Volltext Seite (XML)
462 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. [July 20, 1883. such as this gentleman considers it good taste to put in requisition.—I am, yours, &c., The Special Correspondent of the New York Photographic Times. A RECTIFICATION. Sir,—Some of my friends have called my attention to the remarks I made at the meeting of the London and Provincial Photographic Association on Thursday, July 5th, and which appeared in your last issue, in which I criti cised, as I thought in a good-humoured manner, a report which appeared in the American Photographic Times. I did not for a moment question the veracity of the reporter. I am sorry if it has given offence to any one, and now take the earliest opportunity of expressing regret that my mean ing should have been mis-interpreted in any way.—Yours respectfully, A. L. Henderson. PS.—Since penning the above, I now learn that the special correspondent in question is a personal friend of my own, a gentleman I hold in high esteem ; and I am sure he is quite incapable of giving other than a perfect account of whatever he writes about. The remarks made as to American writers were never for a moment intended for my friend. PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS AT HENLEY AND COOKHAM. Dear Sir,—In this week’s News we see that a corres pondent writes saying it is surprising how little has been done between Henley and Cookham in the way of photo graphy. Thinking the views of this part of the river may be interesting to you, we herewith send you a few. We also send a few of the regatta effects. You mentioned about the beautiful weather. It was really beautiful weather; but, strange to say, the sun managed to get behind a cloud at nearly all the finishes of the races.— We remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, Marsh Bros. [The views forwarded are indeed very interesting, and the regatta effects secured are such as might be expected from the well-known ability of Messrs. Marsh Bros.—Ed.] PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE WOOD-BLOCK OF THE ENGRAVER. Dear Sir,—There is just a thin line oftentimes between failure and success in most enterprises. I fancy this line exists in my case. I prepared the planished copper plate, 8} by 6}, roughened it as you inti mated, prepared the gelatine, and stirred in the ammonium bichromate, and covered the plate very uniformly in an atmosphere of 105° Fahr. I happened to have a copper vessel some eighteen inches long, ten inches wide, and eight inches deep, with double sides and double bottom. Into the space water was put, with gas under, and a thermometer indicated exactly 105° ; a stand supported the levelled plate. Up to this point all was satisfactory ; but I was at a loss to know whether the gelatine plate should be allowed to dry in the same or a lower temperature. I put out the gas, however, and allowed the whole thing to cool down gradually, hoping that in a few hours (the same day, Satur day the 14th inst.) the plate would be ready for exposure ; but it was not, so was left until Monday the 16th. On examination, I found it very " tacky,” so left it until this (Tuesday) afternoon. The surface was tolerably hard round the sides, but somewhat “ tacky ” in the middle. I put the negative on, and put it out to print, by the side of which I put a medium negative with sensitized paper under, and let the gelatine plate be exposed until the same was printed enough for toning. Fearing that the negative had stuck to the gelatine, I put both into a tray filled with filtered common water, when the negative came away better than I expected, although not without bringing away some of the margin of the negative outside the picture. You say, soak the plate ten minutes. I did, no apparent effect, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes. The circle then became visible, then the children’s faces when looked at endwise. Now for the inking. I had obtained some printer’s ink from the office of one of our local papers just as they were going to press, and followed further your directions. The enclosed is all I could get, and on putting it on to the wood-block (made by a blockmaker) I could get no transfer; the paper seemed too dry—that is, the ink. Queries:— 1st. Was the plate over-exposed ? 2nd. Was the ink too thick ? 3rd. Is the 1} drachms of gelatine enough ? Would it be tacky if there were more ? 4th. What is the best mode of drying a plate ? J. C. J. [Our correspondent has encountered just those special difficulties which are ordinarily met with during the first stages of work with bichromated gelatine. Bichromated gelatine, when kept for a long time in a moist condition, loses its property of swelling in water, becomes insoluble, and is, in fact, changed just in the same way as if it had been exposed to light. Hence the need of drying as rapidly as practicable. The arrangement adopted by our correspondent tends rather to keep the vapour hanging about the plate, and so is not calculated to bring about a very rapid desiccation. The plate must be so dry as to perfectly resist all attempts to indent the film with the finger-nail. A film which has been dried slowly is much more sensitive than one which has been dried rapidly, and if we may judge from the print sent, we should think that the exposure was several times as much as required. We think for the earlier experiments of an amateur, that the best method of drying is to work on the hob of a kitchen range, the draught being very favourable to rapid desiccation, or to dry over a thick plate of iron heated by means of a gas-burner placed underneath. The ink used appears to have been of about the right consis tency, but we think rather too much was used. The pro portion of gelatine referred to is correct. The picture probably refused to transfer to the wood, because the paper was not sufficiently impervious ; but the following proceeding will serve to overcome this difficulty. Leave the transfer to dry on the block, and then moisten the back with a few drops of oil of cloves, and renew the pres sure, after which strip the paper away. We hope our correspondent will communicate any further difficulty he may experience. As regards Mr. Swan’s process, we may mention that the film of ink laid over the gelatinous sur face should never be sufficient to considerably hinder the swelling of the gelatine ; and if the ink film is extremely thin, it reticulates and granulates so perfectly as to render any clearing off process unnecessary.—Ed. .N.] Aroceedings Of Societies. Manchester PHOTOGRAPHIC Society. On Saturday, the 7th instant, the members of the Manchester Photographic Society, and friends, to the number about twenty, including ladies, enjoyed a most delightful excursion to that quiet corner of Camden’s “ Fair Cheshire ” which includes Marton and Gawsworth. The party, on arrival at Macclesfield by train at 2.17 p.m., was conveyed in a large wagonnette along a charming succession of well-wooded country lanes leading through the villages of Broken Cross and Siddington, at which latter place a brief halt was made, and a few plates exposed. The drive being resumed, Marton was reached about four o’clock. Here cameras were quickly unpacked, and the church, mope famous for its antiquity (1343) than for its architectural beauty, became an object of interest, and many plates received its image, although pictorial effect was somewhat marred by the rank and uncut grass in the graveyard. . The “ Marton Oak,” immortalized by Mr. Leo Grindon in his