Evening star., 1955-02-13
Comero Angles
Zoo Pictures
Good Despite
Screens, Burs
By Alexander J. Wedderbl
cvroier Of Photography,
The Smithsonian institution

The Smithsonian institution
This will be another ques-
ton and answer session.
Readers send in the questions
and we try to help out with
the problems encountered in
everyday photography. Here
are a few that should be of
interest to any one who has
chosen photography as a
hobby.
Animals Behind Screen
Question: am making a
collection Of animal pictures
mostly at the Zoo. I haven't
had much trouble shooting
through the bars of large cages
but how can make snapshots
Of the smaller animals that are
Gagged behind wire m h
screens? The pattern Of the
wire would be undesirable as I
am attempting to use the
painted habitat backgrounds so
that the pictures will seem to
have been made In a natural
setting.
Answer-If the camera is held
quite close to the screen the
wires will be so out of focus
that they will not show on the
negative. If a guard rail pre-
vents you from getting that
close, ask permission of the
guards to get inside and it will
very likely be granted.
In the reptile house the
glass fronts Of the cages will
present little problem If q
space is wiped clean.
If flash is to be used, hold
the reflector off to one side so
the flash will not be reflected
back into the lens Of your cam
era.
incidentally, never use flash
at the Zoo unless you have
permission. Some of the ami
mails might injure themselves
attempting to escape from the
cages if startled by q flash.
The keepers will tell you when
and where flash may be used.
How to Hold Comero
Question-What is the SLOW
est shutter speed at which a
camera can be hand-held
safely?
Answer-As a rule an ex-
posure of 1/25th is about as
slow a speed as would be safe.
If a situation is encountered
where pictures must be taken
at shutter speeds as slow as
1/25th or slower and you don't
have a tripod, rest the camera
on a fence, bench or chair.
window sill, or other stationary
object, or brace the camera
against the side of a building.
In the house you can use a
table or other article of fur
niture.
Grain in Entire Roll
Question Enlargements
from an entire roll of my mega
tives have a rough-texture that
does not appear in the con-
tact prints made from the
identical films. Why? Also is
there any way to correct for
this condition?
Answer-The rough texture
is probably due to excess
graininess Of the negative.
This can happen if the mega
tive is overexposed. But If. as
you indicate, the condition is
unusual. the chances are that
the clumping of the silver
grains was caused by override
velopment of the negative
since it is unlikely that all of
the exposures on the roll were
"over." On the other hand. if
the camera shutter is off in
timing this could cause q gen.
eral overexposure of all shots.
Next time be especially care
full to check each exposure
with an exposure meter. Then
give equal care to developing
at exactly the time recon-
mended with all solutions at
the right temperature. Should
excessive grain be present
after these precautions, take
your camera to your dealer
for a shutter checkup. Grain
is seldom apparent in a COIL
tact print but is increasingly
obvious as the image is en-
larged.
There is very little you can
do once the grain appears.
You might use a texture screen
during the printing Of the
enlargements to create an un-
usual effect that would dis
guise what you obviously con-
slider a fault. Some pictorial
lists actually like the effect Of
grain in a print.
DiscoIorotion Of Prints
Question-Of late I have
noticed a slight discoloration
of all my prints. Even the
borders are not pure white as
they should be. This is only a
recent occurrence and I can't
figure it out. Can you?
Answer-The condition you
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