Photograph for pictorial Magazines

Reproductions in books and magazines naturally have the same properties as the original photographs from which they were made; they also spring into relief when looked at with one eye from the proper distance. But since different photographs are taken by cameras having lenses with different focal lengths, one can find the proper distance only by trial and error. Cup one eye with your hand and hold the illustration at arm’s length. Its plane must be perpendicular to the line of vision and your open eye must be right opposite the middle of the picture. Gradually bring the picture closer, steadily looking at it meanwhile; you easily catch the moment when it appears in clearest relief. Many illustrations that seem blurred and flat when you look at them in your habitual way acquire depth and clearness when viewed as I suggest. One will even catch the sparkle of water and other and other such purely stereoscopic effects. It’s amazing that few people know these simple things though they were all explained in popular science books more than half a century ago. There is one more thing we must note. Photographic enlargements, as we have seen, are more life like; photographs of a reduced size are not. True, the smaller size photograph gives a better contrast; but it is flat and fails to give the effect of depth and relief. You should now be able to say why: it also reduces the corresponding perspective, which is usually too little as it is