Artistic Lighting

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ARTISTIC LIGHTINGJAMES INOL1S,

TO WHICH IS ADDED

"AT HOME" PORTRAITUREWITH DAYLIGHT AND FLASHLIGHT

BY

F. DUNDAS TODD.

Price, so Cents.

CHICAGO :THE PHOTO-BEACON CO.

1900.


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COPYRIGHT, 1897,BY F. DUNDAS TODD.


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K

ARTISTIC LIGHTING.PAGE

INTRODUCTION 5CHAPTER I. THE OPERATING ROOM 8CHAPTER II. DESCRIPTION OF THE LIGHTING 12CHAPTER III. How NOT TO Do IT 17CHAPTER IV. How TO Do IT 19CHAPTER V. SOFTNESS 25CHAPTER VI. REMBRANDT LIGHTING, SO-CALLED 29CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION 35

"AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.CHAPTER I. BY ORDINARY DAYLIGHT 39CHAPTER II. BY FLASH LIGHT 46


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING.INTRODUCTION.

NEARLY thirty years ago, while I was in businessin Montreal, I took into my employ a Germanartist, William Raphael, who had the audacity, as Ithen considered it, to tell me that I knew absolutelynothing about lighting the human face. At first Istrongly resented his plainly spoken opinion. At lastI believed him, and by and by I eagerly studied whathe was so willing to teach. I found the task harderthan I anticipated, for it took me a whole year to learnwhat he could show me in five minutes.

Delighted with my new discovery, I never missedan opportunity for some years of attempting to set forththe principles I had so laboriously acquired, but mywords seemed to fall upon stony ground ; so, failing tosee any fruit resulting from the seed I was sowing, Igrew disheartened and gave up the good work. Mat-ters remained much in this condition until the begin-ning of last year, when my good friend, the editor ofThe Photo-Beacon, Mr. F. Dundas Todd, showed astrong interest in the subject, and on learning that Ihad adhered to this particular principle of lighting in


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6 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.

series of articles on artistic lighting to the journal heso ably conducts. At first I emphatically declined.Judging from the past, I felt I would simply be wast-ing time ; but he insisted that if I undertook the taskhe would see that results would follow.

So for the greater part of the year I had the pleas-ure for pleasure it soon proved to be of settingforth for the benefit of my fellow photographers theprinciples of portrait lighting followed by the greatestpainters in the history of the world. At first but littleinterest was shown ; but Mr. Todd faithfully kept hispart of the bargain, and by an energetic campaignamong the fraternity aroused their interest. By theend of the year, I understand, every copy of the num-bers containing the articles had been sold, and hun-dreds were clamoring for them. Recent conventionstestify that they have been of help to photographers,while the constant demand for the back numbers of thejournal show even more eloquently that they havecreated a new interest among photographers in theirwork.

I feel it would be unkind of me to leave unsatisfiedthe longing I have aroused, and so I herewith set forthto my fellow photographers for the second time theprinciples of artistic lighting as they were taught tome and as I know them, feeling confident that if theystudy them honestly they will never regret havingundertaken the task.

In conclusion, I want to say a few words about Mr.Todd. Had he not shown a strong desire to teachphotographers the artistic principles relating to theirprofession, an evident determination to lift them out of


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING. 7their groove whether they desired it or not, thesepapers never would have been penned. Had he not,in season and out of season, kept persistently peggingaway at them, my former experiences would have beenrepeated and whatever I had said would have beenuttered in vain.


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AKTISTIC LIGHTING.

CHAPTER I.THE OPERATING ROOM.

SINCE the early days of photography the portraitmaker has had presented for his considerationmany designs for his glass house. Some were severelysimple, some the reverse, while many were absolutelyfantastic, making one wonder how it could be possiblefor any photographer to produce results that wouldbe at least marketable, not to speak one word as towhether or not they were creditable. After beatinground about the bush, it is at last dawning uponportraitists that in this as in most other matters thatconcern human beings, the simplest is, after all, thebest, and so within the last few years all forms of sky-lights are giving way to that popularly known as thesingle-slant.

It has much to commend it. It is the simplest andcheapest to build, the least liable to get out of order,and will withstand the winter's snows and summerhail better than any other form. And in portrait workit will give any result that can be secured by any otherform, and many that can be got by it alone. So, aftera long and varied experience in operating rooms, I mostunhesitatingly cast my vote in favor of the single-slantlight.

For the benefit of those who may not have had anopportunity of seeing such a light, I have reproduced


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING.


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10 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.a typical example. The light should start about fivefeet (two feet is better, as then it can be used for thefull figure) from the ground and extend to a pointnot higher than fourteen feet from the floor. Its widthmay conveniently be about ten feet ; more than that Iconsider simply a weariness.

In the matter of glazing, I confess to a weaknessfor ground glass. It is especially a benefit in cloudyweather, for at such a time a light fleecy cloud will toofrequently take up a position in the blue sky where itwill reflect a distinct light on the very spot of all othersit is not wanted.' Where ground glass is used, such anoccurrence is impossible.

The curtains must be absolutely opaque. Theyshould be arranged in pairs, working from top andbottom on spring rollers, and should be sufficientlylong to overlap about a foot when closed. In my ownoperating room the light is ten feet wide, and is con-trolled by four curtains, two top and two bottom, eachof the pairs overlapping about six inches. At thevery outside, no more than half a dozen curtains arenecessary for a light of this size.From what I have said it must not be supposedthat the style of lighting I advocate cannot be securedin operating rooms designed on the double-slant plan,for all my earliest efforts were conducted under thisform of light. But this style is more difficult tohandle, and it is very difficult to avoid the strongreflected light that reaches the sitter from the floor.In working under a double-slant, however, the prin-ciples followed are the very same as under the simplerform, and once these are fully understood the necessary


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING. 11

changes in curtains and positions of camera and sitterwill readily suggest themselves.One word as to the interior coloring of the operat-ing room. It should be dark to avoid casting reflectedlight on the sitter. All the lighting effects are to beattained by direct light, and therefore a non-actiniccolor must be used. My own preference is for a green,a gray-green, as being most agreeable to the eye.


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CHAPTER II.DESCRIPTION OF THE LIGHTING.

AGOOD deal about lighting may be learned bystudying a solid round object such as a billiardball, or if that be not handy, an orange or an apple,while it is illuminated from a comparatively smallsource of light. The object should be placed where itwill be about the level of the eye, and the light mayconveniently fall on it from a gas flame. To insureperfect freedom from reflection, it should rest on adark-colored support, and it is advisable that it shouldhave a similar background. We know by experiencethat a ball of this description is round and solid, andwhen we wish to produce a representation of it on aflat surface the idea of rotundity and solidity can besuggested only by means of light and shade.At first blush it would be natural to suppose thatno matter where we placed the ball or took up ourposition to view it, the object would look always roundand solid. But when we begin to investigate the sub-ject more closely, we find that this is not the case,some positions and points of view giving a betterresult than others. The average eye has to be edu-cated to see light and shade, as it usually tends to seelight only on account of the volume of the latter thatstrikes the object, illuminating even the shadows. Itis necessary in experiments like this to catch the effect


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING. 13of the masses of both light and shade, and this can bebest done by almost closing the eyelids, until but afaint glimmer of light seems to come from the ball.

In pursuing these experiments the ball may at firstbe placed almost under the source of light and viewedfrom all sides. Then the distance should be graduallyincreased, but all the while at about a height of sayfrom four to five feet from the floor, and always lookedat with the eyes at the same height, and, of course,from all sides in turn. To an eye that can appreciatelight and shade it will be found that under certainconditions the ball will look almost flat, while underothers it attains its maximum of apparent solidity. Itmay be wise to leave the reader to find out these con-ditions for himself.

The human head, at least when we consider theeffect of light and shade, partakes somewhat of thenature of a ball. It is a solid, not exactly a sphere,but approaching that shape sufficiently close to behavesimilarly under like conditions. It possesses certainprojections, a few distinct indentations, both beingconnected by curving surfaces. In trying to repre-sent this object on a flat surface as a solid, we aregoverned by the same conditions that hold good in thecase of the ball ; that a certain kind of illuminationand a particular point of view will suggest to the mindthe idea of perfect solidity, while others will more orless convey the impression of flatness. If the aim ofthe photographer be a perfect likeness of the sitter, hemust satisfy the conditions that suggest perfect solid-ity, and the logical conclusion is forced on him thatthere is only one principle of lighting, a fact realized


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14 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.centuries ago by the greatest painters the world everknew and accepted today by the artistic world. Pho-tographers alone act I had almost said think dif-ferently.

Before proceeding to describe where to place thesitter and how he is to be lighted, it will be advisableif I describe the effect that will be secured, and in fol-lowing my remarks I would ask my readers to refer tothe picture that accompanies this chapter. The nega-tive is entirely free from retouching.The first point I would draw attention to is thedirection of the light, which, as can be seen from theshadow cast by the nose appears to fall across the faceat an angle of forty-five degrees. If a business cardbe laid on the face so that its edge touches the top ofthe ear and the lower part of the nose, it will be foundthat the edge of the shadow just reaches the card.The next point to be noticed is the position of thehigh lights. The most pronounced of these are to befound on the temple, nose, upper lip and chin. Thescale should be a descending one, that on the templebeing the strongest, that on the chin the weakest.The cheekbone on the light side of the face catches amild light, and a little stronger one is to be found juston the side of the nose at the corner of the eyelid onthe same side of the face. A weaker light is caughtjust under the eye on the shadow side, but under noconsideration must this approach the strength of anyof the others already named. But that light must bethere.On the side of the face in shade are two distinctshadows, one cast by the nose, the other on the very


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edge of the face. I would draw special attention tothe one cast by the nose, as it is here that many fail intrying to make this lighting. A common error is toget the nose sharply outlined against the shadow.When correctly rendered , the far-away side of the noseshould appear to round and to blend into the shadow,and not to stand up against it. The shadow on theedge of the face should be very distinct, but yetappear to be merely a continuation of the shade onthat side of the face. It will be noticed that in a facelit as described, we run through as perfect a scale ofgradation as it is possible to get on paper having littlebits of pure white with all the tones down to absoluteblack.

The eyes, it will be noticed, stand out with great,almost startling, brilliancy. They are absolutely freefrom shadow, the catch lights are pure white and in aperfectly lit face take the form of a circle, while theiris shows great gradation when examined closely.Even blue eyes with this lighting are perfectly rendered.


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CHAPTER III.HOW NOT TO DO IT.

IT is exceedingly difficult to throw away one's estab-lished ideas and to accept new ones in their stead.And even when our minds have been convinced, ourhabits restrain us and we are very apt to endeavor tocarry them out with the old tools, handled in the oldway. Realizing this fact, I think I cannot do betterthan to devote this chapter to a very plain statementof what must not be done if complete success be theaim.

To begin with, my readers must understand thatthe rules of art are founded on some truth of nature,and the first principle of artistic lighting depends onthe fact that this world derives its light from only onesource the sun. A picture with more than onesource of illumination is an artistic absurdity, an abor-tionin fact is not a picture at all, if one may dareuse such confusion of speech. Most emphatically itcannot be called artistic by any stretching of terms,for true art never violates any of the fundamental lawsof nature. The average photographer of today in hisefforts to secure his so-called ' ' effects ' ' has the lightfalling upon the sitter from many different directions,and as if that were not enough has screens and reflec-tors innumerable planted round his hapless victim, and


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produces what may possibly bring satisfaction to him-self which I very much doubt but which cer-tainly gives to artists a valid excuse for sneering at theproducts of the camera and insisting that photographyis not art and cannot possibly be, on account of themechanical nature of the process. The average artistseemingly is not able to appreciate the difference be-tween the man and his tools.The photographer who wishes to make his lightingartistic must begin by discarding all his former ideasof lighting. He must follow up that heroic act bydiscarding any white or semi-transparent shades hemay have on his skylight, and in their stead puttingsomething that will be for all practical purposesopaque. He must be master of his light, not its slave;when he wants light it should be light full, gloriousand resplendent, and when he wants the reverse itshould not be a nondescript dimming of light filteredthrough white muslin, but absolute opacity. He mustbe free of the half-hearted temporizing way of screen-ing his light at present in vogue, and instead mustlearn to know which he wants, light or darkness, andhaving decided which, to see that he gets it.Next he must discard all his reflectors, head screensand such truck, I was about to say, and place them inthe lumber room ; but instead I will say burn them,for in the lumber room they would occupy valuablespace, and as they will never again be wanted theywould simply prove a stumbling-block to him for therest of his life. So let him burn them, and when heis rid of them he will have so much less to worry hisown brain and the mind of his sitter.


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING. 1'J

CHAPTER IV.HOW TO DO IT.

THE photographer who has followed faithfully theprevious chapters should have little difficulty ingetting a successful result, by following the instruc-tions contained in this. Success will practicallydepend on three points first, that the operator knowsexactly what he wants ; second, that he knows it whenhe gets it on the sitter's face, and third, that his cur-tains are absolutely opaque and admit light only whereit is wanted.

Example is better than precept, and for the purposeof instruction I will give full particulars of all thearrangements in the operating room when the negativefrom which the photograph illustrating this article wasmade.

In the operating room I have what is popularlyknown as a single-slant light nearly 17 feet high and10 feet wide, which dimensions, by the way, I considerfar too large and only add trouble to the operator.The curtains for this light are absolutely opaque, andare four in number, two working from the top and twofrom the bottom. The adjacent pairs overlap eachother about six inches, and the top and bottom paircan be made to overlap nearly a foot, so that if neces-sary I can throw the operating room into almost perfectgloom.


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vCamera

Light begins 8 feet from floor, extends upward 4^ feet,and is 5 feet in width.

This diagram shows arrangement of studio whenthe accompanying portrait was made.


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Owing to the extreme size of the light, I generallyclose up entirely the half farthest from the sitter.Then I raise the bottom curtain of the other half to apoint about eight feet from the floor, and bring thetop curtain down four or five feet, so that the clearlight is narrowed down to an area of from four to fivefeet square.The next thing is to find the proper position for thesitter. This I know by experience will be at a distanceof about eight feet from the glass and about four feetback from its edge. My own position will be just infront of the open part of the light, and about six.feet from it. In the picture that illustrates this chapterthe head is turned away from the light so as to give athree-quarter view of the face. The first point to benoticed is the angle of the shadow cast by the lowerpart of the nose on the upper lip. If too long, letdown the lower curtain until the shadow is shortenedsufficiently ; if too short, raise it.

Once this point is determined the question of widthof light now demands consideration, and this is per-haps the most important point of all. When a vigor-ous contrasty effect is desired the light should be verynarrow I often reduce the area of clear glass to 2}^feet square and possibly the sitter may also have tobe moved much nearer to the light. In fact, it maybe taken as an axiom that the nearer the subject is tothe light, the sharper and bolder will the lighting be.A fat round face may have to be placed very closebefore good strong shadows can be got.From the above the reader can readily draw theinference that two points must influence him when


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deciding how far his sitter must be from the source ofillumination the effect he desires and the characterof the face. With certain patrons, for instance countrycousins, an amount of shadow that would be popularwith certain classes would not be acceptable, and theirtaste can be satisfied while, at the same time, this styleof lighting can be followed, simply by placing themfrom eight to ten feet from the side light and turningthe face just sufficiently toward it to permit the shadowside to be fairly well illuminated by direct light. Insuch a case the camera may need to be placed from twoto five feet nearer the light than is the subject. Thegreater the difference between the distance of the sitterand camera from the illumination the less pronouncedwill be the shadows on the face, and the less the differ-ence the more contrast will there be in the lighting.

It might be worth while to make a few experimentsto understand this more clearly. Place a sitter eightfeet from the light and the camera seven feet, and turnthe subject's head round to show a three-quarter view.On looking at the face it will be found that the shadowfrom the nose will be very strong and extending prettywell over the far side of the cheek. Then move thecamera a foot nearer the light and bring the face of thesitter around to secure the same view as before, andyou will find the shadow from the nose and that on farside of the cheek considerably reduced. By movingthe camera still nearer the light the shadows will bestill further modified until we reach the extreme caseof the sitter's face being turned directly toward thelight, and the shadow cast by the nose is directlyunderneath it. Between the two extremes one can


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24 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.secure any strength of shade desired and also softillumination if such be wanted. Xo matter the tasteof the customer, he can be pleased, and the operatorwill have the satisfaction of knowing that he has beenworking in strict accordance with recognized artisticprinciples.

Subjects with heavy eyebrows have to be set backaway from the light, the distance being determined bythe catch light in the eye, for until he is far enoughback the bright speck is not visible.Where one has a side and top light it can be workedjust as readily as with a single-slant light by coveringwith opaque curtains all of it but what will give thesame clear space that I have been describing as beingused in my own studio.


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CHAPTER V.SOFTNESS.

WHEN I started to write the articles on thissubject I had not the slightest idea that theywould expand themselves into a series, for to tell thetruth, I thought I could say all that I wanted in oneor two at the most, but it soon appeared that the moreI wrote the more points arose that had to be dealtwith. My readers viewed the subject from so manystandpoints that their letters and visits kept puttingnew ideas into my head, and each month's contribu-tion soon became an answer to some point that hadbeen raised. The examples that I first used to illus-trate my ideas were very pronounced in their charac-ter so much so that many assured me that theyrefrained from attempting to put my ideas into prac-tice as they felt the results would not be satisfactoryto their customers. Such gentlemen seemingly didnot grasp the essential point of the whole matter,namely, that the illumination of the sitter must befrom one direction only, the size of the illuminatingarea and its direction being governed entirely by theknowledge and taste of the photographer.

This question of softness was twice raised in oneday by my visitors. In the first instance I wasdemonstrating the remarkable control the curtainsgave me over the light to a couple of ladies who I


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2G ARTISTIC LIGHTING.found had made a special trip from Texas to get meto show exactly what I meant, as their own results hadnot been such as pleased them.

In demonstrating to them the beauties and sim-plicity of this lighting, I narrowed the light down toabout 2^ feet square, giving very brilliant high lightsand decided shadows to the sitter's face, and had con-ditions such that an exposure of fully ten secondswould have been necessary.

' ' But what do you do when taking a child ? ' 'broke in one of the ladies. Without moving from myposition I released the cords, the blinds rolled up andthe light streamed in from the whole of the side light.The change on the sitter's face was remarkable. Theshadows were illuminated and the high lights seemedto have lost their vigor ; where before was force therepervaded a delicate softness. The face was entirelyfree from any shadow that could possibly be objectedto even by those most unversed in artistic princi-ples, and yet it pcssessed a roundness and a perfectionof gradation that made the resulting negative yielda print that was a perfect likeness.

I made the exposure with a snap of the shutter,and the result is presented to the reader for his consid-eration. With such an example before them photog-raphers should have no hesitation now in adopting theprinciples I have endeavored to lay before themremember they are not mine, they are centuries old, Iam merely trying to teach what I was taught forbetween the two extremes I have illustrated there liemany means so that it is possible to satisfy any cus-tomer, whether young or old, plump or thin. Bril-


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liancy and force are obtained by using a contractedlight, softness and roundness by opening up the lightuntil the desired effect is attained this may be car-ried to the extent of flatness. Subject and cameraremain practically in the same relative position to eachother, the blinds alone are altered.

My other visitor that day illustrated another point,namely, trying to get a certain result with unfavorableconditions. He showed me his own attempts, explain-ing that he had a skylight as well as a side light, butthat he had completely screened off all the top light.But still his results were not satisfactor}r , and so hecame to see me. A glance at them showed that histop light was very much in evidence, and I told himhe had merely subdued it, not cut it off entirely. Hethen acknowledged that not having convenient anopaque fabric he had used one that permitted a gooddeal of light to pass, believing that it would be allright. But it was not all right by a long way. Letme say again half measures will not do. It must beeither light or no light ; subdued light and reflectedlight are both out of the question.


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CHAPTER VI.REMBRANDT LIGHTING, SO-CALLED.

ONE of my correspondents who had followed mevery closely wrote to ask how I would securewith a single-slant light what is generally known as' ' Rembrandt ' ' pictures. Now, this is a scheme oflighting which when well done gives a very pleasantlikeness and at the same time a brilliant picture, onaccount of the decided contrasts between the lightsand shadows, and as it is best made when the condi-tions of illumination are such as I have all along beenadvocating from a single source I feel that thisparticular effect naturally falls under the scope of mysubject.My correspondent's principal reason for writing mewas this : he purposed altering his light to single-slant, but hesitated as his patrons were rather fond ofthese shadow pictures, and were it impossible to securethem with side light alone he felt he would not bejustified in making the change. To show him andothers who may be like-minded that it is possible toget such effects, I submit an illustration which I thinkmay be safely called a Rembrandt of the Rembrandts,and will describe how I secured it.

On looking at it the reader will notice that thefeature of the lighting is the fine


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30 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.streak running down the profile. A little of the beamhas spread over to the cheek ; the amount of this willdepend upon the taste of the photographer, who mustdecide as to how much will best suggest the sitter'scharacteristics. The halo of light is continued roundthe hair, and a flood of rays falls upon the shoulder.The general effect is, I consider, very pleasing, andwith sitters possessing a good profile is likely to bepopular.

Begin the arrangements by running up the lowercurtains until the top is about eight feet from thefloor. Then lower the top ones until they comewithin three feet or so of the others. Now place avignette background it must be opaque right inthe middle of the skylight, and as close to it as possi-ble. Seat the subject opposite the center of the back-ground with face turned to it, and of course to thelight. The camera is then placed in the center of theroom, opposite the sitter and pointing straight at thelight,

the lens necessarily being shielded by a funnel-shaped hood from the direct rays. Now let the sub-ject turn the head round until the full profile is seenand it will be found that the light strikes all round asin the illustration. Very probably the exact effectwill not be got at the first attempt. For instance, theline on the forehead may be too broad, and the camerawill have to be moved a little to one side the left, ifthe sitter be looking to the right ; or if a broader lightbe wanted, to the right, the head being turned to suit.Should a softer effect be desired, it can be securedby opening the blinds still wider and thus allowing abigger volume of light to fall upon the sitter. But


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here, as in the lighting previously described, there isabsolute control of the illumination, and the light canbe made to play upon the figure at the will and accord-ing to the taste of the operator.For three-quarter Rembrandt lighting place the sit-ter exactly as recommended for the effect first described,namely, in the center of the light. I would remindthe reader that mine is ten feet wide, so that there is inmy case about five feet on each side of the subject.Now shift the background from its position and placeit at an angle, one edge almost touching the side light,and then move the camera round near the light so thatbackground, sitter and camera are in one straight line.The sitter should now turn the face toward the lensuntil the desired view, say a three quarter, is shown.

In making the accompanying illustration the lightcommenced about six feet from the floor and extendedupward about five feet. Years ago I used to make alighting something like this which went by the samename, but the difference is very apparent if the twostyles be seen together. In one we have simply a massof white from the nose to the edge of the cheek ; inthe other which I now recommend, it will be noticedthat the nose has a distinct and separate light of its ownwhich makes it stand clear of the cheek, while fromthat organ to the outline of the face there is a grada-tion that gives correct form to that part.The modeling of the light side of the face and thedistinct line of light on the nose is modified or strength-ened by the amount of light in front of the sitter andalso by moving the camera nearer or farther away from


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ever, that it is necessary to have enough light in frontof the sitter to permit the eyes catching sufficient togive to them life and animation.

It may also be necessary to soften the direct lightstriking the face by using a head screen of, say, one ortwo thicknesses of cheese cloth, while the shadow sidemay have to be lightened by using a very subduedreflector, otherwise the contrasts may be too severe.

I think I have shown enough to ease the mind ofmy correspondents who were afraid that Rembrandtpictures could not be made with single-slant light, andmy experience shows that this lighting can be madewith all the softness and delicacy that is possible byany other form of light, and when desired the mostsevere contrasts of light and shade can be mademore so than by any other form of skylight.


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ARTISTIC LIGHTING, 35

CHAPTER VII.CONCLUSION.

f T ^HE arguments advanced against the scheme ofJL lighting I have outlined in the preceding chap-

ters have been but two in number. These are, first,that the general public cannot appreciate their artisticmerit and that therefore such pictures are not salable ;secondl}', that if followed by every photographer, oneand all will produce the same kind of picture.The first objection has already answered itself, forthose who are now adhering strictly to the principleslaid down are unanimous in declaring that they neverfound it so easy to deliver the pictures to the customer.

To the second objection there are two answers.The first is that it is infinitely better for the photog-rapher to have the guidance of sound principles thannone at all. And the second answer is a practical one,for a study of the work of different men as they hangside by side at conventions shows conclusively thatwhile each has been influenced by the same principles,he nevertheless shows his own individuality. And,to my mind, the most pleasing feature of all is theremarkable way in which certain men are developingin a new direction. Once having got their feet on firmground they see possibilities of new departures, and Iconfidently believe that a few years will see each of


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36 ARTISTIC LIGHTING.them develop a style, based on sound principles, thatis emphatically his own.

Shakespeare says : "Each man in his time playsmany parts, ' ' and I never anticipated that one of minewould be a venture into the field of literature. I havedelivered my message to my brother photographers,and willingly relinquish the pen for abler hands towield. Should anyone feel in debt to me, all I ask isthat it be paid by friendly guidance to some brotherstruggling to attain a higher level of knowledge.


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"AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.BY F. DUXDAS TODI


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"AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.CHAPTER I.

BY ORDINARY DAYLIGHT.THE height of the average amateur photographer'sambition is to make portraits. In the majorityof cases his first exposures are made on some indulgentrelative, and it is nothing unusual for him to make anenemy of some fair friend by presenting to her a por-trait of herself in which she is too literally portrayed' ' as ithers see her. * ' Generally speaking, however,the fault lies with the amateur photographer, whoapproaches the problem of making a likeness with allthe courage that accompanies absolute ignorance, andas a rule he is hugely delighted with any result,whether it be good, bad, or indifferent.

Portraiture, even when undertaken with the mostfavorable conditions, is a mighty problem to solve, andcalls forth the utmost skill of the most experiencedmen. Marked success is attained only by those whopossess a thorough grounding in the principles ofartistic composition and lighting, and the amateurphotographer who wishes to make this phase of pho-tography his hobby must be prepared to devote himselfto serious study if he hopes to be at all successful.For the principles of artistic composition I wouldrefer him to the works of Mr. H. P. Robinson, in


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40 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.charm of style. Mr. Inglis has in the precedingchapters of this book explained the principles ofartistic lighting as applied to portraiture, so that it isnow possible for the dabbler in the art to interest him-self in this most fascinating study.

In attempting portrait work the average amateurtakes the professional as his model in style. He couldnot make a bigger mistake. The professional photog-rapher is a business man whose duty it is to supply thecustomer with what will sell. The popular taste isdeplorably below par, but the ambition of everyamateur photographer should be to elevate his owntaste, using his camera toward that end, just as someattain it by means of brush or pencil. And so, insteadof trying to imitate the professional photographer, lethim rather follow the styles of the greatest painters,and once he has mastered the underlying principles hewill have a pleasure in his hobby that will be life-longin its duration.

In attempting portraiture in an ordinary room thephotographer will find himself greatly handicapped byone drawback for which there is absolutely no remedy,and that is the height of an ordinary window is seldommore than eight feet from the floor. The effect of thisis twofold. In the first place, it makes it exceedinglydifficult to get sufficient light on the top of the sitter'shead, so that unless long exposures be given there istotal lack of detail, especially with dark-haired sub-jects ; and in the second place, it compels the subjectto be so near the window that the camera has to beplaced inconveniently near the wall, and the


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42 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.The subject of the accompanying portrait was a

young lady of true Norwegian type, the eyes being ofa very light blue. She said that she had given up allhope of having a good likeness of herself, as she neverhad any eyes. My principal effort, therefore, was tosatisfy her aspirations in this particular direction, andI flatter myself I did so with some measure of success.

I began by selecting a room in which the windowsfaced the open sky. These were two in number, andas illumination must be from only one source, one ofthem was darkened by drawing down the shade. Thenext problem was the position of the sitter. This islargely governed by the height of the window and thedistance of the sitter's head from the floor. Thisshould be as low as possible, as the nearer the head isto the ground the farther away from the window canthe sitter be placed. In the case under considerationthe best position for the sitter was found to be at apoint about six feet from the wall, on a line three feetfrom the edge of the window. Or, to put it anotherway, to get this position, measure three feet along thewall from the edge of the window, and then six feetinto the middle of the room.

To find the best position for the camera, I standjust in front of the window and bring my head downto the level of that of the sitter. Then I hold up myhand the one that is farther from the window andask the subject to look at that. I quickly note thenature of the shadow on the far-away side of the faceand that cast by the nose. First I see that they do notmeet ; then I study the edge of the nose to see the


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44 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.soft and blends over into the shadow it is all right ; butif sharp, I turn the head a trifle more to the light,shifting my own head at the same time a little nearerto the window. Once the lighting on the nose is tomy satisfaction, I note the high lights in the eyes.These should shine with great brilliancy on both ballsand be located just on the edge of the eyelids. Wherethe eyebrows are very heavy and the eyes deep set, thecatch lights may not be visible, and to secure them thesitter may have to be moved back some little distance,and this is just the time when one finds the inconven-ience of the low window, for the farther the sitter is fromthe window the less light falls on the top of the head.So keep the subject as near the window as possible.Last of all I study the shadow cast by the nose on thelip. With a window quite uncovered there is usuallynone, and to get it the lower part of the window mustbe covered by some opaque cloth. The height of thiscan be found only by experiment.The camera must be placed so that the lens will bewhere the eye was while the sitter was being posed.A tripod is exceedingly awkward in such crampedquarters, and I find a small table much more conven-ient. The height of the instrument must be such thatwithout tilting it in any way the lens will show just alittle bit below the nose. It should be said, however,that this rule is not absolute, for there are certain faces,those with snub noses, for example, where it is betterto have the camera considerably higher, so that thelens looks down on the face. The necessary heightcan usually be attained by placing a decent-sized box


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"AT HOME" PORTRAITURE. 45The position of the eyes depends much on the sitter,but generally speaking, I find it best to ask the subject

to look straight into the lens, or just past the edge ofthe camera.

The length of exposure is a hard matter uponwhich to give advice, as so much depends upon the sit-ter's hair and complexion, the hour of the day, seasonof the year, and condition of the atmosphere. But insummer time, toward the middle of the day, and usingfastest plates, with largest opening in the lens, I findten seconds about correct with an average sitter.With darker complexions the exposure may easily runinto a minute.

Many amateur photographers are fortunate enoughto live in a house with a fair-sized hallway from whichstarts a stairway to the upper floor. There is usuallya window on the first landing, and in many houses Ihave seen it is perfectly possible to make excellent por-traits by the light from this window. Much dependsupon the hallway, the greatest obstacle being more inthe matter of width than of length. Anyone who hasclosely followed Mr. Inglis' writings should find littledifficulty in applying the principles in a case of thiskind.


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40 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.

CHAPTER II.BY FLASH LIGHT.

MOST of my efforts at portraiture have to be madein the evening, which, thanks to flash light, isnow perfectly possible, and very excellent results canbe secured in this way. For those uninitiated itmay be explained that flash light is produced by thecombustion of the metal magnesium which is, for thispurpose, provided in fine grains, either alone or mixedwith some substance that causes it to burn very rapidly.When magnesium is used alone it must be burnedin a lamp specially made for that purpose ; but I mayas well say at once that for such portrait work as isdescribed in this book the metal when used alone ispractically useless, as to get sufficient exposure theflame must continue for a few seconds, and its intensitywill cause the sitter to either close the eyes or at thevery least to contract the pupils, giving them a fuzzyappearance that spoils the effect.So for portraiture one must use the explosive com-pound, which may be discharged either by touching itoff with a taper or by a lamp specially designed forthe purpose. I most unhesitatingly recommend that alamp be used, because when the powder is fired bytouching it off the sitter knows what is coming andbraces himself for the ordeal. The result can easilybe understood.


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48 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.It may not be out of place here for me to say a fewwords about the dangerous nature of flash powder. It

is just as much an explosive as is gunpowder or dyna-mite, and must be handled with even more care, as itwill, under certain conditions, go off even more easilythan will either of those named. And the trouble is,nobody knows what these conditions are. Generallyone may give the powder almost any kind of carelesshandling without dire results ; but at some unexpectedmoment, with conditions exactly similar as far as onecan judge, a little friction will explode the powder.So beware of friction. The powder usually comesin ounce quantities, stored in wooden boxes. The lidis fastened down by the label, and this must be cutbefore the box can be opened. Here is how to handlethe box at this stage : First cut the wrapper all theway around, then, holding the bottle at arm's length,prize up the lid with the blade of the knife, workingall around until the lid drops off. Before putting thelid on again, always blow away any powder that maybe adhering to it or to the edge of the bottle, for it ishere the danger lies. A few particles of the powderwedged in between bottle and lid will undergo frictionwhen the latter is being removed, and while the chanceis a remote one, it is within the bounds of possibilitiesto have an explosion with a nasty burn or the loss of afinger or two as a result. So blow away all adheringpowder, and see that the bottle is always stood rightend up. In opening, follow the directions just given,so that if an explosion should occur there will be nofingers near to get hurt.


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50 "AT HOME " PORTRAITURE.from $i. I have worked with many of them and cansay that, for all that the average amateur wants to do,one of the cheaper kinds is good enough. Some of themore expensive machines are provided with quite anarray of burners, but a long series of experiments hasproved to me that they are worse than useless, for Ifind that the best results are got when the powder isconcentrated at one point.

Before starting in to serious work I would advisethe beginner to make a study of lighting by the aid ofan ordinary gas flame ; or, if that be not convenient, akerosene lamp. The former generally hangs in thecenter of the room about eight feet from the floor, sothat a sitter placed about six feet from it will be inproper position. The photographer should seat him-self beneath the flame, but about a foot and a half toone side, and should study very closely the changes inthe lighting that result as the sitter turns his head firstto the one side and then to the other. It will takemany nights' study until he is able to appreciate fullyall the little points set forth by Mr. Inglis ; but by andby his eye will become educated, and when that isattained he will be able to make good portraits byflash light. All that is necessary is to place the lenswhere his eye was, and to discharge the flash lamp infront of the gas flame, taking care of course that thelamp is behind the line of the lens so that no rays canstrike in and fog the plate.More exact work can be done with a stand machine.When a lamp of this kind is used it is a good plan toget a piece of gas pipe about a foot long, to one end of


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52 "AT HOME ' ' PORTRAITURE.so shaped that it will permit of rubber tubing beingattached to it. A screw clamp should be soldered tothe pipe so that it can be fastened readily to themachine in such a way that the gas flame will be abouteight inches above the pan that carries the powder.On connecting the rubber tubing with the chandelierand the piping, and lighting the gas all other lightsin the room being turned out, the photographer hasjust as much control over his lighting effects as if hewere in a studio.

Suppose I tell how I work. The sitter being posed,the camera is focused, this being greatly aided bygetting the subject or a friend to hold a burning matchalongside the face about level with the cheek bone.When the flame is sharply defined on the ground glassthere is not much wrong with the face.The sitter is now asked to look past one side of thecamera, and the lamp is placed on the other side of theinstrument just a little behind the lens. By raisingor lowering the flame, by moving it to one side oranother, as the occasion requires, the best effect is soongot. It may serve as a guide to the beginner to saythat I generally find the best position of the flameto be about a foot to one side of the lens and a littleover two feet above it. This is with a distance ofsix feet from the sitter ; of course, at a greater dis-tance those measurements would be proportionatelyincreased.

The quantity of powder to be used is very impor-tant. In my experience I find that when using a fastplate, the lens working at/-8 that is, largest stop


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"AT HOME" PORTRAITURE. 53sitter to lens is six feet. In actual practice I do notweigh, but measure out with a metal mustard spoonwhich holds about that quantity. The following tableshows the amount of powder required at different dis-tances, the lens supposed to be working at/-8. With/-i i one must, of course, double the quantity, andwith/-i6 it must be quadrupled. Smaller stops than/-i6 are practically inadmissible in flash-light work :

6 feet 12 grains8 " 42 "10 " 66 "12 " 96 "15 " .... '( ounce20

"}'

25 " i3


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54 "AT HOME" PORTRAITURE.before the lamp is discharged. If this be on the" lee " side of the room the smoke will make its exitat once, and if a window opposite can also be openedthe current of air will help matters considerably.

I^et me conclude with a few words of warning.You cannot handle the powder too carefully ; and, ifpossible, never have your fingers on the cap of thebottle when removing it, but prize it off with a tableknife. Never put the powder on the pan while thelamp is burning ; powder first, light the lamp after-ward, and thus prevent a serious accident.


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