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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. Vol. VII. No. 236.—March 13, 1863. CONTENTS. PAGE Skies in Photographic Landscapes 121 Critical Notices 122 An Experience with the Old Hypo Bath. By Carl Meinerth ... 123 On Some New Principles of Direct Photographic Printing on Paper. By M. Poitevin • 124 Expeditious Method for the Comparison of Photographic Sub- stances. By M. Me. A. Gaudin 122 A S imple Method of Choosing Glass for Operating Rooms 126 Theory of Positive Printing. By George Price .... A Short Lesson in Photography.—No. 9 The International Exhibition.—Report of the Jury Correspondence :—Foreign Science, &c Talk in the Studio To Correspondents Photographs Registered during the Week PAGE 126 .. 128 .. 129 .. 129 .. 132 .. 132 .. 132 SKIES IN PHOTOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPES. White skies are no longer the “ fashion ” in photographic landscapes. A few years ago a photographic exhibition scarcely gave ns examples of anything else in the shape of landscapes, but a foreground, surmounted by white paper in place of sky, or “ buildings,” to use the words of Lady Eastlake, “ of rich tone, and elaborate detail, upon a glaring white background, without the slightest form or tint, like a Chinese landscape on a looking-glass.” The “light having burnt out all cloud-form in one blaze of light.” That which originated in a defect soon became a fashion, and the specklcss sky, without the suspicion of a tint, was regarded as the pride of the picture. In the last Photographic Exhi bition white skies were the exception; natural clouds, or graduated tints, were everywhere present. It is unnecessary here to dwell upon the immense pictorial value thus con ferred upon each subject. A white patch of paper destroyed all brilliancy by killing all the lights in the picture. It destroyed all atmosphere by killing the delicate tints of the distance, and making that which should be afar off—the sky —-the most prominent and staring part of the picture. It destroyed all breadth by cutting the picture into two distinct patches of light and dark, without harmony or connection. As a higher appreciation has been growing amongst photographers, a few words on the various modes of producing skies may not be uninteresting. There are at least half a dozen modes in which skies arc produced in photographs. The first and most obvious is that which is least under control, being possible only under certain conditions, namely, the production of clouds at the same time as the foreground, as in instantaneous photo graphy. The second is by contriving during development to bring out the forms of clouds present during exposure, and to avoid over-intensifying them to that condition in which they never print through. The third is by manag ing to give the sky a minimum exposure while the fore ground receives its full time. The fourth is by printing in clouds from a separate negative. The fifth is by painting or otherwise working on the negative. And the last is by exposing the sky to light after the print has left the pres sure frame, so as to secure a graduated tint. On the method of obtaining clouds by rapid or instan taneous exposures, we need not say much here. A cloudy sky surmounting a well illuminated foreground, containing no very dark objects very near to the camera; a highly bromized collodion and iron development, together with skill and judgment in selecting subjects and manipulating, are the chief requisites here. Management in developing gives, under some circum stances, great power over the sky to the skilful operator. In some large pictures we have recently seen, by Mr. R. Gordon, of the Isle of Wight, of which we shall have more to say shortly, very good natural clouds were secured in negatives requiring eight or ten seconds’ exposure. It will be assumed at once that the clouds in such instances had not been in very rapid motion. This is a circumstance which not unfrequently occurs ; but it in general happens, that in developing in the usual manner, the clouds which come out rapidly in development as rapidly disappear in one uniform mass of intensity, being buried by the amount of develop ment necessary to bring out the foreground. To meet this difficulty, Mr. Gordon adopts a very ingenious method. Instead of applying the developer in its ordinary strength, he uses a one-grain solution of iron without any acid what ever. This, in a few seconds, brings out the delicate cloud forms, when there are any present, and to some extent the foreground. When its operation has been carried sufficiently far, the developer, which contains also the free nitrate, is poured off the plate, and a portion of fresh iron solution and acetic acid added to it sufficient to make a developer of the ordinary strength, suitable for the collo dion in use. Mr. Gordon generally uses a similar solution to that of Mr. Vernon Heath, namely, 8 grains of iron and 20 minims of acetic acid. This solution is now applied to the plate, confining it chiefly, but not exclusively, to the foreground. The whole of the detail sufficiently out, suffi cient intensity is secured by a two-grain solution of pyro gallic acid and a few drops of silver. By this means a negative is obtained, in which the cloud-forms are not buried in one mass of intensity, but print sufficiently to give harmony and atmosphere to the picture. It will be seen that this method is analogous to that used by Mr. Mudd, with dry plates, in which a plain solution of pyro gallic acid is applied until the clouds and general details appear ; the ordinary pyrogallic solution, with citric acid and silver being then applied to give intensity to the fore ground. Various contrivances have been tried for protecting the sky whilst the foreground received its proper amount of exposure. Mr. Scott Archer had a plan of tearing a piece of paper to a form corresponding with the horizon line in the view to be depicted, and placing it inside the camera in a groove, so that it cut off the sky during part of the expo sure, when it was removed to give the sky a few seconds only. The flap shutter placed before the lens has frequently been used to partially shade the sky ; but this is only avail able when no tree, spire, or other object materially breaks the level of the horizon. Mr. Mann has recently patented a shutter, which it is stated can be made to adapt itself to any line dividing the sky and landscape, however irregular, and thus give absolute control over the respective exposures for each part. The method of printing-in a sky from a separate nega tive is pretty well known. Mr. Samuel Fry was, if we remember rightly, one of the first to call attention to the advantages of this method, which he described in our pages some time ago, when its legitimacy was the subject of con siderable discussion. It was alleged against this plan, that to secure truth and harmony, the landscape should only be accompanied by the same sky which was over it at the time when the picture was taken. It was argued, on the other