SILVERWARE, PHOTOGRAPHING The task of rendering silver as silver is a difficult one, and the secret of success lies in the lighting and the use of backed plates. The operator should remember that the angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of inci dence ; thus, at whatever angle the light falls on a reflective surface, it is reflected back at the same angle. It will therefore be obvious that, if the silver object be illuminated by a strong front light, the reflections will come back into the lens. The most suitable angle at which the strongest light should reach the bright objects is one of about 45° ; then the reflections will be well away from the direction of the camera. The shadow sides will be rather dark as com pared with the bright high lights, but this will be modified by using a reflector, which may be a sheet of white cardboard.
If the silver objects can be treated to prevent reflections, the task of getting a satisfactory photograph of them becomes easy. Many methods have been advocated for dulling the surfaces. One of the best is to hold the silver over a piece of burning magnesium ribbon, the white smoke from which will deposit upon the silver ; the magnesium can easily be removed.
A method frequently adopted is to dab the sur faces with putty, but this is rather messy and troublesome to clean off. A better plan is to place a piece of ice in each vessel ; this causes the metal to cool rapidly, and if there is moisture in the atmosphere, as upon a wet or damp day, dew will soon deposit upon it ; in exceptionally dry weather the cold metal could be sprayed, using water in an ordinary scent sprayer, or could be steamed.
Any lettering on the articles can be brought out by arranging the light and the reflector, or the lettering may be filled up with black printers' ink, which can be quickly cleaned out with benzole or turpentine after the negative has been made.
Exposures should be full in order to soften the contrasts, as under-exposure would mean brighter and glaring high lights and black shadows. The developer used—say, metol or rodinal—should bring out the details in the shadows before the high lights become too strong.