OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY : FOCUSING THE IMAGE In whatever section he may afterwards specialise, the beginner should always pass through a course in landscape work. The incidental difficulties are few and arise in so regular a succession, that a result worthy of being shown to critical friends may often be achieved after a few lessons.
Focussing the View.—Having arrived at the scene of action, the lens is opened by removing the cap. If it is fitted with an automatic shutter the indicator must be turned to "time," and the lever pressed once. Then, with the aid of a focussing cloth of some opaque material, such as black cotton velvet, we examine the image thrown on the focussing screen, racking the front backwards and forwards till it appears fairly sharp. (The iris diaphragm of the lens must be at its widest, .f/8 or in order that this can be satisfactorily done. If we only want practice in development it would suffice at this point to stop down the lens to, say, f/t t, reset the shutter, place the dark slide in the camera and expose the plate. But if a picture of technical value is desired, there are a number of further details deserving of considera tion.
It is presumed that we have some purpose in our mind which impels us to choose this particular spot. The scene before us either contains something worthy of record, or possesses qualities that appeal to us as beautiful or educative. In other words, we intend the future print to convey some definite idea.
(1 What is the essential feature in our picture ?—e.g. a tree, a cottage, a river bank, or a water mill within reasonable distance. This must be settled, and then (still with the lens aperture at its widest) this feature must be brought into sharpest focus. We endeavour with the lens to follow the natural instinct of the observer who will unconsciously focus his eyes on this same object.
(2) Is the foreground necessary ? If it is, the stop in the lens must be reduced or the focussing adjusted until it appears reasonably sharp. The contributor of " In a
Green Valley," has boldly ignored his foreground and focussed for the middle distance with a large stop. His picture would have gained, we think, by racking out till the leaves on the hedge had become crisp and bright. If the foreground is uninteresting we may avoid it by raising the front until the lens soars above it, or by so moving the camera as to cut off a hedge, fence, or tree trunk, that would otherwise obtrude into the scene. Fences and hedges are sometimes distorted into absurd proportions if too near the lens.
If the chief feature of the picture is a long way off, and no intermediate objects deserve attention or force them selves into the line of vision, the front combination of an RR lens may be unscrewed and the camera racked out to the necessary double extension, the exposure, of course, being increased proportionally. A smaller stop will be necessary with the single lens than with the doublet.
Mountain the contrary, if a view is taken from the top of a hill over the valley beneath, or of distant mountains, all idea of scale and proportion will be lost unless some object in the foreground is shown in focus. Without some such standard of comparison (serving also to indicate clearly the position of the observer) the slopes of the hillside will have become unaccountably flattened out in the print ; very often the effect conveyed will be that of an immense plain.
General subject of pictorial composition in landscape is dealt with in another chapter, but one or two Outdoor Photography : Focussing the Image 65 common faults may be mentioned here. Roads, small rivers, etc., are often taken " broadside " in such a way that the resulting picture is divided off from end to end by horizontal streaks of light colour. The edges of the picture, right and left, always deserve careful examination in the focussing screen to see that no detail exciting curiosity is abruptly cut off. Beware of waste paper, old tin cans, and other