Evening star., 1953-01-25
Camera Angles
HoW-to-do-it Tips
Speed Photo Work
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
curoter Of Photography
The Smithsonian institution

have a safelight filter cut to
the size of the f1ashlight lens.
This can be taped over the
lens. Just make sure no white
light escapes around the edges.
Almost any amateur cinema
tographer has, at one time or
another. had the experience
of finding himself with a
partially exposed roll of color
film in his camera at a time
when he would have liked to
use monochrome, or vice
versa. Here's a way to, switch
from one roll to another in
daylight without an appre-
ciable loss of film.
Switching Film Loods i
First look at the footage in
dicator and make a note Of the
amount of expended film.
Then cover the lens with the
lens cover or hold your hand
over the lens and allow the re-
mainder of the roll to run
through the camera. Now open
the camera and reverse the
spools and. after retreading
the film on the takeup reel,
allow the film to rewind all the
way on its original spool with
the lens still covered. This
roll can now be placed in it's
carton while you reload your
camera with whatever other
film you wish to use.
When you are ready to re-
sumo shooting with the first
roll, place it in the camera,
cover the lens again, and allow
it to run through until the
footage meter reaches the same
position that it held at the
time you made your footage
note. At this point you can
uncover the lens and be ready
to shoot the rest Of the roll
with the loss of only a few
frames. It's a good trick to
know. The important points
are: ID Note the exact foot
age before starting the opera
ton; (2) keep the lens care
fully covered during all steps;
CD resume shooting at the
same footage indication as at
the start of the procedure.
Ordinarily it Is a tough Job
to make ink take" on glossy
paper. But If you wish to
write an inscription or nota-
tion on a glossy print place a
small amount Of toothpowder
or talcun1 on the writing area
and rub it in gently with a
cotton swab. This will roughen
the surface just enough to
nOIQ Cne INK.
Gable releases, especially the
long ones that some photog-
raphers favor. are often ruined
by being bent or kinked when
in use or when stored in
gadget bag. The release is only
a wire which travels UP and
down within a protective
sheath. If the wire bends or
kinks it will either jam in the
sheath or force its way through
the wall Of this covering. This
can be prevented by slipping a
length Of telephone cord cover
over the sheath.
Listing Printing Doto
If you haven't the patience
to wait for your films to dry
through the process Of evapo-
ration or If you need the mega
tives in a hurry, hang them on
q homemade rack and turn
the stream of air from an elec-
trio fan on them. The hair
dryer can also be used to ad-
vantage for the same purpose.
We are often called upon to
make up extra prints for
friends and relatives-many
times months after the original
print was made. To save
money and trouble of making
additional test strips each time
a new request comes in we
recommend that you preserve
q proof or even test strips upon
which your final print was
made. List on the back Of
proof or strip all the data that
will be required to make an
exact duplicate at some future
date-and don't forget to list
the kind Of paper and its con-
trast number.
If you have any tips or spe-
cial short cuts that you think
would help others, send them
in and we will try to print
them in our next column Of
photo tips.