Most of the larger prints are platinum prints. Usually they were printed on a larger sheet of paper, and Field signed the print ("Field") below and to the right of the image and put a copyright symbol and his initials below and to the left of the image. Occasionally he dated the print. Field's copyright stamp ("Copyright ____ By J. H. Field") appears on the verso of many of the prints; at times the date was not filled in.

The smaller prints are almost always 5" x 7" contact prints. Many are mounted on card stock. Some prints have an adhesive label ("From J. H. Field, photographer, Berlin, Wis.") on the verso.

Titles of pictures (from prints, negatives, negative envelopes, or published photos) are underlined. Some images have more than one title.

Most of the photographs are landscapes and nature scenes, although portraits were the mainstay of Field's business. This series is very roughly (and somewhat arbitrarily) subdivided by subject matter. Many of the images, of course, could fit in several subseries.

The original donation included 5" x 7" nitrate and glass plate negatives. Contact prints were made of these; they are in Series 2. Many of the prints in Series 1 were made from those negatives; the descriptions of these prints include the print numbers of contact prints in Series 2.

Images are numbered consecutively. If there are two or more nearly identical images (most often different prints from the same negative), all have the same number, with a letter suffix for each; e.g., 15a and 15b. All measurements are in inches, height first. Oversize prints are stored in Box 2 and are indicated by an asterisk before the image number or letter.