Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-01-24
pHoToeRApHY AS A pAsrIMg.
The Possibilities for Pleasure and Instruc-
tion Which 1t Presents.

VaJlng tendencies OF the modern devices
for health giving recreation. To the lover
of those polite diversions that are devoid
of the elements of daring adventure and
the prowess of reckless exposure, the
study of field photography presents at
fractions that are imcomparably superior
to those of other outdoor pastimes.
Photography enjoys an acknowledged
supremacy over all other outdoor sports
in that it cultivates the finer instincts
and depends not for its fascinating feat
ures upon an exhibition of physical har-
dihood or athletic training. The pursuit
of the pastime is beyond question emo
bling and refining in its influence. 1t de
velops a keen and artistic eye for the
beautiful in nature. Through the mys-
tic and enchanting alchemy of the dark
room" it brings the receptive mind into
contact with the great Artist who has
filed the earth and sky with such regal
beauty.
The whole realm Of nature with its
green fields and woodland symposium
Of daisies and buttercups, its babbling
brooks, where the laughing rivulets go
Gathering with their silver heels over the
stony depths and the nodding lilies drink
in copious libations from the perpetual
foun.-allthis is the kingdom of theama-
teur photographer.
The pastime is one that not only con-
duces 20 physical exhilaration, but,
through the fascinating mystery of its
results, it engages our admiration and
enlists our ripest mental endeavor. Other
outdoor sports are largely calculated for
the development of the body without
rendering TO the mind any adequate rec
ompense. Moreover, such pastimes as
hunting, fishing, lawn tennis and base
ball combine elements of roughness that
are incompatible with the refined deli
cacy of the gentler sex. Photography is
a recreation admirably adapted to both
sexes
After all, the excellence of the results
accomplished are dependent upon the
skill of the artist. The time of the ex-
posure must be regulated according to
the light and the character of the subject.
To make indiscriminate ''shots" at all
sorts of objects is the pastime of the
schoolboy and not of the artist. The most
beautiful effects are obtained by proper
study of the lights and shadows of the
landscape, coupled with a skillful ex-
posure of such duration as is best calcu-
lated to draw out all the beauties of the
scene. The dark foliage of trees will re-
quire longer exposure than Il house that
has been painted white. And in this
connection it is proper to remark that the
most inane and insipid feature of the pas
time is the photography of houses. No
artist who is in love with the art will
waste any of his precious negatives upon
houses except, perchance, those that are
singularly beautiful and rustic in their
architectural conception.
Landscapes constitute the poetry of
photography. They make up the rhyth-
mic beauty of the Photographic melody.
A proper appreciation of the art is pre-
dicted upon the delicate impressionable-
ness of the artist with reference to natu-
raj scenery.
The photography of faces that have
been previously prepared to the "ordeal"
should be left for the professional"
whose appreciation of the art is circum-
scribed by the limitations of the almighty
dollar. 1t is his business to 1atter human
vanity for sordid lucre The amateur
must not prostitute the art to such base
ends. If he desires to embalm a sweet
face or a graceful form on the unfading
tablets of photography, he should take"
them by the instantaneous process, when
they are not posing for it,
Groups of merrymakers, taken at a
picnic or outing, without any warning
from the operator, form laughable feat
ure of photography, and the pictures
have the rare merit of being exceedingly
natural"
The time is coming when an educated
man will not think of starting upon a
pilgrimage without his trusty camera,
upon whose never failing power he may
depend to secure a panorama OF his
journey, which will be one of the COM
forts Of his declining years. A glance
at the pictures will revive a thousand
tender associations Of earlier days.
The time is also coming when every
educated man who builds himself
home to live in, will give as much at
tention to the construction of the dark
room as he does to the library. In the
dark room, where may be developed at
leisure the results Of days tramp in
field and forest, are to be found the true
delights of photography Here are
evolved by the wand Of the Photographic
wizard, the pictures that will hang on
memory's wall for many years to come.
After the days battle and the ignoble
strife for gain is ended, it is sweet to re-
tire into the quiet seclusion of the en-
chanted dark room, and bring to light
the hidden sun pencilings Of long
ramble through the woods in the au-
tumn days
The dark room is an institution that
will mollify the asperities of connubial
life and dissipate the corroding perplexi-
ties Of business care.-Forest and Stream.
The Deepest Lake Known.
By far the deepest lake known in the
world is Lake Baikal. in Siberia. which