There arc many articles, such as watches, clocks, certain jars of fruit, etc., which have a shiny surface at the edge, and which, if photographed same size, even though a lens of long focus is used, look much larger than they really are. This has bothered commercial photographers for years, and I understand it finally took an outsider, an advertising man, to discover the cause of the diffi culty. It is said to be an optical illusion, the shiny surface near the edge giv ing the effect of a much larger article. The way that has been evolved to get around this is to photograph an article of that kind, say four-fifths or five sixths size, that is, make an article that is ten inches high, eight or nine inches, and the article in the finished photograph will have the appearance of being the same size.
Another perplexing problem which arises in photographing commercial set ups is when a customer brings in something, for instance, a layout such as shown in illustration No. 32, which is about nine inches over all, and thinks, just because it is not as large as the plate, that it can be photographed' 'the same size direct on an 8 x 10. As is apparent, the set-up is high and deep, and there is no lens on earth that will do a job•like that and get it sharp, with correct perspective, although many a poor fellow has tried it. The way such jobs are done is to make a 4 x 5 or 5 x 7 image and then enlarge up, and if the print order is big, make a copy and print from the copy. With your small image, you get the increased depth, proper perspective, and the job is "right," being sharp at the points both nearest to and farthest from the camera. In the illustration, you will notice the black papers laid around underneath the set-up. These papers, which come wrapped around film, and which we used to have to buy, kill all white reflections and yet do not interfere in the blocking. Illustration No. 33 shows the completed job, some retouching having been done on the original photograph.
Laces and embroideries are another line which give considerable trouble. Illustration No. 34 is a set-up of laces. The proposition is that the photo graph has to show every little thread and design, as yards and yards are sold from these photographs. Laces and embroideries are practically invariably photographed on a pure black ground, this particular lot being made on black velvet. A process film was used with gyro developer and the exposure was made by artificial side light. This side light gives more relief to the threads of lace and to the raised design on embroideries.
It is in set-ups of this kind that the pins and pin cutter mentioned in the previous chapter come in especially handy.
A big help in making many set-ups is the vertical camera mentioned here tofore, and the results of some of this work are mystifying to many people, as the articles apparently have no means of support. Such a set-up is shown in Illustration No. 35, while Illustration No. 36 reveals the manner in. which it is obtained, by the use of clay on glass supporting the boxes. You will notice that the customer can see how deep the box is, its length and width, and how it is packed. It would be extremely difficult to get this set-up by any other method. A cup and saucer has been included in this illustration, to show the manner of setting up these articles on a vertical camera.
Illustration No. 37 is a set-up of automobile parts on a white back ground. To do away with blocking, and at the same time get what you might call more of a relief effect and better light all around, as it does away with underneath shadows, electric lights are placed under the ground-glass at points denoted by crosses in Illustration No. 38, which is a photograph of the camera with a set-up in place. The series of electric lights is placed around the lower edge of the compartment, and reflectors shade the bulbs in such a way that the light is thrown on the white floor of the lower compartment, and which refleCts up through the ground-glass. The lights are turned on for a short time, about 30 seconds in this particular case, when they are then switched off and the exposure carried on as usual. The light passing up through the ground-glass gives more roundness to the articles and an absolutely white back ground, providing you do not give too much exposure with the lights on ; over exposure, of course, flattening it down to a gray tone. This method is used in the larger studios a great deal, as it does away with a lot of work and block ing, and at the same time giving a much nicer effect. If you can afford it, an opal glass instead of the ground-glass is exceedingly fine.
Of course, in a set-up of this kind, you are facing strong light, which abso lutely puts the single-coated plate out of the running unless it is backed, for you would get halation galore. For this reason, film is exceptionally good, and if a plate is used, it should preferably be of the double-coated type, where the under emulsion is a slow one and the upper emulsion fast ; such a plate being the Seed Non-Halation, Cramer's Non-Halation, or the Hammer Aurora. The Wratten Panchromatic, being a backed plate, is ideal for this work.