A LESSON IN PHOTOGRAPHY
By consulting a time-table the boys found that a train for Railings
left at ten minutes after eight in the morning. The distance to the
city was thirty-three miles and the run on the country railroad took
the best part of an hour and a quarter.
Snap, Whopper and Giant were on hand ten minutes before train time.
They found the doctor's son ahead of them, and he had tickets for all.
"Well, how did you make out at home?" was the question asked by
several, and then it was learned that all had had an easy time of it
persuading their parents to let them go on the proposed outing to the
Windy Mountains.
"My folks told me to beware of ghosts," said Snap with a grin.
"We needn't beware if the ghost turns out to be like that other,"
answered Giant.
"My folks told me to keep out of trouble especially with Ham Spink's
crowd," said Whopper.
"Say, fellows, I reckon you have forgotten something," said Shep.
"Forgotten something?" queried Whopper.
"Exactly."
"What?"
"There's a circus at Rallings---to-day and tomorrow."
"Why, so there is!" exclaimed Giant. "How queer we didn't remember
it before! Casso's United Railroad Shows. Do you suppose it is
worth going to see?"
"I don't know. But as the admission is only twenty-five cents we
might take it in---if we get the chance."
"Oh, let us take it in, by all means," pleaded Whopper. "Why, I'm
dying to see the elephants and acrobats and all that!"
"Seems to me you're dying pretty often lately," answered Snap with a
smile. "You ought to become a dyer by trade!" And then he ducked as
Whopper made a playful pass at his head.
When the train came along the lads found it well filled, mostly with
country folks going to Railings to see the circus. They had to
stand up part of the distance to the city.
"Maybe the photographer will be so busy he won't want to bother giving
us lessons," said Snap.
"Maybe," answered the doctor's son. "We'll have to take our chances."
Reaching Rallings, the boys hurried at once to the studio of the
photographer. They found Mr. Jally taking a family group of father,
mother and three sons, and had to wait until the sitting was over.
While they waited they watched the crowds on the street.
"Going to be plenty of folks here to see the circus," was Snap's
comment, and his words proved true, folks flocking in from every
quarter of the surrounding districts.
When Mr. Jally was at liberty he read Dr. Reed's letter with interest.
"The doctor mentioned this to me when he was in Rallings last
Saturday," said the photographer. "I said I'd do what I could for
you lads. I am sorry it is circus day, as I am likely to be busy.
But I'll give you all the time I can spare."
"We can come to-morrow, too," said Shep. "We are going to stay
in Rallings over night."
"Good! I think I can give you quite a few pointers in that time. I
believe you all know something about photographs already."
"Yes; here are some of our snapshots," said the doctor's son, and he
brought forth the pictures the boys had taken on their various outings.
"These are not bad," pronounced the photographer after an examination.
"Some of them are very good. They indicate that you have it in you
to take some good pictures." And then he went over the prints
carefully one by one, telling them which seemed to be under exposed
and which over, and which had not been properly developed and printed.
Then he went into the question of grouping and centering and focusing,
and told them how best to time their exposures. He was interrupted
twice by girls who wanted their pictures taken, and then he told
them a great deal about the values of lights and shades, and about
suitable backgrounds. Then he brought forth an album of outdoor
views and told them to study what was written under each picture.
"There is the time of day and the day of the month," he said, "and
also the condition of the weather. These figures show the 'stop'
of the shutter, and these the length of the exposure. Have you a
timecard for exposures?"
"No; but we are going to get one," answered Shep.
"They are quite valuable; but even with a card one must often use
his own judgment as to just what stop to use and how much time.
If you are particularly anxious about a picture you had better take
two or three exposures of it, instead of only one. Even the best
of photographers occasionally fail to get good results on a first
trial."
After that Mr. Jally brought forth several cameras he had used in
outdoor work and explained how they might be used to the best
advantage in taking different kinds of pictures and under various
conditions.
"Strange as it may seem," he said, "no two scenes can be handled
alike. In one the background may be very light and in the other very
dark. One day the atmosphere may be very clear, the next it may be
very dense."
"Yes, we know that, and we have found out that clouds over the sun
make a big difference," said Snap.
The boys spent the balance of the morning and nearly all of the
afternoon with the photographer, and learned many things of which
they had been formerly ignorant. He recommended that they purchase
and study several books on photography, and this they agreed to do.
"I see by the letter that Dr. Reed wishes me to pick out your
cameras," said Mr. Jally. "I am going to the city Saturday and
will get them and leave them at the doctor's house Saturday evening."
"And will you get the films and plates and other things, too?"
questioned Whopper.
"Yes. The doctor wants a complete outfit, including a daylight
developing tank, and all the chemicals for developing and printing.
Then you can see what your pictures look like before you leave camp,
and if a picture doesn't suit you can take it over again."
"Not if it's a wild beast," answered Giant with a grin.
"In the case of wild animals you had better save your films or plates
until you get home. Developing in camp is not conducive to the best
work, and you might lose the very film or plate you wanted the most."
"Yes, I know something about that," said Whopper. "I once took a
beautiful picture---at least, I thought it was beautiful---of a
flock of sheep, and when I tried to develop the plate in a hurry
I got one end light-struck, so it was no good."
"Yes, and once, when I was in a hurry to develop a roll of films I
had of a military parade," said Snap, "I got the hypo in the tank
instead of the developing solution, and that was the end of that
roll."
"This is a good rule to remember," said the photographer. "Never
open the shutter of your camera until you are certain you are ready
to take the picture, and never attempt to develop a plate or a film
until you are sure your chemicals are properly mixed, and until you
are sure you have everything at hand with which to work, and until
you are sure the plate or film is properly protected from the light."
The boys were surprised when Mr. Jally announced that it was supper
time and that he must go home.
"Gracious! And I told my aunt we'd be to supper by six o'clock!"
exclaimed Shep. "We'll have to leg it to her house."
"Come again to-morrow at nine o'clock," said the photographer, and
this the chums promised to do.
"Well, I've learned a whole lot to-day," said Snap as they walked
along. "I am sure I can take a much better picture than formerly."
"And I've learned one little lesson," came from Whopper. "After
this I am not going to take so many snapshots of landscapes. I am
going to take time exposures, and put my camera on a tripod, and
study the scene through the ground glass, to get the best view
possible."
Mrs. Carson, the doctor's sister, had given the boys their dinner,
and now she had supper on the table waiting for them. Their
experiments of the afternoon had made them hungry, and all
"pitched in" with a vigor that made the good woman smile.
"What do you intend to do this evening?" she asked.
"We are going to the circus, Aunt Jennie," answered Shep. "Father
said we might go."
"I thought as much. Don't stay out too late."
"We'll come home as soon as the show is over."
"Well, if it gets too late I'll put the key out for you---under the
front-door mat," said Mrs. Carson. "I fancy you can find your way
to your rooms."
"Certainly," answered Snap.
"You needn't stay up for us, Aunt Jennie," said Shep, who knew his
relative was in the habit of retiring early.
"I am not going to bed so very early, Shep. I am afraid some of
those tramps who follow the circus will come and rob me. I heard
the town was full of the good-for-nothings."
"You had better lock up good after we are gone," said Giant.
"No fear but what I'll do that," answered Mrs. Carson.
"We'll try not to wake you up when we come in, aunty."
"I'll hear you, never fear. And, Shep, if you are hungry when you
get back, you'll find a jar of cookies in the pantry, and a pitcher
of milk in the icebox."
"Good for you!" cried the doctor's son, and he ran around the table
and gave his aunt a hug and a kiss. "You know what boys like, don't
you?"
The four chums were soon on their way to the circus grounds, located
on the outskirts of Railings. Here they found erected a large main
tent and several smaller ones, all lit up by numerous gasolene
torches. At one side of the main tent was a side show, with numerous
pictures hung between high poles. Near the entrance to the big
show was a ticket wagon, and here a long line of people were awaiting
their turns to get the bits of pasteboard which would admit them to
the wonders under the canvases.
"Going to have a big crowd and no mistake," observed Snap as he looked
at the folks flocking to the circus grounds.
"I heard they had a big crowd this afternoon, too," said Giant.
"They had a big crowd and a big fight," said a man standing near.
"A fight?" queried Whopper.
"Yes. It's a wonder somebody wasn't killed."
"What was the fight about?" questioned the doctor's son.
"Why, it seems the head boss of the show discharged four of the wagon
drivers for drunkenness. The fellows wanted their full month's
wages and the boss wouldn't give it to them. Then they got ugly
and commenced to tamper with some of the animals. The boss called
some of his other men, and all hands had a big fight right in the
menagerie tent. One boy who was looking on got hit with a club,
and a lady fainted, and they almost had a panic. Then the police
took a hand, and one of the fellows who was discharged was arrested.
The other three got away."
"Yes, and those other three men say they are coming back," said a
farmer who stood near and who had overheard the conversation. "I
saw them at supper time, back of Lum's hotel. They say they are
going to get square on the circus boss, even if they have to break
up the whole show to do it."
"I hope they don't come back to-night," said Snap. "I don't want
to get mixed up in any quarrel."
"Me either," answered the farmer. "I want to see the show, and
that's all."
"I don't think they'll come back," said the first man who had spoken.
"If they did the police would arrest them on sight. They'll go to
the next town and lay for the circus there."
By this time the boys had worked their way up to the ticket wagon.
Each purchased a ticket of admission, and a moment later all passed
on to the inside of the main tent.