Photography in the studio and in the field

Estabrook brought out this comprehesive book describing photography as it existed at the time: the cameras, the processes, the formulas, the secrets of manipulation. In the first part you are introduced into "subbing" glass, preparing collodion for making wet plate negatives like Garnder and Brady did, or for making tintypes. You get details and formulas for the developer, fixer, and intensifier. In 1887, the new modern gelatin dry plates were the rage because they were so much more convenient. You'll get details on "cooking" your own emulsion, coating plates (an art in itself), the developers in use (usually pyro), fixers, clearing baths and more. You get details on sensitizing albumen paper, making your print, toning, spotting, mounting and all the rest. You get lots of engravings of cameras, lenses, print frames, camera stands, head rests, posing chairs and the other details a professional might need for protraits. Part II covers field photography. Since gelatin dry plates freed the photographer from carrying around a nasty, corrosive silver nitrate bath, outdoor photography was not only easy but a lot more fun to do. You get the latest advice on handling dry plates, putting them in plate holders, and exposing them. You get more engravings of detective cameras, satchel cameras, view lenses, drop shutter, Prosch's popular shutter, Eastman's negative paper, printing on albumen, collodio-chloride, and a section on cyanotypes, uranium prints, and more. You even get details on "bicycle photography".