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Men and
Women Sitters
- It is a well known fact that expression is the great difficulty
in portraiture. Men do not show their feelings in their expressions
so readily as women do, and their moustache often hides the characteristic
features of the face. So that a characteristic portrait of a man is
usually more difficult to get.
Babies
- But there are more than men and women in the world .
There are children - and there are babies! Some people may go
through this world unconscious of the fact that there are babies in it,
but not professional photographers.
- How often, after wrestling for an hour or more with one of
these little cherubs, the poor photographer is left a physical and mental
wreck.
- I have been informed that the different sexes may be easily
told by the difference in the pinafores worn, but this is too dangerous
ground for a mere man to venture upon.
- But when the critical moment arrives, and you are trying to get
an exposure, you find that the aforementioned ladies, in various stages of
excitement, are vying with you in the effort to attract the attention of
the one and only baby.
- When, perhaps, you are about to open the shutter, the mother,
with a whoop worthy of a Red Indian brave, rushes in and saves the child
from an imaginary fall.
Others
- A difficult subject is the elderly lady who comes back with the
photographs, and tells you that she knows she is stout, but asks if you
think she is really as stout as you have made her.
- The man who wants his proofs specially hurried as he is going
abroad on the Tuesday, and who comes in on the Wednesday to re-sit is also
sometimes met with.
- It is a notable fact that King Edward treats
photographers with the utmost consideration. He is present at
exactly the appointed time, and his general manner and kindly
thoughtfulness make him much easier to photograph than many of his
subjects.
- Photographic operators are themselves an interesting study, and
present many different types. Some are meek and patient. At
least I have been told that this is so, and I hope some day to come across
one. |