Page 26 - The Wellington photographic handbook

poor economy to save developer at the cost of spoiled plates.
During development the dish should be rocked gently, not violently
from time to time, and should be kept covered, except when the
plate is being examined.
DEVELOPMENT BY THE WATKINS METHOD.
While the practised photographer will have no trouble in
deciding how far to carry development, the beginner will be in
considerable doubt, and without some guide may find himself
spoiling what might otherwise be a good negative. The Watkins
system affords this guidance, and if the exposure has been
anything like correct can be relied upon to give good results. To
put this method into practice with the " normal " pyro-soda
formula given on page 13, the time in seconds is noted between the
moment when the developer is poured on the plate and the moment
when the first sign of the image appears. The time so taken is
multiplied by ten, and the result is the total time, from the
commencement, that the plate should remain in the developer.
There is no need to hurry over the calculation. Make a note
of the time by the watch when the developer is poured on, and
as soon as the image begins to appear again note the time. The
dish is then covered with a card to protect the plate from light,
and while development progresses the time at which it will be
finished is worked out. When such time is reached the plate is
removed from the developer. If the " factor " ten gives a negative
that is more vigorous than is desired, nine or eight may be used
in the same way, or vice versa, twelve or even fourteen may suit
some workers. Whatever the method of development, the dish
should be gently rocked from time to time.
Example.— If thirty seconds elapsed between pouring on the

developer and first seeing any sign of the image, development will
be complete in ten times thirty seconds altogether, that is in
300 seconds, or 5 minutes.
TIME DEVELOPMENT.
Time development, pure and simple, is based on the principle
that with a given make of plate, the time required by a given
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