it not being, the usually observed characteristic form.
When the right view of the head is obtained, it is first necessary
to consider the size of the plate it is to be taken on, so as
to form an idea of the proportion the head should bear to it.
The mind must arrange these points before we commence,
or we shall find everything, too large or too small
for the happy proportion of the picture, and the conveying
of a just notion of the stature. The work will have to be
done over, and time sacrificed, if this is not attended to.
The adjustment of the head to the size of the plate
(as seen from the margin of the mat), is not to be taught:
everyone must bring himself, by scrutinizing practice,
to mathematical accuracy; for something will be discovered
in every face which can be surmounted only by experience.

"The eye nearest the camera, in a three-quarter-face, is
placed in the middle of the breadth of the plate; the chin,
in a person of middle stature, in the middle of the length,
and higher according to the proportional height of the person."

In regard to the proper elevation of the camera, it may be here stated that I
have found it best in taking portraits where the hands are introduced,
to place the camera at about equal height with the eyes of the sitter,
in order to bring the face and hands equi-distant from the tube.
It will be found, if the above be followed, that by attaching a string
to the camera tube, and making a semi-circle, that the face and hands
of the sitter will occupy a corresponding distance, and the consequence
is that the impression will appear without the hands being magnified.
It has been found that a person with a freckly face can have
as fine, fair, and clear an impression as the most perfect complexion;