The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty by Julia Margaret Cameron

Simple Photographic Apparatus by Gaston Tissandier

Simple Photographic Apparatus, from Gaston Tissandier, A history and handbook of photography, ed. and trans. J. Thompson (London, 1876), 97

Next, with her model ready, Cameron inserted the large, wet glass plate into her wooden camera, which was equipped with a heavy brass lens. Though briefer than daguerreotype exposure times, she exposed her plates to light for three to eight minutes—too long for even the most patient model to hold completely still. In addition, Cameron's lens did not cover the large size of her glass plate negatives, making it impossible to keep the entire image in focus.