Early Work In Photography
A Text-book For Beginners

66 Early Work in Photography. Supposing, then, the student has purchased a holder with a properly hinged central partition, he will notice that it lies closer to one side than to the other, and that it is held in position by means of two small clips or “turn buttons.” He will also notice a rebate (or ledge) beneath it. The sensi- tive plate is to rest face downwards against this rebate, and we advise the student to load the holder with a piece of plain glass of the correct size, and then fix it in place by fastening over it the central hinged partition. Then place another plate of glass in the rebate upon the other half of the holder, and close the holder, clamping it together upon the outside. If the student now withdraws one of the protecting slides he will see the glass plate, and understand at once the en- tire principle. To complete this preliminary lesson, it only remains to undo the fastenings of the focussing screen, which is (or should be) hinged like a door to the camera, when he will notice a couple of grooves which permit him to slide the plate holder into the space formerly occupied by the screen. This must next be done a few times, pushing the place holder " home,” until it engages with a spring fastener (pro- vided on all cameras), which will hold it in position. The protecting slide must next be withdrawn while the plate holder is still fixed to the camera. B If tlie student now removes the lens, and looks into the camera through the hole in the front board, lie will see that the plate of glass is now exposed upon the inside of the camera, immediately opposite the place to be occupied bv the lens. 9 The student must familiarize himself with all these move- ments, and then he may replace the lens, empty the plate holder, and load it in dead earnest with sensitive plates. And now, before we open the box of bromide plates, we must bear in mind that we are about to deal with a substance far more sensitive to light than any we have yet handled. The slightest ray of white light will cause a deposit upon the plates that cannot fail to injuriously affect the brilliancy of the negatives we are about to make. Let us therefore re- double our precautions to exclude all extraneous light, and be careful that our lamp only transmits light that will not injuriously affect our work. The lamp should be glazed with one sheet of ruby glass, covered with one sheet of " canary medium,” or “canary fabric "; or, if the student has a preference for yellow light, it may be glazed with one sheet of yellow glass, covered with two sheets of canary medium.