real life, and the
expression on the face was just as foreign. The features might be
perfectly correct, but that inscrutable something which individualizes
the face was lacking.

Now if the amenities of social life require us to have our pictures
done, "it were as well they were well done," and much toward this end
lies within the sitter's choice and power.

First as to the selection of the artist. It is a great mistake to
imagine that photography is a mere mechanical trade. There is as much
difference between two photographers as between two engravers. Nor
will a fine lens alone produce a good picture. The pose of the sitter,
the disposition of lights and shadows, the arrangement of drapery, are
of the greatest consequence. A good artist has almost unlimited power
in this direction. He can render certain parts thinner by plunging
them into half-tone or by burying their outline in the shade, and he
can deepen and augment other portions by surrounding them with light.
Thus, if the head is too small for beauty, he can increase its size by
throwing the light on the face; and if it is too large, he can
diminish it by choosing a tint that would throw one half of the face
into shadow.

If the artist has a lens which perpetually changes its focus, the
result is a portrait in which the outlines are delicately soft and
undefined. A _view lens_, or one that is perfectly flat, occupies
nearly two minutes to complete the likeness, and the consequence is,
the sitter moves slightly, and the required softness is obtained in an
accidental manner. It is evident, therefore, that the most rapidly
taken pictures are not necessarily the best. Then people have a
hundred different aspects, and to seize the best and reproduce it is
the function of genius, and not of chemicals.

Having selected a good artist, and one, also, whose position has
enabled him to secure the best tools, the next duty of the sitter
regards herself and her costume. In photography a good portrait may be
quite nullified by the choice of bad colors in dress. Finery is the
curse of the artist, but if he works in oils he can leave it out or
tone it down. In photography, as the sitter comes, so she must be
taken, with all her excellences or her imperfections on her head.

The colors most luminous to the eye, as red, yellow, orange, are
almost without action; green acts feebly; blue and violet are
reproduced very promptly. If, then, a person of very fair complexion
were