It is better to leave the room lighted in the regular way while mak ing the flash. Arrange the persons composing the group so that no one's face will be shadowed by another's body' or head. This can be done readily, by looking at the group from where the flash is to be fired.
Have the flash light high enough so that shadows of heads against the background will not be thrown up higher than the head.
In taking large groups it is necessary to have the camera a considerable distance away. In such a case, to light the group sufficiently, with the flash behind the camera, it would be necessary to burn a number of sheets.
This may be obviated in cases where the camera can be placed in an adjoining room, where there are double parlors, for instance. Then set off the flash in the room where the group is, it being shielded from the lens by the projeeling partition. This gets the light close to the subjed. In this way one sheet will answer where three or four might have to be used other wise.
In making single portraits or groups, care should be taken to have a suitable background against which the figures will show in relief. A light background is better than a dark one, and often a single figure or two will show up well against a lace curtain. For larger groups a medium light wall will be suitable.
The finder on the camera will help the operator to compose the group so as to get the best effect. In order to make the image visible in the finder, the room must be well lighted with ordinary lamplight, which may be left on while the is being made, provided none of the lights are so placed that they show in the finder.
In portrait work it is always best to have the room well lighted when making the flash, if it can be done in such a way that none of the lights come within the range of the lens. If the room is darkened the sudden flash of the light so strains the eyes of the sitters that it almost invariably gives them a staring look, whereas if the room is already well illuminated by gas or lamp-light the strain is not great and the eyes will have a natural expression. Of course when the room is brightly lighted the shutter should not be opened until the instant before the flash is made, and should be closed quickly after the flash is over.
In making portraits by flash light, the camera should not be held in the hand, but should be supported as described on page 19. Before setting
off the flash see that no articles of furniture in range of the lens are closer to the camera than the persons to be photographed. The nearer an objeel is to the lens, of course, the larger the A chair placed too near the camera might appear in the bigger than everything else visible.
Flash light work is usually regarded as of minor importance compared with daytime photography, which may be explained by the fad that most people have not made themselves familiar with it. As a matter of fad it well repays considerable time and study, in view of the results that are possible. Some photographers now are using the flash light extensively in their regular portrait work.
When more than one flash light is to be taken, the windows should be opened and time allowed between each flash to free the room thoroughly from smoke, otherwise all of the pictures after the first one are liable to have a " foggy " effeel. The Eastman Flash Sheets give a minimum of smoke, but the lens is even keener than the eye, and what will seem to be but little smoke in a room will oftentimes have a decided effect upon the picture.
When, for any reason, it is necessary that the shutter remain closed until the instant the flash is discharged and be closed again instantly after ward, it is well to have the flash sheet hanging near so that the shutter can be operated with one hand and the flash with the other and their action thus made simultaneous.
In using the flash sheets it should be borne in mind that they are not instantaneous, and in portrait work the subjeels should, therefore, be warned to remain still as if for a time exposure.
The flash sheets do not produce a sudden flash when they are lighted, and a second or so is consumed in burning a single sheet. As compared with the ordinary flash powder they give a much broader source of light, which means that they do away with the harsh shadows that are so obje5tionable in most flashlight work. The flash from the sheets is far less blinding than that from the ordinary powder, a decided advantage in giving pie-tures without the staring effea to the eyes so often seen.