38 PICTURING MIRACLES 



night. In such a long run, where a camera is tied 

 down for that length of time, every possible precau- 

 tion should be taken to get the best results; lighting 

 effects, a test exposure made, and everything fastened 

 securely. Then with inspection and oiling the parts 

 and watering the plant, the film and exposure part 

 is so exact in uniformity that you can be sure of good 

 results from the photographic standpoint. For the 

 plant you must have anticipated everything it will 

 do growing to fill up the frame of the picture and 

 have provided all of the accessories that it will 

 require, and not have to build a trellis or other 

 things after the picture has started. The beauty and 

 smoothness of a picture depends upon the care exer- 

 cised in its preparation and the amount of film used 

 in each stage of its life. 



Deciding upon the proper interval used to make 

 the exposures governs the success of the result very 

 greatly. If the intervals are as long as thirty minutes 

 most plants will grow and sway considerably in that 

 time so the result will be jerky on the screen; if the 

 interval had been twenty minutes the action on the 

 screen might have been too slow but much smoother. 

 It is seldom in growing plants that pictures can be 

 made successfully at as great an interval as thirty 

 minutes. An orchid that grows very slowly and with 

 very little swaying movement can be pictured at that 



