IRISH GARDENING 



107 



Notes on Outdoor Flower Photography 



By iv T. Kllis, Weetwood, Eeelesall, .Sheffield. 



Some Essential Details. 



(1) Tlie camera should be ])iit on a firm tri})od. 



(2) The camera should l)e a plate one, or at any 

 rate have an arrangement of visible focussing. 



(3) The plates used should be anti-screen, or 

 other like plates, or yellow flowers will come out 

 black and very dense 



(4) The amateur should put one of Griffin's 

 planiscopes on to his lens (these can l)e fitted on 

 to the lens of many cameras by anyone in a few 

 seconds, and cost 5s. ; and 



{d) The amateur should use a black-red focuss- 

 ing clotli when he is focussing. 



Some Practical Notes. 



Out-door flower pliotography can be a very pay- 

 ing business when one is really proficient at it, 

 and j)ictin-es of flowers sent up to suitable 

 journals nuTy bring in a lot of money. But the 

 first real point al)Out out-door work is to take the 

 flowers as they grow. 



Let us suppose your are going out to photograph 

 in a border (in your own garden) a group of the 

 blue mauve Er'iiifron speciosum. The way to pro- 

 ceed is as follows : — 



Choose a very In'iglit morning wlien tlie sun is 

 shining clear of clouds; then look over the groups 

 and choose out that group of plants which have 

 the finest developed flowers, and a group in which 

 I he flowers are fairly close to each other. Bear in 

 mind how advantageous it is to have the sun 

 si lining on such flowers, and do not attempt to 

 ])hotograph if there is iiuich wind. Then set up 

 your camera on the tripod, and if need be put a 

 red screen (made out of red wallpaper and ))am- 

 boo canes) l)ehind the group to be photographed. 

 Start working with your camera about six feet 

 away, using the planiscope over the lens, and 

 having the camera either directly opposite to the 

 flowers or at an angle to them. See how the 

 group looks on the screen on the back of the 

 camera, and if there is still room on the plate, 

 get the camera nearer and nearer. It is possible 

 to take a small group of flowers at a range of 

 two feet, but three feet or four feet would be 

 better for the amateur. Focus very slowly, with 

 great care and patience, not trying to get a dis- 

 tant flower in focus but striving to get on the 

 plate the majority of the picture in focus. Cut 

 off all excessive " foreground " if out of focus, 

 as is likely, Ity the rising or cross front, and when 

 your are genuinely satisfied that you cannot make 

 the picture any better than it is, put in the plate. 

 Amateurs who care for " stopping down " should, 

 oF course, give exposures in i)roportion. 



Development, &c. 



I have found B. & W.'s Tabloid " Rytol " ex- 

 cellent for this, and it is most convenient. De- 

 velopment should be full to my mind, but do not 

 overdo it, of course, as you want the principal 

 subject to stand out very clearly. When you have 

 got all detail in your " subject," have the plate 

 out and into the hypo, as the less you develop 

 out-of-focus-backgroinid the better. Wash ir- 

 running water for an hour or two after fixing. 

 Plant and flower photograjdis are best printed on 

 a gaslight paper, such as Griffin's " Noctona. ' 



Watering Flowers. 



If water is to do any real good to the plants 

 themselves, and the soil is very dry, a sufficient 

 quantity of it must be given. A dro]) now and 

 more to-morrow is not good at all, and it may do 

 positive harm to the flowers in so much as it 

 attracts their roots to the surface, which is very 

 bad So when you water, water well. But do not 

 on the other hand give so much water, and water 

 in such bvdk as to wash the soil away. Moderate 

 your application to suit indivitlual plants, and a 

 lug plant like a Lupin or Michaelmas Daisy or a 

 Chrysanthemum will want much more water than 

 a group of seedlings which have only recently 

 been pricked out. 



Annuals such as Shirley Poppies, Godetias, 

 Clarkias, &c., which are growing strongly, neecl 

 a good deal of water in the sunmier months or 

 they soon get " over " and go terribly to seed. 

 But conversely, ])lants like the strong Lupins 

 mentioned above do not generally need water un- 

 less the weather be very dry, for, being bigger and 

 stronger, their roots go deeper into tlie soil, and 

 they are thus able to get moisture from below, 

 which smaller plants cannot reach, and so do not 

 feel drought so much. 



When watering annuals of all sorts use a can 

 with a not too large spray rose on it. The rose 

 should have fine holes in it or the water will come 

 out too strongly and often damage the brittle 

 shoots of the annuals. Great care is needed to 

 be certain that the water really reaches the roots, 

 for if the annuals be thick the foliage may throw 

 it off. So it is best in such a case of tall-growing 

 annuals to apply the ros'^ of the can near the bot- 

 tom or boundary of the clump, and the water 

 then runs in. 



With regard to the watering of strong peren- 

 nials and roses in the mixed border, and in their 

 own private borders, a rose on the can is little 

 use save as a means of freshening up the foliage. 

 These i>lants, as said before, require in really clry 

 weather a good soaking of water at the root, 

 so the spray rose should be taken off the neck of 

 the can and a good supply of water poured down 

 into the roots of the plants. It is well, however, 

 to be gentle in administering water without a rose 

 as it is then the soil is liat)le to be washed away. 

 As regards feeding, the plants in the average 

 flower garden, do not require it and very often 

 are much better without it, it is so liable to be 

 overdone. If, however, flowers of exceptional size 

 and strength and goodness of colour are required, 

 a little Clay's Fertilizer may be used in the water 

 once a week. No more should be used than the 

 instructions say, for that quantity has been found 

 to be the best. W^ater containing fertilizer should 

 l)e kept off the foliage of the flowers, or if some 

 gets on, wash it off with clean water at once. 



The best time to apply the water is a subject for 

 discussion, as it may well be applied in the early 

 morning, or in the evening, when the sun has no 

 great power. If it can be kept more or less off 

 t^he foliage, then it may well be applied in the 

 early morning, but it is not always convenient to 

 apply it at such an early hour, and in that case it 

 must be applied in the evening. 



Watering is a laborious operation, but it is well 

 worth it, and I am sure that none will neglect 

 ilieir lovely flowers this year if they think how 

 much flowers can cheer the uumy dark hours 

 brought about by the war. 



