I am sure I do not know why, but one of the first an amateur attempts to do is to take a portrait. Sometimes he is successful and gets something that pleases his sitters, and sometimes he does not - more often the latter.

Now, indoor portraiture is one of the easiest things imaginable if one goes the right way to work. Our best photographers have studios beautifully equipped with blinds, etc., but very often they block out most of the light, and have only as much - sometimes even less - than an amateur can get in an ordinary room. It is the use of the light that is the secret, and not the after manipulations of developing and printing. If a beginner were given an undeveloped plate exposed by a professional he would perhaps get as good a negative as the more experienced man. It is in the -lighting of the sitter that the beginner errs. Let us then look into it, and to do so properly a diagram must be used.

The sketch shown is meant to represent an ordinary room with one or more windows, but as we only require one window the others must be darkened, as the lighting from several windows will confuse us, and give cross lighting. The usual way of going to work is to place the background as B and the camera in the position marked No. 2. The background for portrait busts should be of medium tint, and different shades may be secured on this one background by placing it at various angles to the window, as shown in the dotted lines, A and C.

Now, if the camera be placed at No. 1 and we focus the sitter, what do we see? Simply that we have all the light on one side of the face and none on the other, and this is exaggerated upon the negative. The dry plate seems to increase the high lights and to deepen the shadows, and, although we may with the eye be able to see all details in the shadow part of the the face, the dry plate would have to receive a fairly long exposure, and the light side of the face would be blocked up owing to the gross over-exposure it would receive.

What we have to do, then, is clear; we must diffuse the light, take some from the light side of the face and use it on the darker side. This is easily accomplished by means of reflectors and screens, all of which may be home-made.

We may start by placing a reflector made of white paper or a sheet somewhere about the spot shown on the diagram. It matters little of what material the reflector be made, as long as it serves its purpose. Some workers use a large mirror, but this does not diffuse the light enough. So far so good, and this is the point at which most amateurs arrive and then fail. Why?

Simply this. There is still too much light on the window side, and it should be diffused. This may be done by means of tissue paper pasted over the lower half of the window, or better still, the dodge recommended by Richard Penlake in his book on the subject. Get a large wooden hoop, such as children use, and cover it with one thickness of tissue paper. Attach this to the bottom of the blind, if there be one, and by raising or lowering the blind we may get almost any quantity of light and shade we require. It is the -working of this diffuser between the window and the sitter that is the great secret of home portraiture. Having got this window screen to work, the rest is simple. By placing the camera at 1,2, or 3, and the background at A, B or C, it is possible to secure lighting equal to some of the best studios. The position of the reflector, too, can be varied.

Be careful to have enough light to light up the lower part of the face, either by carrying the reflector low down, by a sheet of white paper on the floor, or by manipulating the window screen. Focus the eyes, use as large a stop as possible, give a full exposure, develop carefully, and aim for a soft negative. Your indoor portraits should then be a success.-"Photo American. "