from flaws, of this glass more than compensate for the extra cost, though I have taken good pictures on the same maker's flatted crown glass. I invariably clean both sides of the glass equally, and never use a plate which I cannot feel sure of being chemically clean. I always prepare overnight the number of plates I expect to use on the following day, and never use glass which has been kept more than a few days in the boxes, without recleaning it, for I have found that even in the driest weather it is liable to become spotted. For taking three or four dozen of negatives, when they are likely to be taken within ten days, I find it convenient to prepare a sufficient quantity of the various developing and cleansing solutions, of double strength, which I reduce with river-water; but, in order to guard against accidents, I always carry the necessary quantity of raw chemicals, carefully packed in a strong wooden box, and requiring only the addition of water to fit them for use. The best times for working are from nine in the morning until about half-past three in the afternoon. I have taken fair pictures before nine o'clock, but as a rule the half tones are rarely obtainable, or very imperfect, in pictures taken very early in the morning, and the light loses a good deal of its actinic power after three o'clock, owing, I believe, to the air being much charged with moisture. The actinic power of the light is most active in clear cool weather, as, for example, during northeast weather in Wellington and Canterbury, north-west weather being unfavourable even for printing. After the operation of developing a picture I invariably wash out the developing glasses, and I never use the cleansing solution over again, which I feel sure is a bad practice, though sanctioned by many writers on the art. The water used for washing the pictures should pass through fine muslin tied over the mouth of the vessel, as I have observed that "pin-holes" are often caused by small particles of matter in the water coming in contact with the film. In fact, no precaution ought to be neglected to insure a perfectly clear and uniform film, without which all kinds of shifts, destructive to anything like perfection in the prints, must be resorted to in order to produce a passable picture. It may be observed that my pictures are entirely free from blemishes of this kind, and this is attributable solely to close attention to cleanliness, and to care in the mechanical operations. Of course there are cases in which the most careful operator must be content to put up with imperfections; but I am assuming the case of one who has it in his power to control circumstances. As a last suggestion I would add that perfect calmness and deliberation in all stages of the work are in the highest degree necessary, anxiety and hurry being fruitful sources of failure.
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