Photography - Troubleshooting Photography

You have not excluded enough white light with the focusing cloth; the focusing cloth may be too thin; perhaps you have not opened the shutter so that the light can enter the camera; the diaphragm in the shutter may be at the smallest opening, thus not admitting very much light. Do not look through the ground-glass. To view the image on the ground-glass be sure that the lens is wide open (using the largest "stop" or diaphragm) and allow no light to strike the ground-glass with the exception of that which comes through the lens. If you use a small stop the image will be much more indistinct on the ground-glass. Do not try to look through the ground-glass, but look on it, as though you were looking at a mounted picture. A little practice will readily overcome any difficulty you may experience at first in locating the image on the ground-glass