Photographic Amusements, Ninth Edition / Including A Description of a Number of Novel Effects Obtainable with the Camera

LEAF PRINTS.

FIG. 26.—LEAF PRINT. BY T. GAFFIELD.

Nothing can exceed the beauty of form and structure of the leaves of different plants. Ruskin observes: "Leaves take all kinds of strange shapes, as if to invite us to examine them. Star-shaped, heart-shaped, spear-shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, furrowed, serrated, sinuated; in whirls, in tufts, in spires, in wreaths; endlessly expressive, deceptive, fantastic, never the same, from footstalk to blossom, they seem perpetually to tempt our watchfulness and take delight in outstripping our wonder." Photography has placed in our hands a simple method of preserving facsimiles of their ever varying shapes that will last long after the leaf has died and crumbled to dust. Although the discovery of the darkening action of silver chloride when exposed to light was discovered by Scheele as far back as 1777, little was apparently known of the possibilities attending the discovery until 1839, when Fox Talbot read a paper on "A Method of Photogenic Drawing," in which he described various experiments that could be made with paper coated with this substance, and showed many pictures of leaves, ferns, and pieces of lace which he had obtained.

FIG. 27.—LEAF PRINT. BY T. GAFFIELD.

The illustrations which we reproduce herewith are reproductions from leaf prints made by Mr. Thomas Gaffield, who has made quite a study of this fascinating pastime. In a little work entitled "Photographic Leaf Prints," published in 1869, he describes his method. The leaves and ferns are first selected and pressed between the leaves of a book. They must not be dried, as in that state they do not so readily permit the light to pass through and the delicate structure of the leaf would not be reproduced. They should therefore only be pressed sufficiently to allow the excess of moisture to be extracted. A sheet of glass is put into the printing frame and the leaves artistically arranged. When the arrangement is satisfactory the leaves are attached to the glass with a little mucilage to prevent them from slipping out of their places. A sheet of sensitive paper, albumen, gaslight, or platinum is then inserted, the frame closed up and exposed to the light until a very dark print is obtained. The time required in printing must be found by practice; it will, of course, differ according to the intensity of the light. It is a good plan to employ an actinometer to judge the correct exposure. It is not possible to open the frame, as a double or blurred picture would result. The halves should be exposed sufficiently long to enable the light to penetrate through them and give a distinct image of the veins and structure.

When the printing is completed the paper is removed and toned and fixed in the usual manner. If platinotype or gaslight paper is used, this, of course, requires development. The resulting picture gives us a light impression of the leaves on a dark background, but if so desired, the print thus obtained can be used as a negative. It can be made transparent with wax or vaseline, and prints obtained from it giving a dark image on a white ground. It is difficult to say which picture is the more beautiful. We give illustrations of pictures of both kinds. (Figs. 26 and 27.)

Naturally enough, the beauty of these pictures lies in the careful selection and arrangement of the leaves. Those which are too thick should not be used. Delicate ones, showing all the veins by transmitted light, are the most suitable. They can be arranged artistically, in any shape or form. We prefer, however, a life-like arrangement to the construction of various shapes and designs.

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