I860 Portrait Photographers: Around I860 portrait photographers began to substitute elaborate painted backgrounds for the simple plain screens against which most sitters since the days of the daguerreotype were posed. Props of papier-mache were introduced; fluted columns, rustic fences, boulders, and stumps to be placed on artificial grass. Posing chairs were ingeniously designed for the eye of the camera, sometimes with different ornamentation on each side, usually with attached head rests. The small carte-de-visite format gave way in popularity to larger sizes, especially the cabinet photograph, a burnished print 51/2 x 4 inches on a mount 6^/2 x 4>/2 inches, introduced first in England in 1866.
Professional photographers today use many styles and approaches in photographing weddings. Some professionals rely on a photojournalistic approach and offer lots of candid pictures to capture the feeling and emotion of the event. Others favor a portrait concept and produce photographs of impeccable quality that reflect the dignity of the ceremony. Lastly are the photographers who emphasize the illustrative approach and inject a number of multiple exposure and special effects into their wedding pictures. Many younger photographers offer a combination of all three styles, but the most successful professionals have usually developed one definite "look" or identifiable style.
Some perceptive institutions are making a good thing out of advertising themselves as the "full-service bank." Many photographers would be wise to follow the same line. If there is a portrait to be made in your community, you should want to do it, ranging from the dowager who drives up in her Cadillac down to the junior high school girl who wants a billfold for her first boyfriend. Treat that girl right and the chances are good that she will be with you for a long time.
Don't even shy away from taking "ping-pong" pictures. Your public knows the difference between those prints at a few cents each and the artistically matted and framed heritage portrait you sell for several hundred dollars.
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Photography
