Daguerreotype portraiture

Shadow edges

Shadows that fade gradually from light to dark, cast by a large or diffused light: a window, a softbox, a cloudy sky.

Shadow depth

Shadows kept light and full of detail by a reflector, a fill light, bounce or bright surroundings (a low lighting ratio, up to about 3:1: the shadow side at most a stop and a half darker).

Shape & form

Light turning gradually into shade across faces and objects, so their volume shows.

This plan is worked out from the style’s choices, so it is drawn as a schematic. The set-up at the top of the page is the one we rendered, to scale. One way to get the light, not a record of how any photograph was lit.

Then

45–70 mm · f/3.6–f/5.6 · 5 s–1 min · ISO 0.005–0.05 on Quarter plate, documented. Petzval portrait lens (150 mm, f/3.6) used wide open under a skylight; bromine-accelerated plates (about ISO 0.05 at best) needed 15–30 s in good light, a few seconds on the brightest days. Focal equivalents for sixth to whole plates are inferred.

Focal length

Roughly the eye’s own perspective; no visible distortion.

Angle

The camera at the height of a standing person or of the subject.

Distance

Within arm’s reach: faces, hands and details fill the frame.

Balance

The subject in the middle, the frame balanced around it. The subject faces the lens; planes run parallel to the picture.

Duration

An unmoving scene, exposed slowly and carefully.

Seat the sitter upright, shoulders square to the lens or turned slightly, an arm on a posing table and hands folded in the lap, or stand them beside a chair with a hand on its back; brace the head and hold still for many seconds. Faces stay grave and unsmiling, eyes on or just past the lens. Couples and families sit close, a hand on a shoulder.

Body position

On a chair or stool, back straight, hands and feet placed: the formal sitting.

Turn to the camera

Shoulders and hips face the lens straight on: direct, symmetrical, sometimes confrontational.

Head & gaze

Looking straight into the camera, so the subject meets the viewer’s eye.

Arms & hands

Arms by the sides, hands folded in the lap or resting on a chair: quiet and formal.

Line & energy

Rigid and motionless, sometimes braced against a head rest or gripping a chair: held for a long exposure or a solemn occasion.

Expression

Unsmiling, composed and blank: the face gives nothing away.

With the sitter

The sitter arranged and still, facing the camera.

Best clothes for the studio: dark silks, shawls, bonnets and lace collars, or a dark coat, patterned waistcoat and cravat; a brooch, earrings or a watch chain; hair neatly parted, no make-up. A plain dark or grey ground, a posing chair or table, at most a column or a book.

Clothes

Best clothes, jewellery and accessories put on for the studio or the occasion.

Hair & make-up

No visible make-up; skin, hair and blemishes as they are.

Set & props

The stock furniture of a portrait studio, standing in for a setting: a posing chair, a column, a balustrade, a draped table, a potted palm.

Monochrome

Rich blacks, clean whites and every grey between.

Colour

An overall blue, cyan or green cast.

Early processes

A unique image on silvered metal or glass, often cased.

Texture

Every surface resolved, more than the eye would see. Marks of age and handling on the image.

Post-production

Nothing changed beyond exposure and development.

Shown as

Each picture stands on its own.

Shown in

Prints for an album, a card or a frame at home.

Stay away from snapshot, candid & unobserved, visible grain, heavy retouching, composite & montage, direct on-camera flash, wide angle, laughing, smiling, fast, full-body movement and full glamour make-up.