*** photography autochrome quality






Autochrome: Quality

Autochrome quality
Figure 1.--Here we see an Autochrome portrait of an unidentified mother and her young son. The portrait was taken in 1915. The worried look on mother's face probably means tht her husband is at the front. This is an indoor portrait. We are not sure about the light source.

One of the fascinating aspects of the internet is the interesting people that it allows you to meet. We received the message from a HBC reader, "I happened on the 'Color Photography' page of your Boys' Historical Clothing site in the course of a search on photographic topics. In case you don't already have it, attached is the mate to the Autochrome plate you illustrate. This shot cuts everyone off at the knees but is a much better representation of the color rendition typical of early Autochromes. When all went well with the exposure and processing and the results were then stored properly, the process bequeathed us some surprisingly vivid and fresh-looking images. Unfortunately, they are difficult to rephotograph and reproductions usually give the impression that murky, muted color is the best that it could do. Both of these plates were sold on eBay last year, but not to me. The one attached (The images in question are on the previous page.) was said by the seller to date from 1913, this apparently derived from a label on the binding tape. To my inexpert eye this date seems correct for the girls' outfits." [Karas] Bright sunlight seems important to achieving good color results. Some photographers using Autochrome reported results that gave a kind of dream-like, impressionistic qulity that they rather admired. The dyed starch grains used in the Autochrome plates were rather coarse, larger than what Agfa and Kodak would use. This gave a somewhat hazy affect. Some authors have likened it to pointillist paining. One color ptoblem was areas of stray colors. We note greeish areas in ome images. This was an especially severe problem in open light areas. Sky areas could be a special problem. Even so, the dream-like quality caused some photographers to continue to use Authochrome even after higher quality film became available that was faster and capable of greater resolution. In the early-20th century, however, Autochrome was a real marvel.

Dream-like Quality

Some photographers using Autochrome reported results that gave a kind of dream-like, impressionistic qulity that they rather admired. The dyed starch grains used in the Autochrome plates were rather coarse, larger than what Agfa and Kodak would use. This gave a somewhat hazy affect. Some authors have likened it to pointillist paining. By the 1930s higher quality film became available that was faster and capable of greater resolution. This is one reason that a few photograpohers continued to use the Autochrome process well by what you might call the 'sell-by' date when more advanced processes were available.

Problems

One color problem was areas of stray colors. We note greeish areas in ome images. This was an especially severe problem in open light areas. Sky areas could be a special problem. Even so, the dream-like quality caused some photographers to continue to use Authochrome In the early-20th century, however, Autochrome was a real marvel.

Reproduction

Our reader points out that, "When all went well with the exposure and processing and the results were then stored properly, the process bequeathed us some surprisingly vivid and fresh-looking images. Unfortunately, they are difficult to rephotograph and reproductions usually give the impression that murky, muted color is the best that it could do." [Karas] Autochromes were transparencies, making them complicated to display and reproduce. Thus the images produced are significantly affected by the reproduction pricess,. That has to be born in mind in assessing the available images.

Indoor Lighting

Very few Autochromes were taken indoors or in styudios. And the few we have found like the image here do not mention what lighting was used (figure 1).

Sun Light

Sunlight seems a key feature in achieving superb results with Autochrome. Bright sunlight seems especilly important to achieving really good color results. And we have fouind some stunning images taken in bright sunlight capturing beautiful, vivid colors some of which approach the the color values of modern color photography. While the actual light conditions for the various images were not recorded, it is likely that the best results were achieved if not on bright sun light, on well-lit days.

Sources

Karas, Russ. e-Mail (February 6, 2012).







HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to:Main Autochrome page]
[Return to:Main photography page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]







Created: 12:53 AM 2/6/2012
Last updated: 8:33 PM 3/4/2023