Volume 1 — Winter Photography for Amateurs.

Valuable Hints to the Disciples of the Camera Who Wish to Get the Best Results When the Earth is Snow-Carpeted.

Compiled and edited for The Scrap Book.

Many amateurs do not realize the fact that very beautiful pictures may be taken in the wintertime, and in all too many cases when the summer vacation is over the camera is laid aside.

Snow scenes, when properly handled, will be found among the most interesting and effective bits in the artist's collection, and are well worth the trouble expended upon them. So keep your camera ready at hand; when you go for a walk, if you are lucky enough to live in the country, take it with you. If you are a dweller in the city, watch for a good old-fashioned snowstorm; go out in the thick of it, and you will be surprised at the many charming scenes you can secure.

Atmospheric conditions, the sharp contrasts of black objects against a background of glaring snow, the effect of shadow and sunlight on an expanse of unbroken white, the fall of heavy, cottony flakes in a silent, white-shrouded street, under the foggy glow of electric lights—all these necessitate a course of treatment different from that of ordinary photographic work; and all, by these very contrasts, can be made strikingly effective.

Watch Man Who "Does the Rest."

Owing to the cold of winter and the difficulty of handling the apparatus with stiff fingers or heavy gloves, it is well to have as simple an outfit as possible. An ordinary fixed focus camera is good for this kind of work. The lens on this style of camera usually works at F-16 and the shutter at about 1-20 of a second. If the sun is bright, the next smaller stop will do.

In taking snow pictures, the amateur who presses the button and lets the dealer do the rest should advise the latter to develop the film with less contrast than usual. The average dealer usually develops with as much contrast as possible, and this method would produce a print with blank white for the snow and hard blocks for the trees.

For more serious workers, a stand camera should be used. The camera should be provided with a reversible back and a long bellows. An expensive lens is not necessary. A medium angle lens will be found most useful.

Shutters are apt to work badly when out in the cold, owing to contraction of the metal parts. This must be allowed for in making the exposure, by setting it at greater speed.

The focusing cloth should be fastened to the camera. The Eureka focusing hood is convenient to use. It is made to fit the camera exactly, and has little elastic loops which slip over the ears and hold the eyepiece in place while focusing.

A steady tripod and a stay to keep it from slipping are desirable additions to the outfit. The camera should be protected as much as possible from dampness and falling snow.

For best results a non-halation plate is necessary. Backed plates will give better results than plates unbacked. The reason that the light effects come out so extremely white and hard in many landscapes is because the strong light from the snow penetrates the sensitive film and is reflected into it again from the back of the plate, thus making undue contrasts, and practically giving double exposure. This is known as halation.

Other Necessary Precautions.

A corrected plate is essential in snow photography, in order that the effects of light and shadow may not be too glaringly contrasted. The isochromatic and orthochromatic plates on the market are corrected, and are the best to use.

The early morning and the late afternoon are the times best suited for taking snow pictures. The long shadows give interest and character to what would otherwise be a meaningless expanse of white. The foreground is often of the greatest interest in snow pictures. The shadows and gradations on the surface often form the motif for fine compositions.

Never try to crowd too much on one plate. Much may be done with just a few bushes projecting above the snow. Newly fallen snow should sometimes be broken up for pictorial effect; and walking once or twice over the foreground will also aid matters. In doing this, be careful to notice just how the tracks should run to give the best lines to your picture.

Three Classes of Snow Pictures.

There are practically three classes of snow pictures, of which each demands its own appropriate development and treatment.

Class 1—Where an expanse of snow is relieved only by delicate shadows, or where the picture is taken during a snowstorm, when all objects are rendered more or less indistinct and of a light tone by intervening particles of snow. For these, the exposure should be short, the rule being that short exposures increase contrasts, and in scenes of this description, contrast is what is needed. On a bright day, 1-100 of a second would be time enough. Very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon 1-25 of a second will give ample time.

The development for plates in this class may safely be rather vigorous—that is, with a normal developer and the plate carried to a fairly good printing destiny. This method gives character to the high lights, and a pleasing richness to the slight shadows that are present on the surface of the snow. A pyro developer is good.

Rodinal is a good developer for contrasts when used in these proportions: Rodinal, one-quarter ounce; water, five ounces; bromide potash; ten per cent solution, five drops. The temperature of the developer should be kept from sixty-five to seventy degrees Fahrenheit.

Class 2—When dark masses are in the foreground, with the middle distance fairly open, and snow broken up—also, when strong contrasts appear in the view between the snow and other objects—then a longer exposure is needed—from one-tenth to a full second, according to the light. Use No. 8 stop.

This class of pictures should be developed in a weak solution. A suitable metal hydroquinone developer is made as follows: Metal, thirty grains; hydroquinone, thirty grains; twenty ounces of water. Then add sulphide of soda (crystals) one ounce, and carbonate of soda (crystals) three-quarter ounce.

Take two ounces of this, and add four ounces of water when there are no very heavy masses of dark in the foreground, and eight ounces of water when there are such masses. Before using, add one drop of ten per cent solution of potassium bromide to each ounce of the solution.

Class 3 embraces snow pictures with figures, street scenes, skating and sleighing scenes, etc. Short exposure is required here because of the motion of the figures. The correction must be made in development.

The development of plates of this kind where there are dark objects and brightly lighted snow or ice in the view is practically the same as in No. 2.