Suppose you begin photographing with a simple “snapshot” outfit.  The first thing to remember is that there is absolutely no excuse for the large percentages of failures that beginners have in making pictures, and which are due solely to their own carelessness and inattention to simple details.  First of all, immediately after making an exposure, be sure to form the habit of turning the key until a fresh film comes into place; then you will never be troubled with the question whether you have exposed the film or not.  Every professional photographer who develops for amateurs handles many films in which some of the negatives are blank and some are double negatives with two pictures on one film.  This is solely the fault of the photographer, who was never quite sure and would first make the mistake of exposing a film twice, then turning the roll without exposing it at all.  If you are really in doubt, it is better to turn the roll to the next number, as you thus simply lose a film but preserve both negatives; if, on the other hand, you make a double exposure, you will lose both pictures.

The snapshot photographer should never take a picture unless he really wants it and unless he is pretty certain of making a picture.  Snapping here and there without a proper condition of light, focus, or subject is a very bad habit to contract.  Until you can make at least eight good pictures out of ten you are not a photographer.  No average lower than this should satisfy you.  Do not blame the lens for your failures.  In recent years the art of making lenses has advanced wonderfully, and while the one in your camera may not be an expensive one or capable of a wide range of use, it is at least adapted to the purpose of your instrument or you may be sure that the manufacturers would never have used it.

We should not consider the snapshot expert who merely presses the button as a real photographer, even though he obtains fine pictures.  No one deserves this name who does not understand the operations of the dark room.  One who has experienced the wonderful sensation of working in a faint yellow-ruby light and by the application of certain mysterious chemicals of seeing a picture gradually come into view on the creamy surface of a dry plate will never again be satisfied to push the button and allow some one else “to do the rest.”  However, if you do not wish to go into photography extensively you may at least learn just what limits your hand camera has, and at the end of the season in place of a lot of ill-timed pictures you can have an album full of creditable prints for which no apology will be necessary.

It is quite beyond the limits of this chapter to go into photography fully, but some of the simple principles may be of use to the boy or girl who has taken up the subject.  The modern snapshot camera even of small size has great possibilities.  With a clear negative we can have an enlargement made on bromide paper that will be a source of great satisfaction.  The actual making of enlargements is usually beyond the limits of an amateur’s outfit.  In this part of photographic work it will be better to patronize a professional.