CHAPTER II 



PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS 

 PART I 



NESTS CONTAINING EGGS 



Outfit required. Long- focus camera. Ordinary lens, the longer the 

 focal length the better. Plate-holders. Dark cloth (not rubber). 

 Isochromatic plates. Tripod with fourfold telescopic legs and extra 

 extension legs, attachable. Ball-and-socket camera attachment. Small 

 mirror. White reflecting-cloth. Pair pruners. Lock-saw. Climb- 

 ing-irons. 



ARMED with this apparently elaborate outfit, we will 

 begin with what may perhaps be considered one of 

 the most simple branches of natural-history photog- 

 raphy. Photographing a nest, though not difficult 

 except in certain peculiar cases, calls for a consider- 

 able degree of artistic sense, for so much depends 

 on the composition of the subject and on the 

 lighting. A nest properly lighted makes a beauti- 

 ful picture, one that calls for the admiration of all who 

 see it. But look at a photograph of the same nest 

 taken without the slightest regard to the lighting, 



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