STORE WINDOWS The photographing of store windows, and all forms of that kind of work are, to my way of thinking, disagreeable, for it is a rare instance indeed, that, for the amount of time and labor involved, a proper compensation can be obtained. At times though, the work has to be done and many operators seem to have considerable trouble in getting good photographs of windows. The trouble is that store windows are generally located on busy streets, and if made at night one has the street lamps to contend with, which give no end of trouble, the wind blows down your camera, you get cold clear through to the bone in winter and swelter in the summer sun, you have to answer innumerable questions from passers-by, and all in all, it is anything but congenial employment. Then, if you charge what it is worth, a howl goes up. For this reason, many of the better class of commercial studios steer entirely clear of this line of work.
However, there are several ways to photograph windows successfully.
You can photograph them in the daytime with the sun directly on the window, which will kill, practically, any reflection, excepting, of course, in the case of a north window, or one which the sun does not reach, when it will be necessary for you to have a black screen in back of your camera to throw a black reflection. This screen may be made of dark canvas, and to be port able, may be attached to sections of gas pipe, which are quickly and easily put together. This may also be used at night to eliminate the reflections of lights opposite the window, and which may not be turned out during the exposure.
Some operators who work alone and cannot carry screens and other paraphernalia have a switch key that will turn out the lights of windows along the street, such lights usually being controlled by an outside switch box, but they cannot turn out the street lights, so it really comes down to one way of photographing some windows with any degree of success, which is to photo- ' graph them at night and give time for the interior of the window, and then use a blow lamp to finish up for the outside, handling it the same as you would a copy under glass, that is, keep the light off your window. This means
you will have to work your blow-jamp on each side of your window in such a position that the light will not reflect on the glass itself.
This method really gives a very pleasing effect. There is only one draw back to it, and that is, the Window has to be absolutely clean, as otherwise every little streak and dust mark shows up very plainly in the negative.
Another phase of this line of work is the making of night pictures out-of doors of buildings, machinery in operation, electric signs, etc. The customer will tell you that he wants the picture as it looks at night, but if you gave him such a picture made in the ordinary way, he would be very much disappointed. A very satisfactory way of doing such a job is to set the camera up in the early evening just before it gets dark, stop the lens down and make a short exposure. After the lights are on, the balance of the exposure may be given to show the illumination. This will give a fine night effect, but it is another of those waiting propositions which must be charged for, if one wants to make a profit on his services.
In connection with window work there is another kind of work that is developing fairly rapidly, especially in jobbing centers. Such an instance is where the manufacturer or jobber, in aiding his customers to make attractive wind6w displays, has a sample window set-up worked out for them to go by. It has been found by experience that the best results can be obtained by posing this dummy window in the studio, thus eliminating reflections and other diffi culties of ordinary window photography and obtaining a good lighting of the subject. This photograph is then sent out by the jobber together with the necessary paraphernalia—cut-outs and goods—and is the guide for the retailer in making up his window.
As the print orders are usually of enormous size, this is becoming quite a field in photography, as several commercial photographers are specializing on it now, and it offers exceptional opportunities to those who like window trimming work.