The portrait studio should be a place isolated from distraction where the photographer and subject can work without interruption. It should be a comfortable place where the subject feels at ease, where the tested equipment works, where the color quality of the light can be controlled, and where the photographer and subject can move from pose to pose without interruption. Avoid using the portrait studio as a crew's lounge or lunchroom. The portrait studio should always be clean and neat. The portrait studio is one of the few areas that customers ever see, and it represents the overall condition of your photo lab.

The studio should be arranged so the lights, camera, and electrical cords are safely out of the way and your subject does not have to avoid tripping over them. Every effort must be made to make the portrait session a pleasant experience for the customer. Any props to be used should be stored out of the way where they can be retrieved quickly and easily.

The studio should be spacious enough to move around freely, with enough room surrounding the posing bench so the subject does not feel crowded. The distance from the posing bench to the background should be great enough so shadows from the subject are not cast onto the background. This distance should also be great enough so the background is out of focus when the lens is stopped down to the working aperture. The studio should have enough room so a longer than normal lens can be used and provide enough room behind the camera so the photographer can move about freely. It should be wide enough so the lights can be moved in an arc around the subject without changing the light-to-subject distance. The ceiling should be high enough to provide enough space for a standing full-length portrait.

Whatever the size or location of the studio, it must, above all, be a productive, professional workplace, having everything required to produce technically perfect portraits.

In many Navy photo labs, especially the old ones and aboard ship, these conditions do not exist. Just because you do not have a large professional studio and equipment does not mean you cannot produce professional quality portraits. Many professional quality portraits are made by Navy Photographer's Mates using only two small lights in a compartment being used as an office, finishing room, and darkroom aboard ship.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

There are endless types and manufacturers of studio equipment available for controlling light and making portraits. The size and the budget of your imaging facility determines what is available for making portraits. This chapter discusses only the basic studio equipment that is common to most Navy imaging facilities.

Camera

Regardless of what camera you use in the portrait studio, it should be clean and in good working order. The camera should have interchangeable lenses and be at least medium format. The larger the negative size of your portraits, the higher the quality of the finished product.

Lenses

A lens used for portraits should have a longer than normal focal length. A long-focal-length lens produces a large image on the film while keeping the camera at a far enough distance from the subject to prevent image distortion. Normal-focal-length lenses are too short for anything but full-length portrait photography. They require the camera to be too close to the subject, image distortion becomes apparent, and working too close to the subject may intimidate him or her. Working too far from the subject with a normal lens to prevent distortion makes the image size too small. The ideal lens for portraiture should have a focal length equal to 1 1/2 or 2 times the diagonal of the film. When you are using 4x5 film, the lens focal length should be about 8 to 12 inches.

Background

Simplicity is the key word in portrait backgrounds. Simple backgrounds give more artistic results by maintaining viewer interest on the subject. The most widely accepted background is a large, flat, unmarked surface, such as a painted screen, an actual wall of the studio, or seamless background paper suspended from the ceiling. Whatever the background, it should have a matte finish, rather than a glossy finish. A glossy finish causes distracting reflections.

A background can be plain or patterned. When the background has a pattern, it must not detract the viewer from the main subject. When props are used, such as a globe or an American or Navy flag, they must not draw attention away from the subject.

The background should normally be light and neutral in color; however, black or dark backgrounds are used for certain effects. A black background is used to add richness to the finished print. When a black background is used, keep your subject a good distance from it to prevent the lights (except the background light) from striking it.

The color of a background becomes important when color portraits are made. Bright-colored backgrounds should be avoided because they distract from the subject. When using a cold-colored (blue, green, etc.)

background, you must prevent the background from reflecting colored light onto the sides of the subject's face. This produces a sickly appearance. The background tone can be changed by adjusting the amount of light falling upon it. Dark backgrounds with earthen colors, such as brown and dark orange, can be used for low-key portraits. Intensely illuminated backgrounds with light pastel colors can be used for high-key portraits.

Your studio should have enough backgrounds to meet the demands of customers. As a minimum, you should have a gray or light blue background for roster photographs and white for full-length photographs. Always stock extra white seamless paper. White seamless paper is used mostly for full-length photo-graphs. This paper becomes dirty and is torn rapidly since it is being continually walked on. You can extend the life of the background paper for full-length portraits by laying sheets of acetate (such as clean-up film) on top of the area to be walked on. The acetate does not show up on the film or print.