The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-11-26
PHOTOS. IN COMMERCE.
THE VARIOUS USE OF PHOTOGRA
PLY FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES.

PLY FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES.
Pictures Of Merchandise Which Are Car
ried in Place of samples-How the
Pictures Are Taken-The Process of
PhotO-E engraving.
"Where do you think that stuff is 90
ing?" said prominent furniture manu-
facturer to a reporter as he pointed to a
vanload of handsomely upholstered
touches and chairs.
ITO some retail furniture store, sup
pose"
Not they; a new design in our line is
Ike a fashionable beauty, as soon as it is
.roperly made up it goes to have its pict-
taken. You wOuldn. { think that our
'arIy outlay for photographing foots up
50 four figures; but mustn' t complain,
- a good deal cheaper than the old sys-
Hur whole trade outside the city is
by means of photographs. Each one
IT drummers carries a valise full of
inest pictures that art can produce.
also furnish customers with copies
II they desire them. OF course each
IN las its novelties, when new mega
g. must be made and the obsolete ones
,wn aside"
not come to your place to do the
K. 1t would surely be better than
ting around such heavy goods"
4 thought so, too, at one time, but it
.udn't work. His place is much better
;pted for the production of fine work in
line, and as good photographs make
:Isands of dollars difference to US in
course of year we always send them
MIN now
70 Oh
urpOses?"
Yes, indeed; and its convenience and
-deapnesS, as compared with older meth
DDS are being better recognized every
.iay. Go up to our artists place and you
will open your eyes.
MAKING COMMERCIAL PICTURES.
formerly nearly every photograph gal
lery did some commercial work" said the
artist, after the usual introduction, "us-
ing the same lenses as for portraits, but
now there are three or four establish
ments in the city especially adapted to
this branch of the business, and with ap-
paratus and lenses made for Photographic
inaniLOate objects only. The two branches
are now quite distinct, each requiring
special training and different appliances.
Our main work is pictures of mer-
chandise which are carried in place OF
samples, or from which catalogue cuts
are made. We do a great many outdoor
views of bridges, houses, business blocks,
monuments, public buildings, and inter
iors We often have comm issiOns from
private detectives or from the authorities
at the city hall. We also turn out large
number of architectural drawings and
sun pictures. But come into the Operat-
ing-room and see for yourself"
This was a large, lofty room, rooted
with glass and protected from the glare
of the sun on all sides by skillfully ar
ranged curtains. 1t contains a. most
heterogeneous collection of articles, and
could easily have been mistaken for an
auction-room or second hand store. Fur
niture of all sizes and shapes, stoves,
boots and shoes, clocks, screw presses,
china, glassware, plaster casts, safes, re-
frigerators, musical instruments, electro
plated ware, trunks, etc, lay scattered
about in confusion. This room also con-
tanned several large Photographic cam
eras with lenses of different sizes and
platforms upon which to properly pose
the articles to be photographed.
The next room was also large, but
seemed bare in comparison with the last.
Here the process of phOto-engraphing
was carried on. The proprietor illus
trated the different stages of the process
as follows:
PROCESS OF PHOTO-ENGRAVING.
"a negative of the engraving or drawing
to be represented is first made in the ordi-
nary way with the camera. A perfectly
clean plate of glass of the proper size is
taken, and gelatine, which has been sensi-
tized with chemicals, is poured upon it.
The negative is placed in contact with the
gelatine, and both plates are then exposed
to the light. After the exposure has con-
tinued a proper period the gelatinized
plate is washed in clear water, the parts
which have been affected by the light are
washed away, and the plate is then per-
feet fac-simile in relief of the original neg
ative-in short, the negative on exposure
acts upon the sensitized gelatine just as
the sunlight acts upon the nitrate of sill
yer on an ordinary prepared plate. The
gelatine is then hardened by bath of
alum, after which liquid plaster of paris
is poured over 1t. When dry it is ready
for the electrOtyper, who from this plaster
of Paris mold produces in the ordinary
way cut ready for printing"
In this room also designs were trans
ferred to y8ooden blocks for engravers at
a cost which was fractional as compared
to the expense of drawing by hand.
On the other side of the establishment
was the printing room" No Hoe" or
Bullock" perfecting presses were at work.
In their stead "OId Sol" was willingly
doing his part. 1t was a sunny afternoon,
and the work was progressing rapidly.
Some large architectural tracings were
also being exposed.
"Tracings of all kinds are done by sun
photography" said our guide, without
using the camera. a sheet of plain white
paper is coated on one side with salts of
iron. When dry it is fastened to a board,
and upon it is placed the original design,
drawn on tracing-paper. 1t is then ex-
posed to the light and in about twelve
minutes the marks Of the tracings are
transferred to the coated sheet and appear
in white lines, the remainder turning
light blue, as you see. From a single
tracing we can make any required num-
Der of copies. What are termed solar
pictures are produced upon the same
principle They are simply enlarged
copies of an original portrait.