LIGHTING AND POSING THE ordinary results obtained by the average professional worker might lead one to suppose that the possibilities both of lighting and posing were limited to a few stereotyped forms. As a matter of fact, the variety of lighting effects is almost endless, and in this respect can only be compared with the infinite variety available with posing the sitter when we come to deal with that point. It is here proposed to deal only with a few of the most instructive forms, which will serve as an impetus leading the student to consider the subject and, if he be possessed of sufficient enthusiasm, to make a series of experiments on the lines suggested.
Let us take an ordinary room with one window. The illustrations Nos. I. to VII. give an idea of the possibilities. No. I. shows the model sitting near the window ; the light comes straight from the side as shown in diagram A. The side of the face turned towards the light is fairly well modelled ; but the shadow portion almost disappears in darkness, and the result is inharmonious in effect. In cases such as these it is neces sary to have recourse to a reflector, and we see in the following examples, Nos. II., III., how a decided effect can be obtained by its use. At the same time we must be careful not to produce the unnatural or exaggerated effect caused by too much reflected light, and thus suggest a double lighting.
The simplest form of reflector is a white sheet hung over a screen or clothes horse, or even a sheet of newspaper hung over the back of a chair.
A strong reflected light can be produced by using a mirror. This was done in No. II., the position of the sitter being the same as in No. I. The mirror was held by another person at about knee-height in standing position. The difference is extraordinary. The whole of the shadow side, cheek and forehead, which had in illustration No. 1. been almost completely immersed in the background, are clearly brought out, but the reflection is so strong that the face appears to be lit from two sources of light. The unnatural effect will
be noticed in the left eye where the light spot surpasses in brilliancy the high-light in the right eye. This illustration demonstrates the fatal effect produced by the use of too strong a reflected light. The double lighting robs the face of its fine modelling and destroys possibly an artistic result.
In No. III. a sheet of white bristol board was used instead of a mirror. In No. IV. the sitter was placed more towards the back of the room, as per diagram B, the camera being at (a). No reflector was used in this case. The result is that the head is sufficiently lit and the modelling satisfactory. If we bring the sitter to the middle of the room and opposite the window (No. V., diagram C) we obtain the so-called front lighting, a form of lighting which is usually interdicted in the handbooks. In this form of lighting practically all the shadow has disappeared and the form is marked by very slight contours. Nearly all professional workers refuse to admit this form of lighting, on the ground that the face is expressionless, owing to the absence of shadow. It seems, however, that it occasionally should be employed with the deliberate intention of giving effect either to an idea or to characteristics of the sitter, or in such a case as a child's study where a delicate rendering is necessary. No one who has seen Cadby's child studies, nearly all taken with this form of lighting, will fail to appreciate at its full value the fascination of correct drawing, (see illustration, p. 144). One of the strongest points in favour of the photographic art can be demonstrated by this form of lighting more clearly than by any other, and it should not be condemned merely because it is rather more difficult to handle successfully. We must use such a lighting, of course, with discrimination. The effect, for instance, of using it in the case of a face naturally weak and unintelligent, would probably be to produce a senseless and idiotic ex pression.