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368 IDEAL HOME LIFE
tells me that it is, to say, "Don't try to hold the camera in the hands for any kind of an exposure but a snapshot." Certain failure is the sure result. Set the shutter for a time exposure, according to the directions which came with it. Time the exposure with a watch, and for a first experiment try one minute with the lens stopped at the large opening. The result will tell you whether you gave it too much or too little time; if too little, the resulting negative will have a great deal of clear glass or film showing, with no detail in the clear parts; if too much, which is hardly likely to happen, the whole negative will be very black and dense.
Time exposures outdoors are another story—with the same stop that you use for snapshots, they will range from a quarter of a second, which is about as fast as you can open and close the shutter, to two or three seconds, which is about as long as time exposures are usually made outdoors under ordinary circumstances.
Obtain, somehow, from someone, one or more good negatives. Get them from some amateur friend who knows the ropes, get them from your dealer or from the local professional. By having these on hand, you will learn how to judge your own results. If you haven't them, and have access to no one to whom you can go for advice, how are you going to tell when you have and when you haven't succeeded, as you should succeed?
I should also suggest having your first attempts developed by someone else—it is enough to do to learn to handle the camera and to judge light and exposures as a starter; when experience to some small degree is back of you, is full time to start on the subject of development for yourself. |
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