Silhouettes Without Scissors

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 916, 8 March 1930, Page 18

Silhouettes Without Scissors

New Hobbj/ for Photographers

Sn ILHOI’ETTES nearer ) perfection than any of 1 1 those ever cut from ? black paper with scisL so rs can now be made by «i practically anyone utilising a new and simplified method of photography. The results are as beautiful as etchings, done iu pure black and white, with a wide range of possibilities in half-tones through the placing of reflected light from a mirror on any part of the subject. These photographic silhouettes can be preserved in the negative: portraits as desirable as pen-and-ink drawings may bo produced by the careful amateur, and the discovery holds endless possibilities for caricature, with the amiable assistance, of course, of the subject. Expensive apparatus is not required for making silhouettes by the new* photographic process, which has been devised by Otto Dyar, a clever young photographer. Artistic results can be secured with a camera costing only a few shillings. Most amateurs have been accustomed, in making their pictures, to seek a spot where the sun’s light fell j from them toward their subject. By

Mr. Dyar’s method the light must be from behind the person or object to be photographed. Owners of home motion-picture cameras and projectors may make and enjoy whole reels of these silhouettes, for the idea is as applicable to action pictures as to “stills.” One of the large motion-picture corporations is preparing script, costumes and a special company for the production of folk-lore and fairy-tale playlets, in silhouettes, for children. This will be the first work of the kind ever done, and the activities of children in and around the home should be as easy to film in black and white as are those of the stage characters. The home-maker of scissorless silhouettes does not need any extensive or expensive preparations. The simple method of this new style of photography is clearly explained in “Science and Invention,” by H. H. Dunn. In addition to the camera, the only thing needed is a screen of white cloth or tracing paper of a size sufficient completely to cover a door or a full-length window. The door or window* selected should face to the north or south, so that the sunlight comes from the side, rather than directly against the screen, as it would if the latter faced east or west. Care also must be taken that the screen is drawn tight, and that there is no wind heavy enough to distend it, or make it flap about. Holes larger than one-thirty-second of an inch will admit too much light, and thus spoil the picture. If possible, it is best to have no holes of any size whatever in the screen, though the latter can be coated with shellac or other material to “fill” such openings. In making silhouettes by sunlight the work should be done before 10

\ o’clock in the morning, and after 5 - o’clock in the afternoon, so that the light comes from one side, rather than j from directly overhead. The more horizontal the sun’s rays the better the result. The secret ot making silhouettes, either the “stills” or the motion pictures, is that all light must come from the back of the subject, that is, from behind the screen, whether it be the sunlight through the open door or window, or the controlled electric light of the J studio. To accomplish this result, all light save that which comes in through the screen must be excluded from the room in which the picture Is being made. When this pas been done furl niture. plants or an>V other objects may be placed in the fi\ont of the screen with the person or persons to be ph<> tographed. and no object in front of the screen will cast a shadow* on the white and light-filled sheet. One rule is that all persons, animals or objects to be silhouetted must be at the same distance from the screen. This distance should be as close to the sheet as the largest object can be placed, though it is best that nothing touch the screen at any point. With this “picture” so arranged, the amateur photographer sets up his camera squarely in front of the screen and at such distance as will make the size of negative desired. Usually tt is best to make the outer edges of the screen the limits of the picture, though the writer has seen some silhouettes in which a dark frame of wood, or cardboard, was placed all around the screen, giving the resulting picture the effect of a large and rich painting in black and white. If the photographer is working with a focusing camera, he uses the ground glass just as he would in making any other picture. If he has a hand camera —placed, of course, on a tripod or other solid support—he must measure the distance carefully, after locating and “sizing” the image in the viewfinder. If the distance required is, say, ten feet, then he must have the lens exactly ten feet from the persons or objects in front of the screen, not an inch more or less. He also must guard against measuring to the screen, instead of to the outer surfaces, sides or edges of the persons or objects to be pictured. Size of the aperture and time of exposure vary with the character of the lens used, and are matters which can be determined accurately only by experience. In such pictures as those described all motion must be stopped, for the slightest movement will result in a “blurred” picture. Thus, plants placed against the screen must be given time to become absolutely still: animals must be taught to maintain their positions and, usually, children are rehearsed in their parts in the picture. The ordinary silhouette is a flat picture, having only length and breadth. In the new* process developed by Mr. Dyar, however, the silhouette is made to appear in relief by the skilful use of a hand mirror. When using a mirror for this purpose Mr. Dunn direct< the photographer to hold it at one side of the screen so that it catches and

“throws” only very little of the light passing through the screen from the outside. Such a light beam must, be carefully controlled, so that it falls only where wanted. It must not be too heavy and the mirror must be held in such a position as to prevent a shadow falling on the screen at any point.