Home portraiture as a business in itself or a department of the established studio business, is receiving the serious consideration of photographers, because of the many examples of success in this line of work. It is a most profitable business, but success depends very greatly upon the impression created by those who come in contact with the prospective customer.

The personal appearance and the equipment of the photographer are most important things in making the first impression a good one - and in inspiring confidence in the man and his ability.

Successful home portrait photographers have gone to great expense to have special apparatus made to meet their wants, and this demand has been sufficiently great to cause us to design and manufacture a special outfit for this purpose.

To the man inexperienced in home portraiture the F. & S. Home Portrait Outfit No. 2, described in the last issue of Studio Light, may seem a trifle better than is really necessary - but the men who know this line of work have pronounced it the best thing for the purpose. In fact, one very successful workman who purchased one of the first of these outfits, remarked that it could not be too good and that he would pay for the entire equipment out of a week's business.

Home portraiture appeals to a class of refined people who have beautiful homes - who can well afford photographs and who can readily see the added charm the familiar home surroundings lend to such pictures. Can you imagine then the impression you would create by going into such a home with a view camera and other apparatus, which, at best, would not indicate that you were a specialist or that your outfit was especially adapted to the work you proposed to do?

A Profitable Investment StudioLightMagazine1915 54

FROM 1914 KODAK ADVERTISING CONTEST

By John S. Neary Trenton, N. J.

On the other hand, the man with an outfit which is obviously made for the particular purpose - which is handsome enough to harmonize with the surroundings, even in the homes of people of most refined taste - such a man is not only more at ease himself, but also secures the confidence of his sitter. The inference is that he knows his business and that he is successful enough to use the very best apparatus.

It is well enough to carry a view camera and tripod if your commission calls for such an outfit, but when your work is portraiture - when you must go into the homes of the best people, your profession must command respect, and your equipment must lend its share of dignity to your work.

Home portraiture has given an impetus to photography that should be grasped by every live business man of the profession. The idea has taken well and the work is of a nature that makes it possible to secure good prices.

Well to do people in your town have seen home portraits of their friends in other towns, and the idea has appealed to them. The possibilities are unlimited for profitable work among people who will make the best possible purchasers. You can increase your business - can secure new customers and revive the interest and hold the business of those you already have.

However, the very nature of the work makes it imperative that you have the very best outfit you can obtain, and that is the F. & S. Home Portrait Outfit No. 2. No pains have been spared to make it complete in every detail, and with a good man back of the camera, home portraiture will pay for the outfit so many times over that your investment will seem a very small item compared with your returns.

If you have the idea that home portraiture as a profession is not dignified, you are mistaken. The photographer with the right equipment makes the home his studio, for the time being, and maintains his dignity as much as though he was working in his own studio. Advantages, however, are in his favor, as he has the opportunity of making sittings of a number of members of a family, some of whom might not be able or inclined to visit the studio.

On the other hand, the lady who is being photographed in her own home likes the idea because it is a convenience to her, and she is naturally pleased with this new indication of the idea of service.

Artura Aegis for uniform sepias of most pleasing and distinctive tone.

A Profitable Investment StudioLightMagazine1915 56

FROM 1914 KODAK ADVERTISING CONTEST

By L. D. Sherman Andover, Mass.