Early Work In Photography
A Text-book For Beginners

40 Early Work in Photography. A photographic camera in its simplest form is a dark box which forms a receptacle for a sensitive plate. The only light admitted to this box is through a lens which pro- field a more or less luminous image of the objects within its The projected image falls upon the sensitive plate, and impresses it in a moment with an invisible image capable of development. This image is the negative (or reverse) of that seen in nature, owing to the action of light (combined with development) causing a deposit of black metallic silver, i- Such deposit is greater in the parts most acted upon by light, as has been explained in previous chapters. he modern camera consists of a dark chamber, the sides of which are made of collapsible light-proof bellows. The front, back, and base, are rigid, and are usually made of mahogany. ‘ 8 are usually made ,In these respects all modern cameras are alike; but the better class are provided with various movable adjustments, absolutely necessary if first class work is to be done. The principal adjustments are “rising front,” “double swing back," reversible back,” and “double extension”; and the purchaser should insist upon his camera being pro- videdwith these movements, the use of which we shall describe in chapter viii. Finally, the camera should close into small compass. , Fanciful adjustments, such as “swinging fronts,” are use- less, and only entail the use of a bewildering number of highly polished brass screws, which prove a source of constant worry. The bellows should be made of morocco leather, and the best ones are now usually made somewhat conical in shape. Io some extent this shape is an advantage, but we must not go to extremes and have a bellows that is verV small in front (lens end), or we shall find that part of our view is cut off by the intermediate ridges obstructing the free passage of the image projected by the lens. Another point worth attention is the way the rising front works; this front is designed to carry the lens, and must be movable up and down at will. In the best forms of camera the bellows front is attached to the rising front, so that both move together, but in some forms the rising front is movable, while the bellows front is permanently rigid: this is bad, because it greatly limits the use of the rising front. The purchaser should buy his goods from a dealer whom he nows, and mention the forego ng requirements; he may hen depend upon being served satisfactorily with a