Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-22
PHOTOGRAPHY AS A TEACHER
By r. S. Cole

the hands of old and young alike, there
are probably but few of the thousands
who are, to a greater or less xtent,
devotees of the art of picture making,
who do more than "press the button"
or the bulb, as the case may be, and
roll another section of film into posi-
ton or replace the exposed plate with
a fresh one. A large majority of those
who take pictures" know absolutely
nothing of the more interesting and
amusing side of photography, depend
ing on amateur finishing" firms to de-
velop their films or plates and turn
out their prints. Yet these same per-
sons, with a little study and with but
a small expenditure of money, might
themselves become masters not only of
the art of picture taking" but of
picture making as well. And in
many instances the difference in re-
suits would agreeably surprise the man
or woman who depends upon others
to complete his or her work.
So perfect are now the various ap-
pliances provided for the amateur
photographer that with the exercise of
a modicum of care and ordinary atten-
tion to the directions for the manipu
lation of plates, films and paper, 1t is
practically impossible for the amateur
who is really interested in his work to
go wrong and once having commenced
the work of actually making his own
pictures, the amateur photographer
has entered into a field of almost
lmitless investigation and of un-
bounded interest. Instead of indis-
criminately Swapping everything in
sight, he begins to exercise care in the
selection of subjects and settings with
the result that more real pictures and
less merely spoiled paper crown his
efforts. He learns that there are diff
ferent grades of paper for negatives
of varying quality and different plates
to be used for different subjects. AL
most without knowing it he acquires
the ability to turn out photographs
friends who continue to depend upon
others to complete their work for
them and then wonder why it is that
their pictures are like anything rather
than what they expected.
The foregoing is not intended as a
criticism of those who make busi-
ness of finishing the work of amateur
photographers, for in any reputable
finishing house every effort is made
to obtain. as far as possible, the best
results from the plates or films turned
in for development. But it is easily
understood that to give to each mega
tive the careful attention necessary to
obtain the most perfect result is i'm
possible where hundreds of rolls of
film and hundreds of plates are de-
veloped each week.
On the other hand. the enthusiast
who develops his own plates or films
and makes his own prints is able to
give every negative the most careful
attention, and as he discovers his err
rors of exposure or manipulation to
correct them. It is the old story of
"When you want a thing well done, do
it Yourself"
The excuse often given by users of
the camera who depend upon others
to finish their pictures is that they
lack the time necessary to complete
the work. 1t is, however a fact that
many of the most successful amateur
photographers are men and women
who are engaged in work which de-
mands what would be considered "all
their time" but who still find leisure
to devote to the development of their
own negatives and the making of their
own prints, and every one of these en-
thusiasts would laugh at the idea of
turning part of their work over to
others. Thew know too well the ad-
vantage of careful manipulation of
each negative and property handling
of every print. Above all this, how
ever, is the pleasure of knowing when
the picture is completed that it is the
work of ones own hands and that
every care has been exercised to make
it as nearly perfect as possible.
Such pleasure can come only to the
person who sees the image gradually
appear as development proceeds, who
carries the negative through the va
rious stages of fixing, washing, drying