ENLARGING Of late years, the fashion in cameras for outdoor work has been in the direction of a smaller and smaller plate each season. Once upon a time, whole plate at least was de rigueur, if a man wished to preserve his reputation. Later on, a half plate became excusable ; now we meet Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society unblushingly wielding a little instru ment which takes exposures on plates each about two square inches in area. Manufacturers are competing with each other to produce lenses and fittings for these small sizes, just as accurate and highly finished as their larger rivals.
This movement is, of course, partly due to the economy of the small plate, and its portability. A dozen whole plates are a serious burden, as well as an expense not worth in curring when we can enlarge quarter-plate negatives at our leisure. But there is an aesthetic side as well in the matter. Size is an artistic quality of a picture. The man who is content to print every one of his negatives on one particular scale is destitute of the sense of proportion. For some subjects whole plate is ridiculously small ; for others it is much too large. Therefore, it is politic to commence with a size which is conveniently manipulated in the enlarging camera, wherein the final dimensions of our exhibition print will be decided.
The process of enlarging negatives is attended with very little difficulty provided the means adopted is an efficient one ; makeshift methods are an entire waste of time. The old practice of cutting a hole in the dark-room shutter the size of the plate, and sticking the camera up against it, will not secure the even illumination of the plate which is the first necessity for a successful result. But there are many devices available, by which the ordinary camera may be effectually adapted for use in enlargements without straining the purse strings very heavily.
The Negative.—But before we decide to enlarge a par ticular negative we must examine its capacity. Unless the focus is fairly sharp we had better leave it alone. When a quarter-plate negative reappears printed as i 5 x I2 in., or
nearly four times the size, the circles of confusion, instead of being about in. in diameter, will be about A in. Not that the roughened effect will matter greatly with most subjects, considering the greater distance at which they will be viewed when framed on the wall. However, any faults of definition in the original will be horribly exaggerated. The worst cases are those of films which were buckled during exposure in the camera ; such are hopeless. No method of enlarging possesses any power to correct erratic focus, al though converging lines in architecture may be partially straightened by the use of a swing negative slide, or by inclining the easel upon which the bromide paper is pinned.
Very dense negatives, veiled or stained, are not likely to give satisfactory results ; nor will those containing excessive contrast. But in a new negative, made either by direct con tact or by transparency, these defects can be mitigated considerably. The best negatives for the purpose are those full of soft gradations and detail, and without any of the harsh contrasts which yield " soot and whitewash" effects.
Daylight Enlarging.—No great difficulty will be found in devising an arrangement whereby the small quarter-plate or 5 x 4 in. field camera can be attached temporarily to a large camera, the lens of the former entering the front of the latter in such a way that the junction is light-tight. But one of the standard Lancaster or Middlemiss patterns is greatly to be preferred. Enlarging is not worth doing unless under conditions that will ensure accuracy, and an instrument specially constructed for the purpose by a reliable maker is obviously better than the contrivance of the novice ; and in the long run not any more expensive. If only an occasional enlargement is wanted, and one particular size will do, e.g. from quarter plate to lo x 8 in., a fixed-focus enlarging chamber may be constructed, of wood frame and cardboard, to work with the ordinary quarter-plate camera. For dimen sions see table of enlarging distances.