A Primer of Photography

Abstract

WE have read this volume with much pleasure, because it consists of a plain and straightforward statement, by a man of experience, of those facts that one who has just begun to photograph will find profitable. The author gives no preface or introduction, relying presumably on the title as a sufficient indication of his aim. He deals with the practice rather than the underlying principles of photography, though these and historical details are not altogether neglected. He does not repeat such instructions as are enclosed in every box of plates or packet of paper, and refers without hesitation to various proprietary articles and to expense. As might be expected, the author regards his subject from the point of view of the present-day beginner, and it is in this that the volume differs from the older primers. There is no attempt to indicate methods of manufacture, because no one at the present time prepares his own sensitive material. There are no tables of exposures necessary in various circumstances, because “here the exposure meter or guide comes into play.” Films are not treated of as if they almost needed an apology for their introduction, nor hand-cameras as if they were inferior in almost everything else but price to the instruments supported in a more stable manner.

A Primer of Photography.

By Owen Wheeler. Pp. vii + 202. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net.