PRINTING THE LANDSCAPE PICTURE.
A trial print from a negative should first of all be taken, to enable
the operator to gauge as to how much is required to be done to it.
A piece of sensitized paper of the exact size of the plate is taken
and examined by transmitted light in the dark room. If there be any
appearance of markings due to bubbles, or of star-like metallic spots,
probably due to small particles of iron being in the albumen, it need
not be rejected altogether. Should there be any of these defects, the
sheet should be placed on one side to cut up into smaller sizes. We will
suppose that we are going to print a 15 by 12 negative. A strong frame
(of the description given at page 44) must be employed, and the thick
plate glass carefully freed from all dust, grit, or stains. The back
of the negative is then placed in contact with it, so as to occupy the
centre of the frame. The piece of sensitive paper is placed over it, and
the back placed loosely over it, and is then carried face downward into
the place where the printing is to be done, and the frame is placed face
downwards on the floor, and left for a few minutes. By this artifice the
paper takes the same degree of humidity as the atmosphere, and there
will be no danger of any cockling, and consequent (as it is termed) want
of contact, between the paper and the negative. This is only necessary
when there is any very great difference in the temperature of the drying
room and the place where the prints are to be exposed, and in some
establishments the difficulty is met by carrying the whole supply of
paper in a closed box into the latter place, and allowing it to absorb
any moisture that it can take up. In any case, the paper is next to be
placed in absolute contact with the negative, and we strongly recommend
the use of sheets of blotting-paper cut to the proper size (about four
thicknesses will be sufficient), and backed by a thick pad of closely
woven and very smooth felt. These latter are rather expensive, but are
very durable if ordinary care be taken of them. The blotting-paper is
useful in causing contact, and also because any accidental presence
of silver nitrate solution on the back of the sensitive paper is
immediately detected, and there is, consequently, no danger of carrying
it to another print and spoiling it, which it might do were it absorbed
by the felt pad.
The back of the frame is then placed _in situ_, and the hinged
cross-piece brought down and secured by the fasteners. If the springs be
sufficiently strong, the film of the negative should now be in absolute
contact with the sensitive paper. If there be any grit on the plate
glass, or adhering to the back of the negative, it is highly probable
that the glass plate will crack, and if the plate on which the negative
is taken be very curved,[20] the same disaster may be expected. Suppose
the day to be bright, and the negative fairly dense, the frame may
be placed for the trial print facing away from the sun (if there be
any) so that it receives merely skylight, and no direct rays. When the
transparent parts of the negative seem to have taken a fairly black or
brown colour, the print should be examined. In practice we have found
(supposing the printing room be away from the dark room) that a cloth
of thin yellow calico is a useful adjunct during the examination.
The cloth is large enough to cover the frame and also the head of the
operator. One half of the back is loosened and raised, the half pieces
are pulled back, and the paper will probably be found adhering to the
negative, and may require a little manoeuvring to separate it. A very
thin slip (of the size of a toothpick) of soft wood, sharpened at one
end, is a good implement to employ, as by inserting it the paper can be
separated at one corner, and then be raised by the fingers. We have seen
some printers blow against the paper, as if they were separating the
leaves of a book from one another, but this method is to be deprecated,
since particles of saliva are apt to be carried on to the paper with
the breath, and to cause spots, which often appear unaccountable.
Should the print appear slightly deeper than it is required to remain,
it is probably ready to be withdrawn from the action of light, but the
remaining half of the paper must next be examined to see whether such is
the case. To do this the first half of the pressure-board of the frame
which is loose must be pressed down once more into position, the frame
reversed end for end, and the other half of the board opened.
If the print is large (say 15 by 12) it is not advisable to look at much
of it at once, or for a longer time than can be avoided. It constantly
happens that on a warm day the paper contracts during the short time
necessary for a proper examination of the print; the consequence is,
that the paper does not fall on the same place on the negative when
reflected, and the result is a double print on the paper.
The printing being judged to be complete, the paper is withdrawn by
taking off pressure-board and pads, and put away for the further
operations of toning and fixing. In one establishment we are acquainted
with, the prints when taken from the frame are placed in a box the lid
of which is pierced by a hole covered with a dark cloth; whilst others
keep them in a press of blotting-paper. The great point to attend to,
however, is to keep them away from all actinic light; and we should
say, further, from all light, since darkened silver chloride becomes
oxidized in light which is usually considered to be non-actinic.
No doubt every printer is aware that the prints produced from the
same negative and on the same sample of albumenised paper similarly
sensitized vary considerably in richness and depth on different days.
For instance, when the light is bad, and when, consequently, the
printing takes a long time, the colour of the darkened surface will
be found to be much duller than on a day when the light is powerful.
Silver albuminate is much less sensitive to feeble light, whilst in
bright light the difference in sensitiveness is not nearly so marked,
and this may account in a certain degree for the difference; but if any
one takes the trouble to expose sensitised albumenized paper to bright
light so as to darken, and then to cover up half, leaving the other half
to be exposed to the light coming through ruby-glass, it will be found
that there is a difference in colour between the two portions, and on
toning the differences will be still more marked. In dull weather the
red and yellow rays bear a greater proportion to the blue and violet
rays (all of which enter into the composition of white light) than
they do on a bright day. It is the blue and violet rays that reduce
the silver chloride to the state of sub-chloride, and then oxidize the
latter; yet it must be remembered that the red and yellow also oxidize
the sub-chloride without being able primarily to produce it. Hence on
a bright day, when the printing is quick, the red and yellow rays have
but little time to do any work, whilst on a dull day they have plenty
of opportunity of oxidizing the sub-chloride as fast as it is formed.
The oxidized image is always more difficult to tone than one which is
unoxidized, hence the advantage of printing in a good light if possible.
The writers believe that one of the principal causes of the variation in
tone of silver prints, which is only too often to be seen, is caused by
this difference in length of exposure to the light.
The operator must now be supposed to be cognizant of the operations of
toning and fixing which are to be described in subsequent chapters,
and that he has the finished trial print of the particular landscape
negative before him. He sees whether the middle distance or far distance
is obtrusive, and notes which portions require to be softened down by
tissue paper, or to be brought nearer by strengthening the high-lights,
and eventually forms a picture of it as it should be, centring his
imagination in it as built up round the point of principal interest. He
endeavours to see whether the sweeps of light and shade lead up to this
principal object in the view, and whether, if light, it is in contrast
with an immediate dark part of the picture, or _vice versa_.
Knowing that this is one of the laws of art, he next should endeavour
practically to give effect to his imaginative picture by the judicious
manipulation of tissue paper, the crayon, and the paint, such as
described in Chapter IX. The next point to attend to is as to whether
the picture requires clouds or not, and if he have a stock of cloud
negatives of the right size, he must endeavour to pick out one, a
portion of which will compose well with the lines of the picture,[21]
and at the same time be correct as regards light and shade. When such
a negative is selected, it remains to print it in. A white sky is an
abomination, and a plain tinted one without gradation is nearly as bad.
If, therefore, the operator has the heart and means to do this double
printing, he should never neglect to do it.
But we would here remind him that when a sky-negative has been used
with a particular view, it should always be devoted to that landscape.
Nothing could be in worse taste, or further from nature, than to use
the same sky with different landscapes. We once saw a frame of sixteen
views, thirteen of which were backed with the same sky; this was bad
enough, but the absurdity went further, and in the same exhibition were
landscapes by another photographer with the same sky! The inference is
that both these photographers bought their sky negatives, printed them,
and exhibited them as their own--a proceeding to which a harsh name
might be given. To use a cloud negative properly, the reader should
consult the chapter on "Combination Printing."
There is another artifice, however, that does away with the blank sky.
It is practised by some of the leading photographers in England, and may
be put in requisition instead of the more elaborate double printing. In
order to do this, a not quite opaque sky--that is, one which "prints
in" a little--is necessary. Very effective clouds may be produced by a
paint-brush and lamp-black, Indian ink, or gamboge, by painting them
artistically _at the back of the negative_. It matters not if the clouds
so formed show sharp lines and dots, since, if the printing be done in
diffused light, the thickness of the glass plate on which the negative
is taken shades these off, and gives them the soft edges which are
natural to clouds. The clouds may take any of the usual shapes as seen
in nature, and the paint should not be applied too strongly, but should
have a certain amount of transparency. In some negatives we have seen
taken on dry plates, the sky was very transparent, and, when printed
in the ordinary manner, showed a good deal more than perceptible tint.
Yet, by a judicious masking, fleecy clouds floating in a light sky were
produced, which deceived the greatest connoisseurs in such matters.
We will now describe how such a negative should be prepared for printing.
Black varnish should be carefully run round the sky-line on the face
of the negative, for about a quarter of an inch. On the back of the
negative the medium should cover the sky to within one-eighth of an inch
of the sky-line, and by this means a sharp but _slightly softened edge_
of the distant landscape was projected. The breadth of the black varnish
border on the back was slightly greater than that on the film side of
the negative, being about an inch. A piece of cardboard was also roughly
cut out to the sky-line, and left sufficiently broad so as to more than
cover the sky when laid flat on it. The negative with the clouds painted
on it was now placed in the pressure-frame, with the sensitive paper in
contact with it. Outside the frame, and corresponding with the sky-line,
the edge of the cardboard was placed, a small bar to act as a weight
was placed across it as shown in the figure, and the top end supported
by a couple of wooden pegs. The printing took place in diffused light.
When the picture was withdrawn from the frame, the sky, being shaded
gradually by the card, was printed in lightly, whilst the remaining
portion of the negative received the full light; the sky, as is right it
should be, was darker near the zenith than toward the horizon, where it
was, in fact, white; but since the clouds were printed in at the top,
the baldness of the white sky was avoided.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 20.]
Excellent clouds may also be produced by the stump and crayon on tissue
paper, many of the effects of delicate clouds being capable of being
produced in this manner. A certain amount of skill is required in
producing them, but nothing beyond that which a little practice can give.
We may add that, instead of using this cardboard shade, some printers
prefer first to entirely mask the sky and print in the landscape, than
to mask the landscape, and to use a movable screen over the negative,
drawing it backwards and forwards during exposure, taking the precaution
that the top of the sky receives the most exposure. The method of
using the cloud negative, we have already said, will be found in the
chapter on "Combination Printing." Above all things, the printer must
bear in mind that if there be any _distance_ in the picture, the sky,
when it meets the margin, must be only very delicately tinted. Let it
be remembered that a picture is often spoilt by printing in clouds too
heavily. The clouds for an effect should be most delicate, with no heavy
massive shadows which overwhelm those of the landscape itself. We are
only talking of the ordinary landscape when the effect of storms is not
desired. It is not within the scope of this work to show how a landscape
and a sky negative may be printed into one plate to form a transparency
from which a new negative may be made; suffice it to say that, by using
collodio-chloride, or by the use of a slow dry plate and exposing to
candle light, the former may be produced in almost the same way that the
print is produced, and a negative may then be produced in the camera or
by a dry plate.