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SCIEMC 



[Entered at the Post-Offlee of New York, N.Y., as Second-Class Matter.] 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCI 



Seventh Year. 

 Vol. XIII. No. 32S. 



NEW YORK, May 17, i{ 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 ^3.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 

 An opportunity is furnished by photography for beautiful pic- 

 ture-making, not only in original conception, but in imitation. 

 Take some fine head 

 painted by an old mas- 

 ter, study the light and 

 shade upon it, the char- 

 acter of the face, the 

 quality of the back- 

 ground. Then choose 

 from among your 

 friends one whose type 

 is somewhat like that 

 of the one in the pic- 

 ture, and arrange with 

 great care the light on 

 head and face, and 

 neck and shoulders. 

 The arrangement of 

 each detail of the dra- 

 pery is also important ; 

 and, with such care, 

 there is nothing to 

 prevent your getting 

 an interesting nega- 

 tive. If there is a dim- 

 ness over the picture, 

 and you want to carry 

 out even that idea, you 

 can do so by putting 

 your lens slightly out 

 of focus. That will 

 eliminate some of the 

 detail, and produce 

 the desired softness 

 and dimness. 



Try the same per- 

 son in many poses, if 

 you can get some one 

 to sit for you who 

 will willingly lend him- 

 self for a time to your 

 experiments. Try a 

 head somewhat like 

 the one in Fig. 2 in 

 various positions, — 

 bent down, as is this, 

 as if in meditation or 

 prayer, with a strong 

 side-light on the face, 

 no reflected light on 

 the head, and the 

 whole against a gray 

 background. Then 

 try the same head up- 

 turned in profile, with 

 no reflected light, and 

 with a black back- 

 ground. Then, again, 

 try a full face, with strong light and shade, and with a different back- 

 ground still, and see how much you have made from the same person. 



FIG. 



You can produce quite different effects by the careful manage- 

 ment of the light from one high side-light, either using the upper 

 half of the window by curtaining the lower half, or using the lower 



half and having a di- 

 rect side - light upon 

 your sitter ; or, yet 

 again, by leaving the 

 whole window uncur- 

 tained. You must al- 

 ways be very careful 

 about reflected lights, 

 which are an impor- 

 tant part of picture- 

 making. One way of 

 reflecting is by arran- 

 ging a screen on the 

 shadow-side of your 

 sitter, and throwing 

 over that a sheet. By 

 putting the screen, so 

 arranged, very near to 

 the sitter, you will get 

 a full, even, reflected 

 light. By moving it 

 away, a lesser light 

 will be cast over the 

 shadow of the face. 

 Sometimes a looking- 

 glass is used ; but that 

 produces an unnatural 

 light, which is not so 

 desirable as the reflec- 

 tion from a duller sur- 

 face. There is a very 

 easy way of throwing 

 a little light under the 

 brow and nose and 

 chin. It may be done 

 by laying a card or an 

 open book in the lap 

 of the sitter, or by ask- 

 ing him to hold one in 

 the right position. Do 

 not be afraid, however, 

 of shadows. Learn to 

 manage them skilful- 

 ly, making them heavy 

 enough to give force 

 and character where 

 needed, and light 

 enough to bring out 

 delicate lines in their 

 places. 



Try now to imitate, 

 in part or in detail, a 

 Holbein portrait of a 

 child. Arrange your 

 light as in the chosen 

 picture ; and if the 

 child have a fair, smooth skin, a most charming effect of finished 

 surface can be made with a mellow, rich light flooding the little 



PORTRAIT OF A CHILD, AFTER HOLBEIN'S METHOD. 



