96 NATURE AND THE CAMERA 



I have never found that the camera needed to be 

 secured, its own weight being sufficient to hold it in 

 place. If desired, an arrangement could be easily 

 devised by which it would be secured to its support. 



With regard to the lens used in fish photography, 

 the more rapid it is the better will be the results. 

 There is no particular advantage in its having very 

 great focal length. About nine and a half inches 

 for a six and a half by eight and a half lens is suffi- 

 cient. The type of shutter that will be found most 

 satisfactory is the focal plane ; not the drop-shutter 

 in front of lens, but the kind that is set close to the 

 plate. This gives the maximum illumination with 

 the shortest possible exposure, such as is made neces- 

 sary by the rapid movement of fish. With fish, such 

 as the salmon family, the bluefish, and the runners, 

 jacks and pompano, only the most rapid shutter can 

 be used with success. Another advantage in having 

 the shutter concealed is that fish frequently splash 

 the water, and lens-shutters, such as the diaphragm 

 pattern, are rendered useless by salt water. 



In the list of material required for this work will 

 be found instantaneous isochromatic plates. Under 

 ordinary conditions these plates are perhaps not quite 

 so rapid as the regular plates, but with the greenish 

 or yellowish tinge of the glass and water, and the 

 greens, yellows, and reds of the aquatic vegetation, it 

 will be noticed that most of the colours are those 



