Page 85 - The Wellington photographic handbook

The shutter is closed while the packet of paper is opened
and the printing frame filled. Then, after making sure that the
packet has been wrapped up again, or slipped into a drawer or
box, the printing frame is laid in front of the shutter in the window,
and this is opened for the few seconds required to make the ex-
posure, and is then again closed.
The exposure to daylight is extremely short, usually not
more than a second or two. This is another reason for preferring
artificial light, as very short exposures are sometimes a little difficult
to manage. Daylight moreover changes from hour to hour, some-
times from minute to minute, so that it is not easy to secure uni-
formity. With artificial light any number of exposures all exactly
alike can be given without difficulty.
As will have been gathered from the preceding remarks,
S.C.P. is a development paper, the effect of the light not being
visible at once. Many developers can be employed, but those
which are given later have been carefully worked out to suit the
paper, and experience has shown that they are the best. While
very fine tones can be obtained with amidol, the metol-hydrokinone
formula will be preferred by many, because the solution, if put up
in well-stoppered bottles, will keep in good order for a long time.
The behaviour of S.C.P. in the developer is different in some
respects from that of ordinary Bromide paper. With S.C.P. the
image appears almost the moment the solution is poured on, de-
velopment is complete in from fifteen to thirty seconds, and the
print, as soon as it is seen to be sufficiently vigorous, must be
transferred to the hypo.
With amidol there is no need to rinse the print between de-
veloping and fixing, unless it is desired to do so, but with metol-
hydrokinone stains may appear unless such rinsing is given. The
rinse should never exceed a few seconds.
The " Vigorous " grades are intended for use with thin, flat
or foggy negatives, from which they allow of rich, brilliant prints
being obtained. For negatives of normal contrast, or for vigorous
negatives, the " Soft " grades are recommended.
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