A neat way to change the lighting from broad to tight
Toronto. In the early days of photography, studios took portraits by soft northern light, avoided appointments on cloudy days, used ‘unobtrusive’ hand holds, neck braces and clamps to hold the patient, (I meant subject) steady for the seconds/minutes needed to effect a likeness.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. In mid 20th century photographic circles, media and lenses were still abysmally slow. To allow faster shutter speeds and avoid subject motion without handholds, braces, clamps, etc., studios used a variety of photo floods. A broad flood would throw a wide beam of light making shadows soft and modelling the subject in a 3D look. A tight beam could be used to highlight aspects of the subject at the risk of harsher shadows, or a medium beam could be added on the background to ease overall contrast.
Professional studios could easily buy different kinds of reflectors to suit their strategy on illumination. Amateurs on the other hand struggled to buy extra lights or even to understand how the beam affected the subject and photograph. My first venture in artificial lighting meant affording only a single reflector/socket and in a narrow beam at that. Needless to say portraits were harsh, contrasty, and very poor. Years later we had a photo taken by a ‘professional’ Airman. “Smile” he said as he turned on the narrow flood and snapped the shutter. We all squinted in our formal photos …
Kodak solved the amateur’s illumination dilemma by offering a photo flood reflector on a stand with the beam adjustable by moving the socket in and out of the reflector as shown in this 1951 ad. You can also see the use of two electronic flashes to soften shadows, but that’s another story.
Our thanks to good friend and PHSC member, George Dunbar, for discovering and sharing this Kodak advertisement from the March, 1951 Popular Mechanics magazine. Ahhh, memories of the days when ASA (ISO) 200 was considered ‘fast’.
