Nearly every person is familiar with the photographer's studio and has had his or her picture taken many times. To most of them the mysteries of the dark room have been explained and many now own snap-shot cameras themselves with which they can take pictures. On the other hand, even those who are amateurs and have taken photographs realize the great strides being made in the science of photography, and what the result of the progress of the art means to the world. It can be imagined readily enough that new kinds of photographic plates are being manufactured which will allow much more rapid exposure of moving objects. The development in the manufacture of sensitive paper upon which photographs are made has also been so great that, nowadays, nature and life are portrayed with remarkable accuracy. Let us look, however, at some of the remarkable things done in the realm of photography.

By courtesy of "Lawrence" Photographer. Ready to ascend to make an actual bird's-eye view.

The telephotograph, as its name signifies, is a picture of an object taken from a distance. Most cameras are equipped only to take pictures of objects near at hand. When far off mountains and other inaccessible objects are photographed, usually only small pictures with indistinct details are the result. To-day, however, it is possible to catch pictures as deftly and in as distinct detail as one can view an object from afar through a telescope. The device which permits telephotography is called a rack-and-pinion lens tube in which are fitted two lenses. One of these is the far-seer or negative lens and is the one that does the magnifying, while the other ordinary lens in front of the far-seeing concave lens does the photographing. Work may be done with this combination in the field, all that is necessary being to adjust the rack and pinion to get a good focus. One of the drawbacks to this kind of photography is that because of the smaller range a magnified picture covers, naturally less light is admitted and the exposure has to be longer. Therefore, it seriously retards taking pictures of moving objects. But as time goes on, the apparatus will be perfected and then one may attach it to a cinematograph camera. Then the actions of wild animals miles away can be accurately portrayed and studied. Birds can be caught in flight and battles can be photographed from afar and reproduced in life size.

By courtesy of "Lawrence" Photographer. Photographic tower used to make bird's-eye view.

In delicate scientific work photography has stepped in and done marvelous things. By use of the X-ray apparatus we are enabled to take pictures, or "shadowgraphs," of the human heart, ribs, stomach and other organs through the living body. In astronomy, we have been able to discover what the different stars are made of and what kind of atmospheres surround them. This kind of photography is done through telescopes proper, and is a great deal like micro-photography, which consists in taking pictures through microscopes. This latter method consists simply in attaching a light, tight box, with a very long bellows, to a microscope and photographic lens. This is a good deal like a telephotograph camera, but is used mainly for taking pictures of diseased tissues, germs, and minute animal and vegetable life, so that they may be studied afterwards at leisure.

Taking pictures of lightning, stars, comets, etc., has added much to the knowledge of the world. At the Harvard Astronomical Observatory in Cambridge some of the best work in this line has been done. The photographs of lightning are taken much the same as one takes snap-shots, only the camera is much bigger; in fact, it is a great telescope itself, with a plateholder and sensitive plate attached at the small end—the eye-piece. In taking a picture of a flash of lightning great pains must be taken for one never knows just where to catch the lightning. Besides there is generally rain falling when one wants to take such a picture, and this tends to spoil the scientific value of the picture, because the rain drops act as tiny prisms and break up the light. One of the best experiments in this direction has been in photographing the spectra of stars and lightning.

A word about the spectrum. Heat anything to the point where it gives out light, and then pass a ray of this light through a prism of glass and a line of colored bands will result, ranging in some cases all the way from violet through blue, green and yellow, to red. That variegated strip is the spectrum, and the different series of these bands represents the elements in the substance examined. The most familiar spectrum is, of course, that of the sun when its rays are intercepted by the prismatic drops of a passing shower and produce a rainbow. The glass prisms hung as decorations from old-fashioned lamps also make spectra. But a photograph does not produce colors, and lightning will not stay quiet to have its picture taken. How, then, can a spectrum of lightning be photographed? At the big end of the telescope a prism is attached, and by adjusting the camera at an angle, the refraction or turning aside of the rays after they have entered the prism is thrown into the telescope. After a number of pictures have been taken, one or two may be of value. These plates are developed and the lines of the spectrum of the lightning will show. Here comes another difficulty, however, for yellow and red are not colors that can be absorbed readily by the photographic plate. Therefore the pictures of the spectrum will show only different degrees of blackness and whiteness, marked by little waves as the colors affected the plate. But these are still of great value, for, by comparing them with pictures of spectra of known lights, great discoveries have been made.

By courtesy of "Lawrence" Photographer. Setting up largest camera on earth, preparatory to making exposure.

Some of the peculiar properties of electricity have been discovered by taking electrographs, or pictures of electric sparks. This is done by interposing a photographic plate, wrapped in a dark envelope, between two poles of a static electrical machine. The spark which jumps from the pole strikes the envelope, penetrates it, and leaps off the plate to the other pole. This exposes the plate and gives a picture. By studying these pictures scientists are enabled to learn much about the laws governing electricity. One already arrived at is that it follows the line of least resistance, and that often it takes divergent paths in traveling.

A photograph is not always a picture. The mere regard for the mechanism and chemistry of photography does not insure success in the art, for the results may be a composition far from pleasing to the eye. For instance, a straight front view of the end view of a building is always disagreeable because there can be no perspective.

In photographing anything with height, breadth and depth, all the proportions should appear. A view from one corner is preferable to any other, although, the best effect is seldom obtained by placing the camera directly opposite a corner. The photograph should show, if possible, more of the front than the end. Sometimes, where a street is very narrow, it is impossible to find the ideal position for a camera and in such cases the photographer is obliged to be content with the nearest possible approach to that point. The position of the camera and its height with regard to the object to be photographed are of the utmost importance.

With regard to height, the choicest position is the level of the eyes. When, however, the object to be delineated is so high that the only position of the camera from which the photograph can be taken at the height of the eyes, is so far away that half or nearly half the plate is lost in foreground, it may be preferable to make the exposure from a position nearly half as high as the object. By this means the distance necessary to include the whole figure may be reduced nearly half, and the size of the object in the photograph may be nearly doubled. This is nearly always necessary with tall subjects, when a fixed-focus camera without a rising front or a swing back is employed.

By courtesy of "Lawrence" Photographer. Balloon used by our photographer in making photographic bird's-eye views for this work.

If, however, no place except the ground is available for the camera, the picture will be greatly improved, although considerably reduced in size, by cutting away from two-thirds to three-fourths of the foreground before mounting the print. In no case should the camera be above the center of the height of a building or tower. The picture improves the nearer the camera is brought to the height of the eyes, provided, of course, the whole of the structure is included. Next in importance to the position of the camera with regard to perspective and height, is its relation to light and shadow. A picture in which everything seen is brightly lighted, is rarely pleasing, and one in which the whole view is in shadow is even less attractive. Flatness in a picture is due to want of contrast; that is, to the absence of high lights in a shadow picture, or to that of shadows in one made from a position directly between the source of light and the object. In nearly all satisfactory photographs, including groups and portraits, there is a good blending of light and shade in considerable masses. A photograph mottled all over with shadows and flecks of light in nearly equal proportions is almost as objectionable as one that is light, or a shade flat.

The more nearly the masses of shadow assume rough triangular forms, the better the picture; and the larger the triangles, so one, either of light or shadow, does not exceed one-half to two-thirds of the area of the plate, the more pleasing the effect. This is limited, of course, to buildings and landscapes. In taking a building it is best to have the front lighted, and the end in shadow. The perspective, of course, if the camera is placed as suggested, makes each side a triangle more or less regular and complete, according to the style of the architecture.

Light and shadow in a picture not wholly dependent upon sunshine and shadow. Dark objects serve the same purpose as shadows. A tree in foliage is always dark. A mass of foliage, therefore, is as good—often better—in balancing a landscape than an actual shady side to some object; and a picture with a high, green hill or a mass of foliage sloping down from one corner to a point at or beyond the middle, is always picturesque. Water and sky are nearly always very light, and when they furnish triangles, make the picture complete. On the beach a dark building, a pile of rocks or wreckage, or even a group of people near enough to the camera almost to fill one end of the plate, enhances the beauty of the picture. If a group of people is utilized for the purpose, care should be exercised to have them in dark clothing. White attire defeats the principal purpose of utilizing a group in such a case. The best view of a crowd can be secured from a position overlooking it. A portrait should not be made with the camera very much below the chin of the subject. The level of the middle of the body greatly exaggerates, the height of a person. Below is given an illustration of black and white attire.

By courtesy of "Lawrence" Photographer. Illustrating the art of photography. A magnificent and prosperous family; one after the order advocated by President Roosevelt.

Book 2
THE SEMI-AUTOMATIC PIANO PLAYER
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© 1998, 2002 by Lynn Waterman