Old-Timey Portraits.

jwbryson1 · Feb 16, 2012

I wanted to share this portrait of my mom taken in 1954 when she was 17 years old. I'm amazed at how good the quality is and how well the lighting was done in this image.

I love these old time black and white portraits.

That's all. Just wanted to share.

[/URL] Marilyn Bryson 1954 by jwbryson1, on Flickr[/IMG]

Sw1tchFX · Feb 16, 2012

Makes you think what's going to happen to all the digital pictures on HD's 58 years from now..

SCraig · Feb 16, 2012

At 17 that was probably her senior portrait. In 1954 the photographer still came to the school to take yearbook photos / senior portraits. No studio, just a backdrop, a couple of portable lights. Normally a stool to sit on and a large-format camera to shoot with. At least that's the way it was around here

Kind of makes some of the self-proclaimed professionals of today look pretty shabby IMO.

Derrel · Feb 16, 2012

Photography was invented in the 1840's. So by the mid 1950's, they kind of had the basics down. Tripod. A couple of lights in deep parabolic type "bowl" reflectors. Subject on posing stool. The guy who shot this had probably spent at least a year assisting an established professional photographer, and had been instructed on exactly how to do this kind of work. Meaning, he wasn't a "self-taught professional" photographer, but instead one who had gone through the then-typical apprenticeship preparatory stages, before he was allowed to do any actual work with paying clients.