instances were of first-grade workmanship, the mountings used were of a common variety, and the specimens were arranged in a slap-dash manner. Simply by using better-grade mountings and exhibiting the prints in a more thoughtful way, these photographers could secure greater compensation for their work.

Special notice was taken of one window in Brooklyn, however, where the photographer had studied all of these details, and it was a pleasure for one to look over the contents of that window. This photographer, the writer discovered later, is using the street cars and elevated trains to advertise his service to good advantage. Attractive car cards is the medium, and one contains a large halftone made from a fine portrait, accompanied by a few words of good copy somewhat like this:

"Many a loved one has departed from this life without leaving relatives and friends a single photograph.

"Attend to this duty to-day-Call at the XStudios for a Quality Portrait-one that will last for many years."

It would seem that only one thing is wrong with this car card. It shows the picture of a beautiful young woman

instead of the portrait of a sweet-faced lady with the legend, "Mother," underneath. A sentimental child study, in this case, would also have more human interest than the half-tone of the young

woman.

Returning to the subject of window dressing, wouldn't a large, well-studied portrait of "Mother" in the window speak a special message to practically every person who stops to look?

And, if a photographer would like to have a unique subject for his window at times, why not take a night view of the city's "white way" for example? Or photographs of some of the public buildings, churches, schools, institutions, banks of beautiful architecture, etc. These illustrations in a window create a quality atmosphere, and copies could readily be sold to people who have a special interest in the buildings, to newspapers for publicity purposes, and for display advertising.

Low price has lost its power as a selling force. The average person in these days is looking for the best rather than for the cheapest, and photographers who are more than ordinarily successful are increasing sales through the quality idea.

IF

F you accept art, it must be a part of your daily lives and the daily life of every man. It will be with us wherever we go; in the ancient city full of traditions of past time; in the newly cleared farm in America or the colonies, where no man has dwelt for traditions to gather round him; in the quiet countryside as in the busy town no place shall be without it; you will have it with you in your sorrow as in your joy; in your work-a-day hours as in your leisure; it will be no respecter of persons, but be shared by gentle

and simple, learned and unlearned, and be as a language that all can understand; it will not hinder any work that is necessary to the life of man at the best, but it will destroy all degrading toil, all enervating luxury, all foppish frivolity; it will be the deadly foe of ignorance, dishonesty, and tyranny, and will foster good-will, fair dealing, and confidence between man and man; it will teach you to respect the highest intellect with a manly reverence, but not to despise any man who does not pretend to be what he is not.

INCE amateur photography became

S possible, several years ago, and

later improvements in cameras and equipment have made the fad widely popular, many women have progressed beyond the "push-the-button stage and become semi-professionals. Where they have felt sufficient interest to inquire into the processes behind the scenes, women have shown themselves peculiarly gifted for this work.

In towns large enough to support him is found the professional photographer in his skylighted apartments. Obviously, his prices must be sufficient to cover his heavy expenses-rent, help, and first-class materials-and leave a profit worthy his skill. But there are many country villages and rural communities where the unprofessional photographer often a woman-could find pleasant employment for her spare time, and at a third of his prices make herself a satisfactory profit.

From an experience of six years, the writer knows whereof she writes. Beginning to "take pictures" for a pastime with a dinky little "two-by-twice" filmlined box, she has advanced, through the stages of snapping everything in sight and wasting films and paper by the dozens, to an occasional request to "take my baby's picture" and the order for a dozen, when the fond mother had scolded and cajoled the unhappy subject into a presentable pose, to the questionable fame of "general photographer" for a radius of twelve miles in a farming section of New Jersey, with telephone and mail orders for her services.

All

the time learning newer and better methods from perusals of the photo magazines, and adding bit by bit equipment of time-saving devices from the profits. It is work which has grown more dear as its possibilities broadened. Never has the income been sufficient for a family, for I have not allowed the work to take time from my household

and social duties; nevertheless, it has added many a dollar to my purse and paid well in coin of other realms than finance, and to one who wished to devote their whole time to semi-professional photography in the country, I believe it would give a satisfactory livelihood.

One should have an acquaintance with a camera or be familiar with the subject before attempting to take pictures for the sole purpose of moneymaking. making. A subscription for a photo magazine should be the first step. There are several published monthly and semi-monthly, with the needs of the beginner especially in view. These contain expositions in untechnical language covering the difficulties which the average beginner is likely to encounter. Many of them also conduct departments where personal answers are given to queries asked by subscribers in perplexity. Herein, too, are the advertisements of dealers in photographic goods which are seldom seen in other columns.

Without knowing the prospective buyer or the locality of his future business it is hard to give advice on the choice of an outfit. As much money as one can afford should be put into it. An anastigmat lens is always the best, but not necessary to good pictures. Much of my best work was done with a commonplace rectilinear, and I look back upon it gratefully-it was a stepping stone to my present anastigmatequipped outfit and helped make it possible. By economizing on other helps you may be able to save enough for an anastigmat. Assuming that one wants as complete an outfit as possible, at the lowest price consistent with good quality, the best place to seek these combinations is at a photographic exchange. In many instances the exchanged goods appear as new-when carefully used by a former owner-and the writer knows that often cameras are

sold as second-hand which have never been used. A whim or perhaps an accident or a death is responsible for the sale before the goods were ever used, and because the dealer buys from a private party and not from another dealer he calls them second-hand. Prices here are from one-quarter to one-half less than for new goods.

At an exchange, twenty-five dollars will cover a five by seven outfit, including developing tank, background, printing frames, ruby lamp, plate-holders, and enough material for making several dozen pictures with a rectilinear lens. A post-card size outfit could be figured for about two-thirds this amount.

The camera should be either a view or a folding one, using plates. Both these types contain a reversible back, rack and pinion focus movement, rising and falling front, leather bellows, and perhaps a few other less important details. The lens determines the price of the camera; the price of the anastigmats is prohibitive to most people at first; the rapid rectilinear is cheap and will fill the beginner's needs; one can always increase the efficiency of one's outfit as the profits from the business allow.

The five by seven size will be found the best paying, so many varieties of pictures are made with it-large mounted views of groups, scenery, motoring, prize stock, houses and complete farm panoramas, besides portraits of many sizes down to post-card pictures. The mounted views especially sell at a good profit, and the country people like to get them for framing.

A beginner should buy the ready prepared developer and fixing powders; after becoming fairly efficient in exposing and developing, they will find it cheaper to buy the chemicals in bulk and weigh out and made up their own solutions, but if both are tried at first it may prove very discouraging. Being one's own chemist calls for a scale, and "weighing out" is quite fascinating to many; also watching the beautiful tints which are brought out as certain chemicals are dissolved in water. table often rivals a painter's palette, and I like to think that, although I can

My

not paint with a brush, I can portray artistic views by the aid of these varihued fluids.

Two articles many beginners think unnecessary are the thermometer and a background. Both are necessary. Dispense with trays and borrow the dishpan if you cannot afford the needfuls, but by all means buy a thermometer and a background. The thermometer tells you with certainty when you have reached the proper temperature for successful developing, and you cannot afford to guess at this fact, for on it depends your picture. No clambering vine, bush or tree will give the nearprofessional appearance to a portrait that a canvas background will, although any of the former can be utilized in preference to the side of a house or a fence. Where one can afford to have only one background, a clouded effect is preferable to a scenic, as one will not tire of it so soon and its effect can be changed by using either side up. They can be bought stretched on light frames or attached to rollers, and I prefer the latter shape as it can be rolled on its hanger and occupies little space when not in use. To use, it is hung against the wall.

A closet can be used as a dark-room at first, or a corner of the basement partitioned off and shelves built. A supply of tap water is very handy, but pump and arm power is better than no water for washing. Try to always use rain-water for mixing solutions. Use plenty of water to keep tanks, trays, etc., immaculate, and never use another solution in the same tray without thorough washing. Photographic dirt is, alas! too often invisible, but none the less dangerous.

This is no space for detailed instructions to evolve practical photographers from aspiring amateurs. Experience is often expensive but really the only thing that is convincing, and careful attention to the rules accompanying plates and papers, and the constant reading of the photographic magazines will surely produce pleasing results in the form of progression in your photographic education.

T

HERE is very little real information to be obtained from either books or magazines on this important branch of photography. It has so many different phases and branches. Every photographer has struggled with some of its many problems and did not have time to make a note of his method for the benefit of the craft.

The following useful pointers from the pen of Edward J. Davison, of Kansas City, should prove helpful to many. Mr. Davison is an expert worker and writes whereof he knows.-ED. P. J. of A.

Photographing Bottles

When photographing bottles and small articles, where it is desired to have a perfectly white ground, and where it is difficult to block out the background, an excellent way is to use a ground-glass for the background and get the light through it from a window at the back. Where a window cannot be used I arrange a mirror to reflect light upon the ground-glass.

The uprights supporting the groundglass must be free and clear between and have nothing to obstruct the light coming through the ground-glass.

Sometimes a background of white cardboard can be lighted from above, but the other is such a simple plan that I would advise its use. Where the oval or round surfaces of the bottles act as mirrors and reflect the angle bars of the skylight, a screen of tracing cloth should be placed between the camera and the skylight to cut off these marks. This precaution is necessary in a great variety of work in order to avoid harsh high-lights and images reflected into the articles themselves if they are polished. Do not try to do away with every high-light, however, for that would leave a flat-looking print.

Chinaware: Bric-a-brac

In making photographs of chinaware, bric-a-brac and similar small articles for commercial purposes, it is necessary to

preserve the design, form and details of the originals. I know of nothing which will accomplish this so well as an arrangement of movable shelves lined and edged with black velvet, on which the articles are arranged so as to show their valuable points. The illumination should be secured by light coming through tracing cloth. This will kill reflections and soften or obliterate shadows.

Among the most difficult lines brought to the studio of the commercial worker, that requiring the largest amount of skill and patience, is decorated china having a polished and oval surface. One must use an orthochromatic plate, of course, and sometimes a color screen. About the only light that can be used is a side or top light, or both, coming through tracing cloth. This will diffuse the light and prevent a patch of high-light often right in the decoration. A streak of highlight on the edge and handle of a cup and saucer is an advantage. This style of lighting will show a roundness and softness not obtainable in any other manner. If one is not familiar with the correct position for such articles, it is best to consult some catalogue and find the standard method of presentation or display before attempting; and I would like to emphasize the necessity for sticking to standard positions with almost everything the commercial photographer gets in his shop. There is a right and wrong position for everything, and much time. will be saved if the photographer finds out beforehand just what that is. For instance, a cup and saucer must show the back as well as front edge at the top, so that it must be tilted a little toward the camera, or the camera look down on it and the swingback used to keep the perpendicular lines rectilinear. A longfocus lens and long-bellows camera are necessary for this work.

Silverware: Cut-glass

Where much silver or glassware is to be handled a stand with movable shelves is a necessity, and the shelves should be

held on pins so that they can be placed at different distances apart. For cutglass, the finest light is a strong top light. This will give brilliance to the facets and liven up what would otherwise be dull. In some factories the pieces are dipped in whiting tinted a light gray before photographing. These shelves will do for silverware, which should be photographed before receiving its polish; but this can seldom be done away from the factory. A good method for dulling bright spots is to rub the place with beeswax and then polish with the hand. This is a simple remedy and can be done easily and quickly with a little practice. When flat surfaces have inscriptions that do not show, it is a good plan to rub into the engraving a black powder which jewelers use in their work. It will usually stick sufficiently well not to need anything mixed with it. When prints are to be made from negatives of colored subjects and the darker colors are too thin in the negative, those parts of the negative can be tinted with blue aniline, but it is very skilful work. The color is, of course, applied on the glass side. This dodge is old to most portrait workers and enters largely into the retouching of commercial negatives of solid articles such as metal ornaments and the like.

Legal Work

This is a most unsatisfactory class of work, for several reasons. One never knows when he will be called upon to go into court to testify, nor how much time will be consumed, so it is difficult to fix on a price that will justify. I have made a great many negatives for this class of work. A correct record should be kept of each exposure, showing the position of the camera, the exact locality of the place, if outdoors, and the direction in which the lens was pointing. These details should be lettered in the negative thus: "Looking N.E. at S.W. corner Sixth and Locust Streets, K. C., Mo. Camera located fifty feet from lamp-post on S.W. corner (or, at S.W. corner). Taken January 15, 1903, by

Do not make a print from any legal negative until such data is shown, so as not to burden your mind

with remembering these circumstances; lawyers will usually accept such wording and waive a personal appearance in court. It is well not to remember anything except what the negatives show; it will save embarrassment in crossquestioning. Records of these exposures in legal work should be kept in a separate book for easy reference. Charge double the usual prices for this class of work as compared with ordinary negatives. If allowed witness fees, it usually takes more time to collect them than they are worth, so that it is unwise to figure on anything except the price of the negatives and so many prints. One set of prints should have muslin back and top for insertion in the "pleadings.

Copying Documents

Another class of work requiring great skill is the photographing of indistinct and illegible documents. I recall a case of this sort which took me several hundred miles from home, and the work consisted in photographing two pages of a letter-press copy-book. The copies were in very faint blue typewriter ink on manila-colored tissue. The work had to be done in the private chambers of the judge before whom the case had come, and I had to make use of what I could in the way of a copying rack. I bought a number of rubber bands and a sheet of white cardboard and put the white card under the leaf, leaving the back of the impression outward as the ink was plainer there than where it came through the paper. The rubber bands were used to hold the page flat and in contact with the cardboard. I set the book up by a window, used a color screen and orthochromatic plates to hold the blue ink, and made my exposures. These gave me reversed negatives, of course. When I arrived home 18 x 22 bromide enlargements made from the glass side of the original negative, gave me a correct transcript in transcript in the print. With this bromide, the negative set in a window and a strong reading glass I deciphered each letter and, as I was certain of it, traced it in its proper place on the enlargement. In two or three days' time I had the