Photography, throughout its varied range, produces no more charming
or satisfying picture than the transparency, whether it is on glass
for the window, or on porcelain or opal for the lamp.
The beautiful and sparkling gradation of light and shade, the
variety and depth and richness of tone and color inherent in a fine
example of this picture, renders it most positively "a thing of
beauty and a joy forever,"
It is a picture made by a peculiarly simple and easy process, the
most exalted expressions of which have always commanded the popular
favor and a high price, and the working of which has, both for the
amateur and the professional photographer, the highest interest and
attractiveness. By no other method or process can the amateur
succeed in producing pictures of [p213] equal excellence, with
the same outlay of time and skill, which is a peculiarly fortunate
circumstance, as the tendency among amateurs at this time is to form
themselves into clubs and societies for the exchange of their most
beautiful and successful efforts as picture makers. And an exchange
in the form of a transparency enables the receiver to command all
other styles of pictures, through the negative that may be produced
from it.
The production of these pictures has assumed such importance already
as to have called forth a special dry plate for making
transparencies, to say nothing of the other special goods for the
same line, such as metal frames, ground, engraved and etched glass
for mounting, the beautiful borders of which greatly enhance the
beauty and elegance of the finished picture.
Transparencies are adaptable for the exhibition of every kind of
picture that can be copied; paintings, engravings, portraits,
landscapes, all become equally acceptable when skilfully finished
and properly displayed.
By this process, also, the amateur is enabled to provide himself
with slides for his magic lantern and to have the satisfaction of
exhibiting to his friends the trophies of his own skill in the use
of the camera and the developing solution.
The amateur, in order to succeed in producing high class work,
should possess himself of one of Anthony's duplicating and copying
cameras, so that he may be enabled to avail himself of both methods
of work; that is to say, by the camera and by contact printing, as
by the latter method he is restricted to the range and size of his
negatives, while by aid of the camera he is enabled to copy all
kinds of pictures to acceptable sizes, [p214] and he can make his
transparencies of equal size with his negative, or vary the size to
suit the requirements of the case.
The use of the duplicating and copying camera is fully detailed in
the article on Duplicating Negatives. By its use the amateur is
enabled to work by the wet collodion process, which has many
advantages, or by the dry plate process, using Anthony's
transparency plates or the gelatino albumen plates made in
Philadelphia. If he confines himself to contact printing, he is
restricted to the use of dry plates only.
The outfit of goods for making and finishing transparencies consists
of:
Transparency frames, common and patented, made with rings for
hanging horizontally or vertically.
Ground glasses, with borders.
Etched glasses, with borders.
Anthony's transparency plates.
Gelatino albumen plates.
Porcelain and opal plates for lamp shades, etc., etc.