THE CAMERA 



291 



side. The more diffused the light the 

 softer will be the shadows in the pic- 

 ture. Early morning is especially fav- 

 orable for nature pictures, both because 

 of the even diffusion of light, and the 

 stillness of the air. Still, cloudy days 

 are favorable. A high table or shelf 

 on the shady side of the house will be 

 found convenient for those things that 

 are not to be taken in their natural 

 habitat. 



Even with the smallest stop, most 

 of the background will be seen to be 

 out of focus on the ground glass. To 

 leave it in will detract from the beauty 

 of the picture. To cut it out is to hid*. 

 some of the natural environment. An 

 artificial background in color contrast 

 with the object, will shut off the un- 

 sightly blur, and also aid in giving 

 sharp detail to the picture. Dark- 

 objects, yellow, green and red, are 

 brought out best on a light ground, 

 and light objects by dark ground. A 

 piece of sheeting rolled on a round stick 

 makes a serviceable and convenient 

 background. A sheet of brown paper 

 rolled with it may be used for light 

 colored objects. 



To find the proper length of exposure 

 is probably the most difficult task for 

 beginners in photography. The task- 

 is doubly difficult here, because when 

 the bellows is extended so far, the time 

 is greatly increased. A rule that will 

 be found sufficiently accurate for most 

 cases, is to determine from one's head 

 or from a table the approximate time 

 for an ordinary landscape under simi- 

 lar light conditions, and multiply this 

 time by from two to six according" to 

 the color of the objects. Double will 

 be found about right for light colored 

 objects. Six times will not be found 

 too much when dark colors prevail in 



A COMMON GRASSHOPPER. 

 This specimen aad to be tied to prevent his escape, 

 lie was first allowed to fly until tired, after which he 

 posed readily. 



the main part of the picture. Always 

 beware of under- and over-exposures. 

 Get the time as nearly accurate as is 

 possible, and use your watch for tim- 

 ing. Never guess at time. 



The development of the plate and 

 the printing of the picture must be left 

 largely to the taste of each worker. 

 The best developer and paper are those 

 that you can work best. They are all 

 fine when they are properly understood 

 and handled. 



So far, I have spoken only of life- 

 size work and how to obtain it. Larger 

 objects of course cannot be photo- 

 graphed life-size, but it will not be diffi- 

 cult, after a little practice, to adjust 

 the instrument so that the image will 

 cover the right proportion of the plate. 

 The instrument is to be set further 



A LIZARD OF THE WESTERN PLATEAUS— COMMONLY CALLED A SWIFT. 

 A shy and nervous poser that hnd to lie stupefied by cold before it would consent to have its picture taken. 



