The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-06-18
TAKING PICTURES.
Ministers, Doctors, Naval Officers, and
Tourists Amateur Photographers.

1t is not unusual nowadays for a
visitor to the country to see half
a dozen cameras surrounding any
picturesque or historical spot, and ii is
common indeed, :, aile sitting toward
nightfall on the hotel veranda, to see
| many of the guests walk wearily in,
carrying the tripod, camera, and plate
box that 90 to make up the amateur
| photographer outfit. The amateur
photography craze has spread all over
the United States, and has even flowed
over On the West India Islands, and
| into south America. The manufacture
OF amateur photographers outfits has
become business in itself, and Is daily
increasing in magnitude.
Three or four years ago amateur
| photographers were almost as rare as
black swans, but now they are nearly
as abundant as sparrows. At that
time amateurs had to have almost as
| much chemicals and parapherpalia as
| the professional. The cumbersome
| silyerbath, in which the solution had to
| be just so or the plates would come out
| cloudy, the developer, which had to be
| made from half dozen chemicals, and
a dozen other things which were neces-
sary to taking photographs, were
| enough to frighten out almost any
| novice.
A new process appeared. 1t did
away with the silver bath and many
| other things. 1t was called the dry
plate process. All that the amateur
| needed was to buy the plates, which
were already prepared, slap them in
| to the camera, and make the exposure.
| The developer came in bottles with
directions for its use. Anybody with
ordinary intelligence could take photo
graphs. OF course the photographs
might not be very good, but still anna
teurs could take them.
There was a general rush to buy
Photographic outfits but, as cameras,
| lenses, and stands were very large and
expensive, only the rich could indulge
in them. Besides, they were too cum
bersome to carry around, and as tour
lists made up the large part of the
amateurs there came a demand for
light and cheap apparatus.
Now amateur outfits can be bought
at almost any price. A very respecta-
BILE outfit. consisting of view camera,
with single lense, for making by s
| inch pictures, adouble dry-plate holder,
| a folding tripod and carrying case, q
dozen dry-plates, 4 bottle of developer,
sensitzed paper, and a printing frame
costs SIC. A similar outfit, only with
the camera of smaller size, costs SO.
Either portraits or views can be taken
| with them.
One of the largest dealers in amateur
| photographers outfits, whose store
rooms in Fulton street hold cameras,
| lenses, tripods, and plates OF every size
and kind, says that 1t is with difficulty
that he can promptly fill his many
| orders.
Almost everybody who goes into
| the country, nowadays he said,
wants TO take Photographic apparatus
along. They like to take pictures of
tic places that they visit. so that they
| can show them to their friends when
| they return home. You have no idea
of the rivalry that exists between some
OF these amateurs. They not only
want to have the best pictures, but the
| most. They can take a lot, too. One
of the advantages of dry plates is that
you needn' develop them for months.
You see the view you want to photo
graph, plant your tripod, get the focus,
and put in your dry plate. After the
exposure, you put the plate into your
carrying-boX. 1t may be developed
just as well three months later as the
| next day. I'll tell you privately that a
large majority just bring the plates
home, and then get some photographer
| to develop them and print the photo
graphs
Tourists are not the only amateurs
who daoble in photography. There are
ministers, doctors, naval officers, SOL
diers, and persons in almost every pro-
fession. There are lady amateurs, too.
Engineer Henry, of the City of Angus
ia, and the engineer of the Tallahassee
have been making photographs for
years. There is a Catholic priest in
this city who is an artist. l could give
you the names of dozen ministers in
towns and villages within a radius of
fifty miles of this city who are amateur
photographers, and not bad ones,
either
Il have noticed one thing" the deal
er continued. ''In almost every in
stance, as the amateur gets more in
terested, he buys more expensive ap-
paratus. He begins with cheap out
fit, but it is not long before the desire
to get the better of his friends induces
him to buy first better camera and
lenses and then other things. Our
orders are from all over the country.
Ibis week we have sent outfits to Flor
| ida, California, Ohio, and other far
away states. Not long ago we sent a
lot of apparatus to Trinidad. We have
| also sent to Cuba and South America
Although a good deal of photograph
| ing is dCne in winter, it is nothing like
| what is done in warmer weather. There
are some who have passion for winter
scenes, ana ofton on the coolest days
yuu may find them taking pictures of
snow-covered trees and frozen streams.
There have been more winter views
taken of places in Central park than
would fill dozen galleries. l don't
think this craze for photographing by
amateurs has hurt the business OF the
professional photographers much. 1t
has brought down the prices of the
plates and chemicals, so that the pro-
tession have protited.
Amateur outfits cost anywhere from
$40 to 5000. have seen as sharp and
clean a picture made with a SIC outfit
as any person could desire. The dry
plates are sold in packages containing
dozen each. They cost from 45 cents
dozen up, depending on the size.
They are of glass coated with sensitiZed
gelatine. After the exposure and
development the plate becomes
negative from which as many photo
graphs may be printed as one wants"
Nes0 York Sam
In reviewing a posthumous work by
DR.. Rolleston of the British Museum,