The age-herald., 1901-04-07
Some Hints on Development.

To many people pleasure of photogra- phy is in ''pre ssing the button." and it must be admitted that this and the se lection of the conditions under which the button is pressed Is really the most i'm portant part of the making of photog- rapher; but 1t is not the only pleasure. Many have remarked that one of the most beautiful sights Is the development of a wet plate. and my own experience agrees with this. The wet plate is held in the left hand and the developer in little glass beaker in the right and with one dexterious sweep the solution Is flowed over the plate and retained on 1t and rocked gently without spilling; in few seconds the image appears and in- side of a minute has attained its full den sity. when 1t is washed and fixed There is not that tedious waiting which charac- terizes the dry plate. with several sec onds of doubt as to whether it Is the plate that has two exposures or only one, or perhaps none at all.
 Nevertheless developing dry plates has it's pleasures and barring those ten to thirty seconds of suspense it is very enjoyable matter to see a nicely timed plate gradually appear and strengthen till perfect negative results; then one feels the joy of having accomplished something.
 It is impossible here to give a descrip- tion of a dark room: every one will have to accommodate themselves to their con- ditions, but be sure there is no light in the room except that which came through some ruby glass and orange paper.
 As to what developer to use. have no hesitation In advising the beginner to use Rodinal It comes in bottles and all you have to do Is to add a little of 1t to wa ter, according to directions, and 1t gives you as good negatives at as little cost of trouble and money as any other There are several amateurs in Birmingham who have extensive experience with 1t and their negatives are fine. very little short of the results obtained by our dear old friend and standby Pyro. But whatever the developing medium there are some points in common which must be noted
 Other things being equal the greater proportion of water in the developer the more gradual will be the shadings, while a small proportion of water gives more abrupt gradations. To use the technical terms lots of water gives a softer mega tive than that obtained with less water which produces what Is called hard or contrasty effects. Old developer. which has been used for previous development. also increases contrast. Remembering this when we find a negative that we know is, overturned which over-timing will kill our contrast, we therefore find that the proper thing is to use an old and strong developer. To continue this subject on this line, one has not always at hand old developer or developer which has been used enough to get sufficient contrast. and in this case 1t is well to have a solution of bromide of potassium at hand and the addition of a few drops will greatly increase the contrast on an over-timed plate. My own practice is:
 Bromide potass. 1 OF.
 Water, 10 OF.
 This keep in a bottle with a slit in the side of the cork so that when I need 1t I can drop out as much as I need in- stantly. I have used about two ounces of this solution in as many years; but when I want 1t I need 1t very much.
 Bear in mind one thing. however, that the character of the negative Is largely determined by the developer in which 1t "comes up." One noted writer says that there is no use changing the developer, but the bulk of opinion is against him; some modification is possible; If the con- trast Is lacking a stronger solution with bromide will help considerably If the