The American annual of photography . crudely sensitized, and requiring long ex-posures ; and the printing mediums available were so crudethat it is only with the development of such processes as photo-gravure and gum-platinum that the full merit of Hills workhas been appreciated. In consequence of the primitive char-acter of Hills materials, his exposures ranged in the neighbor-hood of four or five minutes, and to secure full exposure evenwith this long time he was obliged to pose his sitters out ofdoors, generally in a full blaze of direct sunlight. With the development of faster lenses and m
The American annual of photography . crudely sensitized, and requiring long ex-posures ; and the printing mediums available were so crudethat it is only with the development of such processes as photo-gravure and gum-platinum that the full merit of Hills workhas been appreciated. In consequence of the primitive char-acter of Hills materials, his exposures ranged in the neighbor-hood of four or five minutes, and to secure full exposure evenwith this long time he was obliged to pose his sitters out ofdoors, generally in a full blaze of direct sunlight. With the development of faster lenses and more rapid platesphotography, so far as portrait work is concerned, became anindoor sport, and when some unthinking copy-cat built him astudio with a north sky-light the path first traveled by Hilldeteriorated into a little-used trail; gradually the convictiongrew among photographers that the place to do portrait workwas in a studio, and it was many years before the daringamateur rushed in where more experienced workers feared to 146. OUTDOOR PORTRAIT. PAUL L. ANDERSON. 147 tread, and proved that equally good—and often better—por-traits could be produced in home surroundings. Even yetthere is a feeling against doing portrait work outdoors, andthe writer has heard a well-known photographer declare flatlythat it was impossible to produce satisfactory portraits in anoutdoor light. It is by no means impossible to do so; Hill proved this con-clusively, and a few more recent workers have added to hisoriginal demonstration, but it remains somewhat more diffi-cult. It is, however, unquestionably the case that in many in-stances outdoor portraiture shows a quality which is utterlyunobtainable indoors, and is therefore more satisfying. Thewriter does not mean to claim that all portrait work shouldbe done outdoors; the home and the studio both furnish satis-factory settings, and magnificent work has been done in bothplaces, but he does mean to say that it is a mistake for cameraworkers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1922
