PHOTOGRAPHING ANIMALS 77 



fifth will yield a perfectly exposed plate. For all 

 animals that can be approached near enough, use a 

 long-focus lens in preference to the telephoto, as the 

 lens without the telephoto attachment is both quicker 

 and more easily focussed. The plates necessary for 

 the work must be of extreme rapidity. Isochromatic 

 plates will of course give somewhat better results so 

 far as the general landscape is concerned, but, owing 

 to their sensitiveness to dampness, they are scarcely to 

 be recommended except for trips of a week or so. 

 The exigencies of camping do not allow of the care 

 necessary for their protection. 



As has been said before, a short-focus lens is of 

 practically no use in animal photography; when 

 large animals are the subjects, they are rendered too 

 small unless you are fortunate enough to be able to 

 approach to within very short range. Even then the 

 results are far from satisfactory. The shorter the 

 focal length of the lens, the greater will be the dis- 

 tortion due to the exaggerated foreshortening, so 

 that for all animals, large or small, use a long-focus 

 lens the longer the better, so that its speed is great 

 enough. For a four-by-five plate I use nothing less 

 than a nine-and-a-half-inch lens, usually one of still 

 greater length. Do not forget that the light in the 

 woods is much less powerful than it appears to be, 

 so that it is seldom safe to make instantaneous expo- 

 sures even with a rapid lens, while the telephoto 



