Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
FIGURE STUDIES.
Figure studies are the most difficult as well as the most interesting pictures made with a camera, and therefore the prizes are always higher which are offered in this class. To make a good figure study, which shall be a real picture, requires special skill and tact, for though one is constantly seeing charming and original subjects, it is quite another thing to fix them on gelatine plates.
To make a success of figure studies one should begin by selecting a subject, the simpler the better, and make a photograph of it twenty times if necessary, till one is obtained which is satisfactory. The habit of giving up after one or two unsuccessful trials is what makes the work of the average amateur of so little pictorial value. One figure study repeated till it is right makes the taking of all others of the same class easier.
Choose some simple subject—something which you are familiar with in every detail, and know when the picture is correct. Do not try to arrange the folds of the dress or of any drapery which you may use. Lift the drapery and drop it again, and have the subject rise and sit till the folds of both gown and drapery are graceful. If one tries to arrange the lines they are almost sure to look stiff, while if the folds are allowed to fall of themselves they are usually artistic. Only in rare cases should the subject look toward the camera or show the full face. A half or three-quarters view of the features is more artistic, and sometimes if the face is turned almost away from the camera the pose is more effective. This is the case if a picture is being made of a person reading, writing, or drawing.
The amateur living in the country has perhaps the advantage over his co-worker in the city in the choice of subjects for figure studies. Several excellent subjects, appropriate to the season, are just now within the reach of the country amateur. One which would be sure to please is that of a girl coming across the field laden with wood treasures, such as autumn leaves, ferns, mosses, etc. In making such a study care should be taken that the branches and ferns are not massed too heavily.
Another subject becoming more and more rare as steam takes the place of hand labor, is the interior of an old-fashioned cider-mill, with a curly-headed boy sucking cider through a straw thrust into the bung-hole of a cider barrel. Still another country figure study could be made of two or three boys cracking butternuts or hickory nuts under the tree that bore them. In taking such a picture be sure that at least one of the boys has his back to the camera, for unless such is the case the group looks too stiff. Choosing the Christmas turkey is an excellent subject just now, and one easily made.