Sitting-room portraiture requires a little careful considera tion and arrangement of the resources at command, in order to secure the best results. Naturally, some rooms are better adapted for the purpose than others. The aspect is, of course, important. A room with windows facing north, or north-east, will be easiest to manage. If the aspect he south, or south-west, portraiture cannot be indulged in while the direct sunlight is falling upon the windows. A broad room with two windows will afford the best condi tions, for if the room be narrow, owing to the short distance between the camera and the sitter, the use of a short focus lens becomes necessary. We will assume that a room such as is shown in the rough ground plan in fig. 23 is available, and that the camera is placed at C. Now the first impulse of the novice will, doubtless, be to place the sitter as near to the window at A as possible, in order to utilise all the available light. This, however, would be a great mistake, and will account for a great many failures. The difficulty with the lighting in sitting-room portraiture is not because there is an insufficient amount, but rather on account of the unsuitable manner in which it is admitted. The nearer the sitter is placed to the window the greater will be the contrast of light and shade in the photograph. Therefore, the chair should be placed about five feet from the window at the point marked D, the camera remaining in the same position. A marked improvement in the lighting will be manifest, although the shadow side of the face will probably still be too dark. To obviate this defect a clothes-horse, or a screen, should be placed at E, about 4 ft. from the sitter, and a white tablecloth, or a sheet, thrown over it, which will have the effect of further softening and lighting up the shadows. If the light be very brilliant, it may with advantage be subdued by hanging in front of the window a strip of very fine muslin. The foregoing observations on the choice of lenses apply equally to sitting-room por traiture, though if great rapidity of exposure is necessary, a portrait lens may be substituted for the rectilinear, though the latter is to be preferred. For this class of work a rapid plate may be used with advantage.
In regard to posing, little can be said in an elementary text-book. In the first place, try and secure an easy and natural expression by putting the sitter, as far as possible, at ease. Let the chair in which he sits, if the portrait be a sitting figure, be easy and comfortable. The use of a head-rest should be avoided, as in most cases it results in introducing an unnatural stiffness into the portrait. If the subject is so shaky as to render it impossible to take the portrait without its aid, my advice would be not to make the attempt. Avoid all theatrical or stagey attitudes.
Simplicity and naturalness are the great points at which to aim. A more artistic result will often be obtained if the sitter is allowed to be engaged in some ordinary occupation such as reading or writing, but in such cases too many acces sories should not be introduced into the picture. If, however, a. portrait pure a.nd simple, or a " head and shoulder " study is desired, great attention must be paid to the pose. In the first place, the camera must be levelled, and in a line Nvith the head of the sitter, neither pointing up nor down, for in the first case the chin and jaw would probably be unduly accentuated, and in tho latter the forehead would appear abnormally large. The head should be erect and nicely balanced on the shoulders ; if it were allowed to droop, the effect would be the same as if the camera Nvere tilted. The sitter should never be allowed to stare into the lens, but should give his head a half-turn towards the direction of the light. It is said, and I believe Nvith some truth, that with. most individuals one side of the face is better than the other. I should say here, that if the room have two windows, the one near the camera should have tho blind drawn doNvn, or uneven lighting may result. The advantage of having the two windows is that the sitter may be placed in front of either, and thus the best side of the face portrayed.
I will conclude this chapter by giving a few hints upon the development of portrait neoutives taken in a sitting room. The great difficulty, as I'Dhave said, is to avoid undue contra,st ; therefore the exposure should be as full as possible, and the plate a quick one, for the beginner will generally find that it is more difficult to get density on very rapid plates than on slow ones. Hydroquinone, on account of its tendency to give contrast, should never be used for this class of work. Pyro. will be found to oive the best results, A smaller quantity, however, may be used than that recom mended in the chapter on development for landscape work. The following proportions will generally be found to give good results :— Pyre., 20 minims, equal to 2 gr. Ammonia, 30 minims. Bromide, 20 „ Water, 2 oz.
The above developer is, of course, to be made front the 10 per cent. stock solutions afrea,dy described. If the ex posure has been correct tho image should begin to appear in about two minutes, and if upon examination during development it appears likely to become too dense, the developer may be further diluted by adding half an ounce of Nvater. If the plate be under-exposed, it should be rejected and a fresh exposure made.