This section is from the book "Complete Self-Instructing Library Of Practical Photography", by J. B. Schriever. Also available from Amazon: Complete Self-Instructing Library Of Practical Photography.
614. In Fig. I, we have a fully timed negative, giving all the roundness of the face, all the detail in the shadows, and perfect development of negative, such as a demonstrator would call a fine example of any special make of plate.
615. In Fig. II, we have the same lighting, the same
The Artistic Print See Paragraph No. 615.
Extreme Low Key of Lighting See Paragraph No. 616.
The New School in Portrait Photography. 321 pose, and the same subject, but the plate has been purposely under-timed. Compare the two, and note that in Fig. I there is practically no strength of character in the pose, that the clothes are as important as the countenance; the background also holds your attention, being just as noticeable as any other part of the print. In other words, the man in Fig I is no more important than his surroundings; while in Fig. II, observe the character of the subject depicted in the face (the most important part of the picture), with the hands, clothes, and background taking their relative and proper subordinate places in the general composition.
616. In Fig. III, we have an attempt at the pictorial in head studies. The subject is in the extreme of low key lighting, with no ray of direct light anywhere in evidence - except upon the head arrangement - and with almost no detail, yet full of interest and idealization of the subject. The original lines of mouth and chin were drawn and hard, but this treatment has softened them and retained the likeness, and yet the negative has had no retouching whatsoever. The light fell through a narrow slit back of the figure at an almost vertical angle, striking the head-dress, and just touching the shoulders.
617. The next example of the unusual in photography is found in Fig. IV. The light on this figure is diametrically opposed to that in Fig. III, being sunlight diffused only by ribbed glass. The model is placed about eighteen feet from the light, which extends upward to about fifteen feet from the floor, and the camera is set at right angles with the direction of light. Note the directness of the illumination. The figure is distinctly outlined on the back of the divan, and the shadows under the chin are sharp, yet soft. Here is an example of where, if a fraction more time or any more development had been given, the whole sentiment of the picture would have been lost. The artist knew the original lighting was photographically hard, but artistically beautiful, so he purposely timed short, and developed only for his high-lights. The whole composition is simple, yet poetic. Local development was used to keep down the tone of light on the lower part of the figure. 618, We now come bo Figs, V tad VI. Here is an example of full exposure on a perfectly flat lighting. The whole arrangement is absolutely simple, with no attempt at posing, and had the hair been arranged flat on the head, we might well be reminded of a painting made in the early fifties. Notice that, while the whole picture is so nearly in one tone, yet the interest centers on the face by reason of the fact that the hair is the most prominent spot in the whole composition, and all the lines of dress and figure lead up to the face. In Fig. V, you see the form of light used to produce this effect - about thirty-six square feet of side-light, with the figure about twenty feet distant. All the rest of the light was kept down by opaque and white curtains, and the effect of the directness of light is shown by the shadow on the wall. The small screen has been so placed as to soften the light on the back part of the dress. A long window in an ordinary house will give beautiful effects in this character of lighting.
619. In Figs. VII and VIII, we have the same light aperture with an entirely different result, due, as is seen to the fact that both subject and camera have been moved back from it, and the light now has to travel a distance of twenty-three feet to the figure. A hat has been added, and the arrangement is much more complicated than in the sitting figure. The lines in the skirt all lead up to the head, and, to balance the immensity of hat, we have deep shadows in front of the figure, as well as the shadow on the wall, with the hand placed in just the right position to make the composition hold together. This is an example of photography made to please the eye, and not to conform to photographic technique, for is not the negative heavy in shadow and lacking in detail in many places? A large part of the beauty of the picture is due to the deep blacks.
620. Turn to an interesting bit of simple composition in Fig. IX. What construction could be imagined to bet-
Simple Composition for Child Portrait See Paragraph No. 620.
The New School in Portrait Photograph}). 331 ter represent a child of seven? No complications of light, no elaborate accessories, no unnatural pose - just a little girl, a plain wall, and plenty of light. This is a portrait of the most lasting and satisfactory kind, and although very simple in its construction, is not easy to make successfully. The eye must see quickly, and the result be obtained quickly.
621. We admire paintings that seem flooded with light. We admire curved lines in expressing womanhood. The man who arranged Figs. X and XI may have had Raphael's St. Cecelia as one of his ideals. This illustration has much of the feeling that is found in that famous painting - the light, the pose, the expression, all hold you. You see a table, a door, two hands and a dress, but your eye is involuntarily riveted on the face.
622. Figure X shows just how little care, in accessories, screens, or reflectors, was taken in making up the composition. The artist has used his photographic medium as brush and color - and compelled you to study the face of the subject; and, at the same time, has given an almost perfect composition.
623. Let us now turn to Figs. XII and XIII. We have a study entitled "Iris."otice that all the concentration of light is on the flowers, and only strikes the face enough to show it is a face. Such pictures are for pictorial effect alone, as a composition like this gives out no personality. It is interesting because of its construction and light control. You may see in Fig. XII that the light falls almost from the top, and is cut down by the black light-controller, so that most of it falls on the flowers, making them the real center of interest.
624. Figs. XIV, XV and XVI, show us how a regular studio picture is made from the exposure to the finished print. The wide-angled view (Fig. XIV) gives us the manner of lighting. The next, (Fig. XV), the result of developed plate and retouched negative. In Fig. XVI is the finished print with background worked in, for which purpose powdered lampblack is used on ground-glass substitute. These figures show the class of finished work most popular with the customers of advanced photographers of today.
625. Turn next to one more interesting example of purely decorative art in photography. (Figs. XVII and XVIII.) We have a simple window light screened by a flat side-screen to cut the light off the lower part of the figure. It is suggestive of Japanese art in construction, but is purely American in effect. Try the experiment of covering up the spray of flowers, and you will find that the whole figure loses interest. The key to our composition is this little spray of flowers just touched by the strong light from the window. The light is extremely strong and direct on the back of the head and figure, and the suggestive detail in the face has been preserved by stopping the development just at the point where the shadows had obtained their full strength. Carrying it any further would have quite destroyed all its pictorial effect.