Determining the correct enlargement for each negative of a mosaic is
perhaps the most important problem in the use of the enlarging camera
for aerial work. The correct setting of the camera may be found by
either of two methods: the negative may be previously scaled and marked
with a line on its edge, which must be projected to a definite size; or
the true location of several points in the picture as obtained from an
accurate map may be marked on the enlarging camera easel according to
the desired scale, and the negative image projected to coincide with
these. In either case, if an exact scale is desired, allowance must be
made for paper shrinkage, a matter which must be determined by previous
experiment.
=Rectifying.=—Negatives taken when the plane is not flying level will be
distorted (Figs. 134 and 135). Contact prints from these will not fit
into a mosaic, and no mere enlargement or reduction will make them
available. It is necessary with these negatives to resort to a
_rectifying camera_. This is an enlarging camera built so that the
negative and print easel may be inclined about vertical and horizontal
axes, thereby purposely introducing a distortion sufficient to offset
the distortion of the negative. Thus, if the bottom of the printing
surface is moved away from the lens, that part of the picture will be
enlarged; if moved toward the lens, reduced.
For small rectifications the common practice is to tilt the printing
surface alone, a method that is practical as long as this tilting does
not affect the focus so much as to require prohibitive stopping down of
the lens. For great distortions, such as that inherent in the principle
of the Bagley camera, it is necessary to tilt both negative and print in
order to preserve an approximate focus, a given portion of the negative
moving toward the lens as the corresponding portion of the print is
moved away. Both schemes for rectification are shown diagrammatically in
Fig. 122.
=Developing and Drying Prints.=—The developing of prints follows closely
that of cut or roll film, and so need not be treated separately.
The drying of emulsions on paper is more easily accomplished than the
drying of emulsions on glass, for two reasons: the emulsions on paper
are much more thinly coated, and there is diffusion of moisture into the
atmosphere from front and back of the printing medium. In the field a
common method has been to soak the prints in water-free alcohol and then
burn off the alcohol, thus securing a dry print within two or three
minutes after the conclusion of washing. A later method very generally
employed is to cover wooden frames three or four feet above the ground
with chicken wire or muslin, and on these lay the prints after soaking
them in alcohol. Below the frames currents of warm air rise from pans of
burning alcohol, previously used to soak the prints and now useless as
alcohol because of their high water content.
[Illustration:
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