PHOTOGRAPHING
[Sidenote: Camera.]
Photographs are essential for all objects of artistic interest, and for
expressing rounded forms for which elaborate shading would otherwise
be needed. Views of the excavations and buildings are also wanted. And
it is desirable to publish photographs as well as drawings of very
important carvings, in order to guarantee the accuracy of the drawing,
which is the more useful edition for most purposes.
Though the ordinary knowledge of photography must be taken for granted
here, there are many details and preferences which are special to this
kind of work. The bane of practical photography is the rich amateur,
who insists on useless luxury of apparatus, and has set a fashion
in fittings which is absurdly complex. It is undesirable to have a
specially compact camera, as steadiness and convenience in use are
sacrificed for lightness and slightness, which are no object in a fixed
camp. An old-fashioned bulky camera is better for stationary work. I
have long used a tin-plate camera with plain draw-body in two pieces;
the benefit when enlarged photographs are needed is found by taking
it apart, and inserting a card tube, made up when wanted to any length
required for the enlargement. Some very simple, adaptable camera is
best, with a large plate-magazine attached to it, so that some dozens
can be carried at once. For ordinary views and small-scale objects
a simple hand camera is best. A pattern should be adopted which may
be the least liable to get out of order in a very dusty and gritty
climate; of the simplest mechanism, with a plain thrown-down pattern,
to carry a dozen flat films. As to the size of camera, the ¼ plate is
by far the most useful, being right for lantern slides and large enough
for most objects. Enlargements can be made to double size (or whole
plate) quite as good as collotype or net will reproduce them. The time
and work of using a whole-plate size are scarcely ever repaid by the
results for practical archaeology.
The fashion of wide-angle lenses is useless for everything excepting
architecture at close quarters. And for most objects it is very
detrimental to have so short a focus, as it distorts and spoils the
perspective. It is best to use too long a focus in order to get truer
views of objects, at least 6 inches focus for a ¼ plate. There does
not seem to be any appreciable gain in the newer patterns of lenses
over the older “rapid rectilinear” or “symmetrical”; and the positive
disadvantages of some recent lenses are seen in the smaller aperture
and lack of light for focussing, and the distortion at extreme edges.
The iris diaphragm is a disadvantage, as it brings in another variable,
while the time of exposure can be varied to any extent needed. It is
best to stick to one small stop, say _f_/100, and learn exposures
entirely on that basis; then in case of poor light a larger stop, as
_f_/25 or _f_/8, can be used proportionately to shorten the time.
Small stops can be made out of a strip of tin plate or blackened card;
and the hand camera can be stopped down with a pinhole stop stuck in
front of the lens so as to work at almost any nearness and scale with
exposures of ½ or 1 minute in full sunshine.
[Illustration: Fig. 38. Throwing sand; drop-shutter view.]
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Girls at rest; diagonal mirror view.]
The instantaneous shutter is a useless article for all fixed objects.
It is far better to work with a small stop which gives plenty of depth
of focus, and expose for 2 to 20 seconds, which is long enough for
_f_/100 on slow plates in Egypt. For direct enlargement of objects a
stop of _f_/200 is excellent, and only needs 30 seconds exposure. If
a shutter is wanted a simple drop can easily be extemporised (Fig.
38) fitting on to the front of the lens, and such will give fine
results. A diagonal mirror front can be made out of any decent scrap of
looking-glass, without showing any double image (Fig. 39).
Rapid films are another fashion better avoided, as for fixed objects
there is no great hurry. The slowest films made have never caused any
practical inconvenience in my work, and they are far safer to keep and
to develop. The skew-back is never needed except for architecture; and
in the few cases where it is necessary, the effect can always be as
well obtained by taking the plate square, and then copying it skewed
in a skew-back camera. The sliding and rising front is about the only
complication that is useful in serious work; and if a long focus lens
is used a large amount of slide can be obtained; but a camera with a
free-swinging lens turning to any angle would be the best form.
[Illustration: Fig. 40. Ivory tablet of Zer; light half with black,
dark half with white.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Bronze hypocephalus, XXX Dyn.; filled in with
white.]
[Illustration: DRESSING TOMBS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING.
Fig. 42. Wooden floor of Azab.]
[Illustration: DRESSING TOMBS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING.
Fig. 43. Naqada, prehistoric.]
[Sidenote: Preparing objects.]
The preparation of the object is a very important point. Any sunk
carving or inscription of small size should generally be filled in
with whiting (Fig. 41) or charcoal dust, according as the material
is dark or light, so as to give a strong contrast (Fig. 40). In case
of worn inscriptions on impervious stone, such as rock crystal, the
lines may be marked with China ink, dried on, and then gently wiped
with damp fingers until only the faint hollows retain the ink. What is
hardly visible to the eye can thus be brought up clearly. If hollows
are slight and smooth, so that they will not hold a powder, brush over
with stiff paste, wipe the face clean on a damp handkerchief, and
then press in the powder. Only rather coarse powders should be used,
in order to avoid staining the object. In field-work objects should
also be carefully dressed. Reliefs upon weathered stones (Fig. 37)
should be dusted over with sand, and then lightly wiped until just
the wrought relief is cleared, and the ground is left smoothed with
sand. Stones in building should be brushed or scraped clean, so as
to contrast with the earth. Joints in walls should be picked out or
brushed so as to show clearly. Sometimes, as in a flooring of wood
(Fig. 42), the whole should be entirely brushed clean, and then the
joints packed with the lightest-coloured sand so as to contrast well. A
grave needs hand-picking, and then every bone brushing clean, and the
ground between packing with dark earth to give contrast. All pottery
and objects should be entirely cleaned around, and lifted slightly
so as to show a clear outline. The proper dressing of a grave (Fig.
43) will easily occupy two hours of work. Nothing which adds to the
contrast and clearness of an object should be neglected. Sometimes
for dark objects it is well to dust them with very fine white powder,
as with a puff-ball, so as to give some light on the darker sides.
And for objects of mottled colour, such as carved porphyry, a coat of
flake-white water-colour is best, so as to show the relief only and
not the colour. For coins and gems there is no method to compare with
photographing from plaster casts, which are always used in serious work.
[Sidenote: Lighting.]
The lighting is the most important element in photographing. No other
requirement is so essential, for with bad lighting nothing can be
done. The rule of the light coming from the top left hand should
always be followed where no special direction is needed. Generally a
diagonal light is best for inscriptions, as most lines are vertical
or horizontal. An object should first be held with a moderately
oblique light on the face of it, then quickly revolved in the plane
of its face, so as to see the changing effect of light from different
directions, observing what lines disappear in various positions, and
selecting the most effective direction. On setting it up, with the sun
(or other light) in the best direction, the obliquity of the light
should then be tried, tilting the object more or less, until the
details are sufficiently shown without too heavy shadows. In case of a
human face the light should be nearly vertical, and the obliquity of
it sufficient to bring out the cheek curves to the best. Of course,
the position of the object must be regulated entirely by the direction
of the light, and a figure may need to be tilted in any position. A
conical or cylindrical object must be placed with its axis pointing a
little behind or below the light, so as to lighten the whole side. For
fixed objects, such as buildings, a timetable of the best hours for
each part should be drawn up and followed.
Beside direct lighting, subsidiary lighting is very useful. Any dark
shadows should be lighted with reflectors of white paper or card, or
actual mirror. Or during an exposure of several seconds, or more, a
transient mirror reflection can be played about the shadow, so as not
to show an edge to the light. When looking at the image on the ground
glass each part should be searched to see if any detail is lost by
shadow, or if an outline is lost against an equally dark background;
if so, some difference of lighting must be made. Various slips of card
may be fixed around the object, so as to cast shadows which will make
some part of a brightness differing from its background, and other
slips to cast lights on any dead part. For photographing an ebony
statuette (Fig. 44) I searched in the camera for each dead uniform
surface, and then fixed a slip of card so as to break the deadness with
a reflection; half a dozen such slips, at a foot or two distance, left
the figure without a single curve not brought out and intelligible.
[Illustration: LIGHTING BY REFLECTION.
Fig. 44. Ebony negress. XVIII Dyn.]
[Illustration: LIGHTING BY REFLECTION.
Fig. 45. Tomb of Sem-nefer. Gizeh.]
Reflectors are also very useful for lighting dark subjects. Three or
four sheets of tin plate should have the edges turned up to stiffen
them, and be of slightly different sizes so as to nest together for
carrying. One planted in the sunshine outside a tomb will send a beam
in, which may be reflected again by another. With three successive
reflections, round two right angles, I have lighted an entirely dark
chamber (Fig. 45) enough to photograph with five minutes exposure and
full aperture. The successive reflections so neutralise each other’s
variations that a very uniform lighting results.
If a flat surface with different colour is the object, then a light
exactly from behind the camera is best, so as to avoid any shadows. A
faint ink-writing on rough pottery will appear with a back light when
it seems quite hopeless in a side light. For papyri two equal electric
arc lights are placed, one on each side of the camera, so that there
can be no shadows and no reflections.
[Sidenote: Arrangement of objects.]
Backgrounds should be considered. For most objects there is nothing so
good as black velvet, as a long exposure can be taken so as to bring
out the shadows on the object, without any glare from the background.
The ground should extend far beyond the object, as any bright surface
near the object may make internal reflections in the camera. In short,
no bright surface should be visible within 60° of the axis of the
lens. For dark objects of which the outline alone is important a light
ground might be used; though even here probably a black ground and long
exposure would be better. A glass background with light or dark surface
some distance behind it is used sometimes, so as to avoid all shadows
from objects. But in many cases a shadow is positively useful, and adds
to the intelligibility of the view.
The direction of the camera is too often horizontal. For portable
objects a vertical position is generally better, and for groups it is
essential (Fig. 46). The background on which the objects are laid can
be tilted so as to get oblique light from sun or window, and the camera
tilted equally from the vertical by shifting the legs. Scraps of wax
can be stuck on below objects, so as to keep them in any exact position
required for lighting or viewing, or scraps of charcoal used as wedges
which do not show on the black backing. There is no need to trouble
about depth of focus, as the insertion of a small stop, as _f_/100, is
enough to bring up every part sharp. I have taken a bracelet (Fig. 47)
with the sides at 7 and 9 inches from the lens both in perfectly sharp
focus. In fact, a subject may be contracted into the plate by putting
it out of focus, and then focussed by the stop. For all cases of
large-scale photographs or enlargements it is best to focus by shifting
the distance from object to lens, and not from lens to plate.
[Illustration:
Fig. 46. Foundation deposit, laid out horizontally.]
[Illustration:
Fig. 47. Bracelet of King Zer, 7 and 9 ins. from lens.]
In setting up the camera everything should be done as far as possible
before looking into it,--the distance measured for the scale required,
the camera set square with the plane of the object in both directions,
and set so as to have the object upright on the plate. All of this can
be far better dealt with from outside. The actual focussing and slight
adjustments can then be done when viewing the ground glass. For skew
positions it is best to hold the camera in the hand where it ought
to be, keeping the legs turned up from the ground; and then drop the
legs one after another, so as to touch the ground or some object;
thus the camera will be left standing in the required position. The
stand should not have the legs packed by folding sideways; but they
should be capable of being shortened to the single length while fixed
to the camera, as it is often needful to support it only a foot from
the ground. A stand should be so made as to give the greatest range
of height. A common fault of beginners is not covering the plate, but
letting the image be smaller than necessary. Unless working to some
uniform scale, an object should be shown as large as the plate allows;
always remembering that a lantern slide will seldom take more than 3
inches diameter, and hardly a full 3 inches square. It is convenient
to fill a ¼ plate with a group, of which the least important objects
are at the sides, and so can be omitted in a lantern-slide print. A
most troublesome matter is taking a series of wall scenes so that they
will fit exactly together at the edges. Probably it pays best to do
them approximately in the field, and then enlarge in a copying camera
on to a ruled ground, and so remove all irregularities of scale and
of skewness. For working to a uniform scale it is best to fix it by
keeping the focal length unchanged and measuring the distance of the
camera from the object, and not to refer to the size on the glass.
[Sidenote: Stereographs.]
Stereographic views are most useful for confused masses of objects,
such as a field of ruins. And if there are no moving parts there is
no need to take them simultaneously. By shifting the camera to one
side, and taking a second plate, a perfect stereograph is obtained;
and whereever the chance is not to be repeated, and two plates are
taken to ensure success, a shift should be made so that both may be
used together. The amount of shift varies with the distance; for near
objects the distance between the eyes, 2½ or 3 inches, may suffice; for
a general view a foot or 2 feet is better, so as to give more solidity
than is naturally seen. Small objects must not be shifted by rotating
the object if there are sharp shadows, as such are falsified by the
turning; otherwise a slight twist of the object does for the second
view.
[Sidenote: Developing.]
It is undesirable to leave developing till long afterwards. In general
all negatives should be developed the evening after they are exposed;
thus the future exposures can be regulated, any defective plates can
be repeated, and deterioration and risks due to keeping are avoided.
In the variety of developers the old pyrogallic acid remains still
one of the most reliable. The fanciful instructions about proportions
are exploded at once by a glance at the table compiled by Captain
Abney. By adopting the mean proportions of all the makers, which is 1
soda carbonate, 1 soda sulphite, and 20 water, as a stock solution,
and adding about 3 grains per ¼ plate of pyrogallic when using, very
uniformly good results are obtained with short exposures. Of course
long exposures require bromide; but that is very seldom needful. Extra
local developing by tilting the dish, or painting with a brush, is
useful in case of shadows. Tabloid developers are best avoided, as
they cause delay in dissolving; and made-up solutions are cumbrous
and expensive. The quantities needed can always be put out by guess,
taking ¼ of an 8-ounce bottle at a time of soda salts, and weighing
pyrogallic for once to know the look of it. For hyposulphite of soda
fill the bottle ⅓ full of crystals, and fill up with water. If a less
strong and more graded picture is needed then glycin seems preferable
to pyrogallic acid.
No dark room is needed; developing can always be done in the evening.
A red paper envelope split at the bottom and put round the chimney of
an ordinary lamp, will best screen the light. The diffused light of
a room will not hurt slow plates in developing, and a sheet of brown
paper over each tray makes all safe. A first soak in weak pyrogallic
solution, to flatten the films, is best before developing. For washing
where water may be scarce it suffices to have a row of six soup plates
of water, and to pass each film through each plate for five minutes,
so completing the washing of each in half an hour. A zinc box with 6
or 8 divisions, shifting the negatives forward through each division,
will also work well. For drying it is best to have a row of pins along
the edge of a shelf, and then to punch out a small hole in a corner
of the film and hang it up, with the gelatine face under the shelf to
keep dust from it. A dusty evening in Egypt will leave each film like
a piece of sandpaper; and in case of this the films can be afterwards
rapidly washed under a stream of water, wiping with a lump of
cotton-wool. This will be enough without resoaking the film. Owing to
the dryness of the air in Egypt films generally curl up in drying, and
if forcibly flattened they are liable to strip. They are best packed
in lots of about 50, coiled up together as a cylinder, and wrapped in
a turn of paper. When in England they can be flattened out by being
left near an open window in damp weather, or dipped in water and left
to dry. For quick drying, films may with care be stood inside a fender
before a fire, and finished over a lamp chimney. I have thus dried them
in about twenty minutes.