TIUUD ANNUAL MEKTIN*; !)1 



Young birds should be photographed in or upon the nest if it is 

 possible to secure a good light. They should not be in direct sunlight 

 if it can be avoided, and the exposure must be very quick, on account 

 of their fast respiratory movements. When it is impossible to secure 

 a good picture of the young in the nest, they may be arranged upon 

 suitable perches made of twigs or boughs, and photographed in various 

 attitudes or groups. It is helpful to have a companion arrange the 

 birds while you attend the camera. In cases where it is necessary to 

 remove the young from the nest, because of its inaccessibility or in- 

 sufficient light, my most successful plan of photographing young birds 

 is to first focus upon the perch I have selected and mark it to show 

 the limits of the plate. After everything is ready for the exposure I 

 place the birds upon the perch and release the shutter. A whole brood 

 of young birds may be arranged upon a branch and the plates exposed 

 when they assume the most interesting or desirable positions. Many 

 birds have favorite perching spots. By focusing upon one of these and 

 ■carefully screening the camera the bird may be "taken" from a dis- 

 tance and the resulting negative enlarged if desired. 



Swamps and shallow lakes containing growths of sedges, tules, and 

 Avillows are splendid places for x^hotographing nests and young. Wad- 

 ing is to be preferred whenever possible, as boats shift their position 

 too easily in open water, and are too hard to push through dense tules 

 and rushes, where many of the water birds' nests are found. 



Photographing nests alone is a much easier undertaking, and with 

 proper treatment beautiful pictures may be made of such common 

 objects as a robin's or a catbird's nest. It is seldom advisable to point 

 the camera downward toward the nest at any great angle, or to tilt 

 the nest toward the camera to any considerable extent. If it is desired 

 to show the eggs, depress the camera front a little and place a small 

 Tsit of cotton or bunch of grass or leaves in the nest so as to raise the 

 eggs up to their natiiral position m the center of the nest, if you have 

 tilted it lowai-d the camera. As some birds will desert the nest if it 

 or the eggs are touched by the hands, it is advisable to use a small 

 stick and carefully move the eggs with this when it is necessary. It is 

 always best to view a nest from all sides before placing the tripod, 

 and to select the position where the least amount of cutting out of 

 twigs or leaves will be needed to expose the nest to view. When prun- 

 ing is necessary, do as little as possible, and cut so that there will be 

 no indication of it upon the picture. I prefer bending boughs and twigs 

 aside and tying them, rather than cutting them oft'. After exposing 

 the plates I return the twigs to their natural positions and leave the 

 lairds with their home unharmed. 



Nests should 7iever be photographed in direct sunlight, as the contrast 

 Taetween the eggs and nest and the shadows upon the eggs will be too 

 THUcli exaggerated and the eggs too badly overexposed. An umbrella or 

 focusing cloth held up as a screen will give the desired shadow and a 



