CHAPTER I.

THE CAMERA AND TRIPOD.

[Sidenote: The camera.]

The camera as used to-day is a modified form of the Camera Obscura adapted to the special end of taking photographs. It is essentially nothing but a light-tight box, to one end of which a lens can be adjusted, and to the other end of which the slide containing the sensitive plate can be applied and exposed, so that it receives no light, save that passing through the lens. [Sidenote: Choice of camera.]There are many patterns and many minor differences in the construction of these boxes, some few of real value, but the majority the work of ingenious and speculating manufacturers, who hope by some novelty to increase the sale of their new patents. In all apparatus the student should choose the simplest and strongest, for in artistic work lightness _per se_ is no object, nay, it may be harmful, as leading to over-production. In fact nothing should stand in the way of getting the best results, and though many of the cameras on the market are light and fitted with numerous devices which are said to simplify operations and help the worker, yet such is not really the case, and these thousand-and-one aids to work are apt to become deranged, and finally to embarrass the worker at some critical moment.

In choosing a camera, then, for landscape work, choose a square one, with a reversing frame, a double swing-back, and good leather bellows. Let the flange of the lens be fitted to a square front which can be easily removed and replaced, and let there be a rising front. It is advisable to have the camera brass-bound for the sake of its preservation, and if for use in tropical climates the bellows should be made of Russian leather, as the oil of birch with which the leather is cured is most distasteful to insects. [Sidenote: Special considerations in choosing a camera.] In ordering a camera there are a few points which experience has led us to consider essential to comfort. [Sidenote: Base-board.] One is that the part of the base-board of the camera which rests on the tripod head should be strengthened or made of much stouter material than is usually used. [Sidenote: Thumb-screw.] Another is that the thumb-screw should be of much larger diameter than is usually the case, and this should be borne in mind, even in the making of the smaller cameras, for on a windy day when the camera has a heavy lens on one end and a loaded double dark slide on the other, the vibration is often ruinous to the picture during exposure, while sudden gusts of wind may even crack the wood round the screw hole. It seems to us a thumb-screw at least half an inch in diameter should be used, unless the camera be made to fit into the tripod head, a method often adopted of recent years, and of course the best way of all. On more than one occasion we have nearly lost the camera altogether in the water when trying to screw it to the tripod when working from a boat on a tideway, but by having a part of the base-board made to fit into a wooden tripod head, this at times most difficult operation is rendered easy and certain.

The camera should always extend and close by means of a tail-screw, those opening by means of a rack and pinion are much more liable to get out of order. Of course this remark is not applicable to the smallest-sized cameras. [Sidenote: Spirit levels.] Two small spirit-levels sunk into the tail-piece of the camera are invaluable; one will do if made of the right shape. [Sidenote: Size of camera.] In ordering a camera the two vital points to be considered are the size including the length of the bellows. The size of plate you intend working with determines the size of the camera. We have worked with all sized cameras, from quarter-plate up to one taking twenty-four by twenty-two inch plates, and it is only after long experience and much consideration that we venture to offer an opinion on the size to be chosen. For ordinary work, then, we recommend the half-plate size as the minimum, and the ten by eight inch size as the maximum. Perhaps a whole-plate camera (8½ × 6½ inches) is on the whole as useful as any. The strength required to do a day’s work with a twelve by ten inch camera is beyond any but a strong man. It is assumed, of course, that the pictures of the sizes cited are for albums, portfolios, or book illustrations. It must be remembered, however, that the size of a picture has nothing to do with its artistic value, an artistic quarter-plate picture is worth a hundred commonplace pictures forty by thirty inches in size. For producing large pictures for the wall, however, we consider the camera should be between fifteen by twelve inches and twenty-four by twenty-two inches; we cannot imagine anything larger than twenty-four by twenty-two inches for out-door work, and our memory goes back to a marsh road in Norfolk where we and two peasants had all we could do to carry a twenty-four by twenty-two inch camera when set up, from one marsh to another.

[Sidenote: Square cameras.]

The student will of course remember that his camera must be square in order to have a reversing frame fitted, but that makes no difference to the dark slides. [Sidenote: Length.] Having then fixed on the size of his camera, a question requiring the greatest thought, he must next tell the maker the length of bellows he requires, which is usually measured from front to back when the camera is racked out to its full length. As we recommend the use of long-focus lenses only, as will be seen in the chapter on lenses, and as no definite law can be laid down for this length, it is advisable to order a camera four or five inches longer than the focal length of the lens which is advertised to cover the next larger-sized plate to that which your dark slide holds.

[Sidenote: Size of plate.]

And now for a caution against a fallacy still current in photographic circles, which is that one size of plate is more suitable for pictorial purposes than another. Let no such nonsense influence you, the size of the plate has nothing whatever to do with success or beauty. Every composition will demand its own particular size and shape, and though you work with a ten by eight inch camera or any other size, you will find you will often take a nine by four inch or a ten by three inch plate or a dozen other sizes and cut off all the rest. All fanciful rules for fixing on the size of a plate for pictorial reasons cannot be too strongly condemned. Such things must be left to the individuality of each artist, and every picture-gallery in Europe gives the lie to all rules for a choice of size. The artist, must of course, suit his canvas or plate to his subject, not his subject to his canvas or plate.

[Sidenote: Studio cameras.]

For studio, or indoor work, the camera may of course be heavier for obvious reasons, and a different form of support is necessary, the one usually adopted being very convenient for lowering or raising the lens so that the best point of sight is obtained according to the position of the model. It seems to us, however, that these studio cameras and stands are made a great deal too heavy and cumbersome. [Sidenote: Hood.] For this kind of work a very necessary part of the apparatus is a hood of some dark material fixed on to the front of the camera and extending above and beyond the lens, in order to obviate the effect of the numerous reflections always present in a glass studio. Out of doors this is only necessary when the sun is shining into the lens; otherwise it is never needed, for we have tried it, and have proved that its use has in no way improved either the truth or the artistic quality of the negative. In cases where the sun shines into the lens a hat, a piece of cardboard, a folded newspaper, or anything of the kind, will answer the purpose equally well.

[Sidenote: Tripod head.]

The tripod head should be preferably of tough wood covered with felt. A metal tripod head is apt to endanger the woodwork of the camera, even when covered with leather. [Sidenote: Tripods.] The legs should be simple and firm, the best we know of being made of two pieces of ash or oak hinged at the bottom, the points shod with iron, and the legs being stiffened, when in position by a bar of iron which is secured by a hinge. Every one should have two pairs of legs at least; one pair, so that when the camera is set up the lens may be on a level with the eye of a man of average height, and one pair shorter, so that the lens is only three feet from the ground. [Sidenote: Supplementary poles.] In addition to these we always have handy three tough poles eight feet long and about the diameter of a broomstick; these are shod with iron heels, and have notches cut at the unshod ends. These are most useful to lash to the long legs when using them in water-ways. [Sidenote: Double-backs.] It is as well to have six double-backs, for by filling them all at one operation the student empties a box of plates, and so avoids a chance of mixing exposed and unexposed plates. [Sidenote: Bags.] The most convenient method of carrying the plates in all cases up to and including the ten by eight size, is to have a bag made which will take the camera, three double-backs and the focussing cloth, and a separate bag for the other three double-backs which can be left or taken out at pleasure.

[Sidenote: Clamp.]

A very useful piece of apparatus is a clamp which can be screwed on anywhere, but especially to a boat’s gunwale, the taffrail of a steamer, a fence, and numerous other places whence good pictures can often be secured. Such a clamp can be purchased at most of the dealers' shops.

[Sidenote: Setting up the camera.]

Having decided on these matters, we will suppose the novice is now provided with camera and tripod. Now for a few details about starting. In setting up the camera on its tripod, one leg should be placed either between the photographer’s legs or exactly opposite to him, he will then find he can command the camera easily and alter its position with a touch. If, on the contrary, the legs are put up by chance, he will soon find his lens playing all sorts of gymnastic tricks, one moment looking up as if threatening the stars, the next studying with the deepest interest the ground at its foot.

[Sidenote: Rising front.]

The manipulation of the rising front is a power needing considerable study, for, by moving it, you can regulate the amount of foreground you wish to include in your picture. The limit of rise of the front is determined by the manufacturer, and the limit beyond which the student must not go is determined by the covering power of the lens he is using, for he will remember that every lens only covers a certain circle, the area of the circle depending on the construction of the lens. The usual method of describing the covering power of a lens is to give the measurements of the greatest parallelogram that can be inscribed in this circle. It will be easily seen that if the lens we use only just covers the plate, that when the front is raised, the lower corners will have no image exposed on them, and the higher the lens is carried, the more of the lower part of the picture will be cut off. As the image is upside down, the blank corners will appear in the sky of the negative. It is then obvious that if the covering capacity of the lens is greater than needed for the plate used, the rising front may be used to a much greater extent than if you only use a lens advertised to cover the plate you are exposing. It must always be remembered that if the optical axis of the lens be raised above the centre of the plate the illumination may be unequal.

[Sidenote: Swing-backs.]

The effect of the horizontal and vertical swing-back is identical, as is obvious if the camera be placed on its side, for the horizontal swing becomes vertical, and _vice versâ_. If the camera be set up plumb, the effect of using the vertical swing-back to its extreme limits (which are determined by the mechanical construction of the camera) is to lengthen objects in the direction of their obliquity and to sharpen them. What does this mean from an art point of view? It means that as a rule it throws the whole picture out of drawing, the relative positions of the planes are altered, the relative definition in the planes is altered and therefore the relative values, and therefore as a rule the picture, is artistically injured. This rule-of-thumb use of the swing-back arose, no doubt, from the practice of those craftsmen, untrained in art, whose aim was the production of “sharp” pictures. The only legitimate extensive use of the swing-back is when the camera is tilted before an architectural subject, when it is quite correct to have the ground-glass plumb, although for our part we deem the tilting of the camera to be undesirable. The swing-backs can, however, be used, with the greatest caution, in artistic work, and their value can scarcely be overrated, but it requires great knowledge to use them appropriately. The subtle changes in the drawing and composition of a picture which can be obtained by an intelligent use of the two swing-backs, make them, to those who know how to use them, most valuable tools. But if the beginner will take our advice, he will keep his ground-glass plumb, and his horizontal swing-back square, and never venture to alter either until he has thoroughly mastered his _technique_, and has some insight into the principles of art. The use of these swing-backs seems so easy, as of course it is, when “sharpness” is all the desideratum and embodiment of the operator’s knowledge of art, but in reality none but artists know their real value. By their means, the _impression_ of the whole scene can often be more truly rendered, and things can be subdued and kept back in the most wonderful manner; and since we wish to get a true _impression_ of the scene we are interested in, not a realistic wealth of detail, it can be easily understood how invaluable are the swing-backs when used cautiously. [Sidenote: On impression and fact.] Muybridge’s galloping horses are in all of their movements true, but many of these are never seen by the eye, so quick are they. On the other hand, the student, if he goes to the British Museum, can see in the Parthenon Frieze that the sculptors in some cases carved the legs of the farthest off of three horses in higher relief than those of the nearer horses, but if he goes off a few paces and _views the carving in its entirety_, he will see the true impression is gained; the nearest legs look the farthest off, and so the work is true in impression, though not true in absolute fact. And though the use of the swing-back makes the drawing a little false, yet if the lens we shall describe hereafter be used, the falsity is so very slight as to be hardly noticeable, while it is _far more correct than any human hand guided alone by a human eye_ can render it. With art as with science, nothing is absolutely correct, the personal equation and errors of experiment must be allowed for, but the results are true enough for working purposes.

[Sidenote: Pin-hole photography.]

By perforating a thin metal plate with a minute hole, large enough only to admit a pin’s point, and fitting it to the front of the camera in place of the lens, an image will be thrown on the focussing screen, as the piece of ground glass at the opposite end of the camera is called. If the image be received on to a sensitized plate, it will be impressed on the plate, and can be developed in the ordinary way. Were it not for the great length of time required for exposure, it would be a great question whether any lens at all need be used in photography, but since the exposures required to produce pictures without lenses vary roughly from one to thirty minutes, this method cannot be seriously considered here, for, as we shall show, within certain limits, the quicker the exposure the better; nevertheless, the drawing of pictures taken in such way would obviously be correct. In cases where the length of exposure is immaterial, this method would be a worthy field for experiment.

[Sidenote: Accidents to the camera.]

The student must be careful to see that the inside of the camera is a dead black, and that it keeps so. At times the camera may leak or get out of register, that is, the plate does not exactly take the place of the ground glass, in which case he should at once send it to the maker. [Sidenote: Test for register.] Should the student wish at any time to test the register of his camera, he has only to pin up a printed card and focus it as sharply as possible, using a magnifying glass, if one is at hand. Then load the dark-slide with a plate of ground-glass, and after sliding it into position, open the slide (if a double-back) when the image will be seen on the ground-glass plate, and its sharpness can be noted. If perfectly sharp, the camera is in register.

[Sidenote: Hand cameras.]

A good form of small camera to be carried in the hand is a great desideratum for artistic studies. Exquisite studies of figures, birds, and all sorts of animal life could be made with such a contrivance, studies admirably suitable for tail-pieces or illustrations to go in with the text. That there are dozens of patterns of hand cameras commonly called “detective cameras,” we are well aware, and we have tried some of the best, but we have found none satisfactory for artistic purposes, and can therefore recommend none. We may here remark that the name “detective camera” is, in our opinion, undesirable, photographers ought not to have it even suggested to them that they are doing mean, spying work with their cameras, whereas the term “hand camera” meets every requirement. Of course the smaller cameras advertised to be worn on the person are nothing but toys. The camera we should like to see introduced would be a very light collapsible camera, which could be easily carried in the pocket when not in use. It should be able to take pictures not larger than four and a half by three and a half inches, and should be fitted with the Eastman spools, so that any number of exposures could be made. The lens should be Dallmeyer’s long focus rectilinear landscape lens, fitted with a good shutter. There should be a light view meter attached to the top. There is no necessity for a ground-glass screen, for on the tail-board could be registered various distances, at which the film is in focus; and since for artistic purposes most of the studies would be of objects near at hand, this arrangement would be effectual.

[Sidenote: View finder.]

Many hand cameras are fitted with a camera obscura. The handiest view finder for quick exposure work is to fit a double convex lens of the same focal length as the working lens to the front of the camera, and turn up the focussing screen at right angles to the plane of the top of the camera, when it may be secured by a small brass catch fitted for the purpose. When the focussing cloth is thrown over the lens and screen a temporary double camera is made, and the moving objects can be watched on the ground glass. With experience it is possible to judge by simply looking over the top of the camera.