The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-07-20
by Seymour Eaton,

trOmlUR every day MUTE duu inOTt an EXACT
science, and print after print is Brought
under the domain OF law. In my early
Photographic diys | was assured had to
feel" the correct exposure and that II I
went little wrong could compensate il
development. never yet in all my pho
tcgraphic life felt the correct exposure or
any other kind of exposure, but soon
found myself calculating it from my past
experience. Exposure is as much a mat
ter of natural law as are the combining
principles of chemicals, ind there is now
no excuse for haphazard when making
picture. | need not say one word about
my own tables. which are probably vel
known to many of my readers.
might talk about experiments In toning
baths and with brands of paper as freely
as | have talked about developing, but
shall content myself with suggesting one
particular line. 1t Is this--have every
bath from the first washing to the last d,
exactly the same temperature--say. 65 de-.
grees. One of the finest printers l know
assures me that this is the secret of her
success.
There is no guesswork at any stage, but
absolutely uniform conditions. Every bath
lust 65 degrees, the same strength OF ton
ing solution every time. just the slime
number of prints in each uantity of water
aqnd kept there for just so many minutes
by the clock. And the same t1ng In the
! hypo bath. The results are prints OF a
/ beautifully even purple tone that / have
I never seen surpassed M
! If you bought a camera to make pictures,
please stay by your original intention
/ Anybody can learn the ordinary routine
of photography in three months, but It.
takes lifetime TO learn to make pictures
Here Is magnificent field for experiments
Just think OF it!--an occupation for life,
land a pleasant one at that. Every ex-
posure problem. / have made many thou-
sands in my life, but | never found the
conditions exactly the same in any two Of
them There was always something dir
ferent that had TO be figured on and you
all understand the pleasure there is In
meeting a difficulty and by ingenuity sur
mounting 1t.
And that reminds me that l have little
trouble of my own on hand just now. Five
years ago saw Niagara for the first time,
and of course l photographed it. Evety
negative went into the rubbish bin. Ny
friends thought they were fine. but they
did not please me. You all know the av-
erage picture of Niagara; beautiful effects
Of water bat miserable rendering Of
foliage and rock-olack smudges, nothing
more. The next summer l tried win
isochromatic plates and a color screen.
saw some improvement, but still the same
miserable effects in leaves and stone, The
next time l went to Niagara / left my
camera at home 1t was not because l was
indifferent, but simply because l had not
solved a problem that stared me in the
PACE and was in my mind almose every day.
knew it was within the power Of isochro-
matte pl.Ies to give the effect i wanted,
provided ! got the right kind OF color
screen. Now, as have limited, merely 70
go out and try different color screens on
different landscapes is no way to experf
ment, but it was necessary to get a veri
definite scientific idea OF what | wanted
and just as exact a means OF proving whe1
had got the right answer. 1t has taken
me FIVE years to collect the data | wanted
and / am now making the apparatus Ia
my experiments. | expect to have thu
answer to my problem before | make 4
single exposure on a natural subject.
tell YOU all this Just to illustrate how com
pletely every nhase of technical photogra-
ply falls und5~ he laws OF, science. Ex'
periments made, by individuals ignorant o
even the elementary principles OF science
are worthless.
But it is different in the realms Of art
The purpose of a picture Is to give pleas
ure, and II it does that for even i've MN
utes it has fulfilled it's mission. Its maker
has made something worth making, ever
although within a week he may have
learned a little more And so on always
} happy over picture today, seeing its I'M
PROJECTIONS tomorrow, but with pleasure
: for there is the satisfaction of sometnlns
attempted, something done. always little
more learned. always little more TO Of
learned.
All along l have tried to impress my
; readers with the idea that a camera has u
5 brains, but brains hove been expended
upon It. Often do l take UP new instrn
rent and for half an hour admire the prai'
I power displayed in the mechanical inge
t nuity it exhibits even in little details. AM
e then my equanimlty is upset by gettinl
S half dozen letters asking me which is IN
best camera. Any one Of the instrument
on the market todny selling at $15 w2ui
: have been considered wonderful value 10
7 the money dozen years ago at almost tel
times the price. And yet people keep o.
thinking they must get finer tools in orue
to make finer pictures. Fine tools ar
undoubtedly good; am fond of them my
n self. but every outfit on the market toaa
t is a fine tool, and any one who can no
5 make fine work with it must blame MIN
n self and not the instrument.
. Note--Thls concludes the Course !
: Photography"