Chapter VI: Home Portraits by Flashlight

In taking up flashlight portrait work at home, the first essential is to get acquainted with the various forms of flashlight material and the apparatus needed for its use. What we want is sufficient light to enable us to get a portrait or a small group at night in an ordinary room. Either powdered magnesium or a compound of magnesium with other chemicals will give us this light, and the apparatus for their use fairly puzzles one by its almost infinite variety. Magnesium is perfectly safe in its handling and combustion, but slow in combustion unless we use what is known as a “blow through” lamp, by which the metal is projected through a flame. It also has the disadvantage of giving a great amount of smoke and dust after exposure. For these reasons it is little employed for portraiture in the home, although still much used in commercial work. Perhaps the simplest lamps for the combustion of magnesium powder are the _Proschlites_, in which an even, solid flame of light is obtained.

_Compound_ flashlight powders are obtainable in the form of _flash-sheets_, _cartridges_, and the powder in bulk, usually packed in bottles. These are usually composed of powdered magnesium or aluminum with chlorate of potash or other chemicals which supply oxygen and therefore give a “quicker” and more intense light. This shortens the exposure, and _compound_ powders also yield less smoke and dust than magnesium alone. In handling or using _compound_ powders two things should always be remembered: _First_, that they are explosive, and therefore must not be submitted to friction of any kind, and _second_, that they should never be used in a magazine or storage lamp, or in any lamp except one constructed for compound powder. The instructions and warnings sent out with the variety of powder used should also be carefully read and followed. With these precautions any make of flash powder may be used with safety and confidence.

For single portraits in a room with light furnishings Eastman’s _Flash-sheets_ are at once simple and efficient. Two or three small sheets, pinned together on a piece of white cardboard, so that the corners slightly overlap, will be found sufficient if properly placed. When ready open the lens, and touch a match to the sheets.

Among _Compound_ flash powders in bulk I have used _Agfa Blitzlite_ with complete satisfaction, but almost every other powder tried has more than met all my requirements. The new _Nichols_ powder is an excellent mixture, as is the Eastman flash powder. It is a good plan to choose one and use it only, until its qualities and shortcomings are known, by which time we will be in a better position to appreciate others. What we need is a powder which will ignite easily and quickly, rapid in combustion and giving a powerful volume of light with as little smoke as possible afterward.

For the combustion of compound powders a lamp is not necessary, although preferable, as offering greater efficiency and economy in the use of material. When used without a lamp the powder should be spread out in a train on a sheet of tin or other metal tray. At one end of the train insert a piece of loose, fluffy cotton batting about the length and thickness of a finger, and sprinkle a few grains of the powder at the end of the cotton where it enters the train. Let the other end of the cotton project an inch or so beyond the metal tray. When all is ready for the exposure, the tray being placed at the right point, light the end of the cotton with a taper, the lens having been opened previously. The cotton will burn at the rate of about an inch per second, so that there will be ample time to withdraw the hand. Among the lamps available for use with _Compound_ powders the _Nichols_, _Spreadlite_ and _Agfa_ lamps offer abundant room for choice, both as to quality and price. The Agfa lamp is my choice.

A few hints from experience in the handling of _compound_ powders _and_ lamps may possibly save some reader from accident, hence I make room for the following notes: The conditions under which a compound flash powder will explode are not known. Generally speaking, ordinary care is sufficient, but beware of friction. In opening bottles or boxes of powder, cut the paper binding carefully, then, holding the bottle at arm’s length, gently ease the lid off with a knife or envelope opener. Before replacing the lid or closing the bottle, blow off or remove any particles of powder which may have adhered to the bottle. When filling the lamp employed never pour the powder into the pan direct from the bottle. Use a small measure, cup, or spoon, holding only the proper charge. Never fill the pan or powder-receiver while the burner, taper, or wick is lighted; always turn the latter away, or remove from the lamp when the pan is being filled. Never light the burner, taper, or igniting torch while it is over the powder. Never hold the exposure bulb in the hand when fixing the burner or taper over the powder. Always make sure that there are no curtains or other combustible materials near the point from which the flash is made. Always see that the lamp is securely placed when it is not held in the hand, lest the pressure of the bulb or a sudden jerk upset it at the moment of flashing. Always turn the subject’s head away from the flash, and do not look at the light yourself at the time of the flash. Open the windows at top and bottom, and close the lens and plate-holder, as quickly as is possible after the flash has taken place. Beware of attempting flashlight portraits of people subject to hysterical fits or epilepsy. Keep the usual lights burning during the flash exposure.

Before attempting actual work with the flash, however, it will be needful to have a clear idea of the character of the lighting, in order to know where to place the lamp, and at what angle the light will fall. This may be gained by preliminary practice with gas or lamplight. As far as possible, the light should be above the level of the subject’s head, and to one side, so as to fall upon the face at an angle of 45 degrees. If we place our model about six feet away from the source of light, where we ourselves stand, and study the changes in lighting as the model turns this way or that, the best lighting will be observed and may be noted for future use. By placing the camera where we stood during our observations, and making the flash from the same point as the source of light used in our experiments, the desired lighting will be easily secured. With the subject six feet distant from the flash, and a lens working at _f_/16, about 45 grains of powder will be necessary for a single flash. If we use a screen between the flash and subject to diffuse the lighting, the charge should not be less than 60 or 70 grains. Children require less powder than adults.

Before leaving the subject of negative making by flashlight, the use of the light in the production of Christmas or other cards may be mentioned. Flashlight silhouettes come under this heading and are made as follows: Across an open doorway, or at the opening between two connecting rooms, stretch a white sheet without creases or folds. In one room (behind the sheet, and at a distance of six or eight feet from it) arrange everything for a flash exposure. A single flash-sheet, or small cartridge, or ten grains of powder will suffice. In the other room pose the subject or subjects as near to the sheet as possible, and give them occupation. Thus two ladies may be sitting, busied with their embroidery, or a girl may be posed, standing, with her violin in characteristic attitude, or a baby may be seated at table in a high chair. In this same room focus the camera on the subject, lower the gas a little, uncover the lens and plate, and quickly go into the other room (behind the sheet) and make the flash. The result, on development, will be an attractive silhouette which, printed on _Velox_, _Cyko_, _Argo_, or any other paper, will form a very desirable greeting card for a friend of the subject. The theme of the silhouette picture may be varied infinitely according to personal taste. Two men playing chess, a child with toys, or a woman trimming a hat are subjects which suggest themselves. In a similar way silhouettes may be made of the Christmas tree, or of decorative forms made by arranging branches, twigs, or flower-sprays upon the screen formed by the sheet.

Firelight effects have of late become very popular. They are produced in a simple manner. The subject having been posed and focused, a long and steady flash without smoke must be given. Proceed by taking flash paper (the Eastman flash-sheets answer the purpose) in half-inch strips, and attach them to a board about 10 x 18 inches, an inch or so separating the strips. Arrange the strips in zigzag rows, so that they overlap at each end. The board being placed diagonally in one corner of the fireplace, the lower corner, when ignited, will make a steady white sheet of flame lasting several seconds, the smoke passing up the chimney. The paper should be ignited by means of a light attached to a long strip; this operation being performed so that your active hand does not appear in the picture.