Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-08-04
Posing for a Picture.


are going to have a full length por-
trait, you will need a fresh, perfect
gown, since wear and hard usage
show plainly in a photograph. Your
gown need not be of expensive or
handsome material, but 1t must he
comparatively new and unworn il it
is to show we'll in the picture.
The color is unimpOrtant. Black,
dark green, crimson, brown and yell
low take nearly the same shade, while
white and the light tints reproduce
about alike.
Your neck should not be dressed
too high or too tight or In an exact
circle. With high neck dressing a
long face overhangs and becomes al
most deformed, while a round face
looks button shaped, and none of the
little tricks of hair dressing or ex-
preston can remedy it. If your neck
is short do not lose what you have
but lower the drapery, do little ju-
dicious borrowing, and, presto! the
face that was round becomes oval.
In any case, the neck must not be
hidden, for all the action and grace
of position in bust portrait centers
there. A dress cut low in the neck
always seems much higher in a pho
tOgraph than to an observer. A heavy
featured face is softened and made
delicate by soft bit of neck dress.
ing. bit of lace being preferable to
the stiff, standing collar.
If you have a thoroughly artistic
photographer it is worth while to con-
suit him beforehand as to your dress.
Let him know what it is to be, or you
may be undecided which of several to
use and he will tell you at once which
is best in color or in cut, etc. While
you are talking with him about dress
he is studying your face, expression
and figure. and style generally.
If he also be an artist and exper-
fenced, he may see at glance that
Your customary way of dressing the
hair is not becoming; for. strange
as it may seem, comparatively few
women have the knack of arranging
their hair in the mode demanded by
their faces. While he KNOWS that the
portrait must not be ruined by the
hair being done up in an unfamiliar
way, he may yet give few valuable
suggestions; for instance, to be more
careful in dressing the left side than
the right. thus signifying that the left
tide Is the better. Few have both
sides alike. There is almost as much
difference as between two persons.
The nose is much or little to one
side: one eye is smaller because one
lid froOps more; there is depression
over that spot where tooth has been
extracted. The uneven shaping of the
lips alone may decide which side of
the face should be prominent
You laugh "a little to one side
a laugh which always has something
pretty about it--and you have develop
ed a dfmple which sad experience
tells the photographer will be demand
ed of him. Or, as it happens some
times, he may fail to detect the
slightest difference between the right
special pains with certain side of
the hair. as he prefers to show that
side. This is because in every atelier
the light is better at one end of the
room than at the other, and he is &C
customed to place his sitters there.
Now, and not when you come TO
sit, is the time to tell him what you
prefer. You wish a three-quarter face,
or a front view. or a profile you have
studied the idiosyncrasies of your
face for years and have so decided.
He listens respectfully, but his eye
has searched out all the secrets of
anatomy and fathomed your hidden
reasons for thus and so.
In keeping your appointment it Is
better to be a few minutes early than
one minute late. Take your own pow
der with you. but do not use 1t unless
you have studied making up for the
stage. A good theatrical makeup pho
tographs well. Rouge and trif1e OF
darkening around the eyes. especially
the eye brows, aid in bringing out
the features and do not show. The
photographer may want powder on
your hair alone, as it generally takes
several shades darker than it 10. par
ticularly with yellowish or auburn
casts.