2598 



PHOTOGRAPHY 



PHOTOGRAPHY 



sufficient rigidity to sustain the camera in a moder- 

 ately high wind, is easily obtained. The cheaper forms 

 are fairly efficient, but the photographer who has much 

 traveling to do finds it preferable to obtain one of the 

 more expensive and carefully fitted types, which fold 

 into a smaller compass. 



For indoor work, including the making of photo- 

 graphs of fruits, flowers, or plants in large detail, a 

 special form of camera-stand is very desirable. One 

 arranged so that the camera may be maintained in an 

 inclined or nearly vertical plane, while the object to be 

 photographed rests on a plate-glass exposing-stand in 

 front of the lens, gives great facility and ease of opera- 

 tion, and does away with many difficulties of illumina- 

 tion. A few experiment stations possess devices of this 

 kind. A form which has been found exceedingly 

 satisfactory in practice is described in an out-of-print 

 number of The Photo-Miniature, "Photographing 

 Flowers and Trees," and is here reprinted by permis- 

 sion in Figs. 2924 and 2925, showing the camera-stand 

 both as arranged for horizontal and for vertical work. 



All the apparatus above mentioned is applicable to 

 color-photography by the Lumiere method, as herein- 

 after sketched; but motion-picture photography re- 

 quires apparatus peculiar to itself. 



Under certain conditions, the use of the "flashlight" 

 methods may be advantageous in horticultural photog- 

 raphy; as, when an outdoor object must be obtained at 

 night, or indoors where a flower may wilt under pro- 

 longed exposure. Flashlight processes depend upon the 

 explosion or the rapid combustion of certain metals 

 as magnesium which, either alone or in combination 

 with oxygen-giving chemicals, produce a light of great 

 brightness and high actinic power for an instant. 

 Further information upon flashlight may be found in 



2924. Adjustable camera-stand, horizontal position. 



In operation with this device the flower, fruit, or plant 

 to be photographed is laid upon or placed in front of 

 the plate-glass stand, and the camera, fastened by its 

 tripod screw upon a movable bed, is adjusted as a 

 whole, or through its bellows, until the desired size 

 and focus are secured. The background may be varied 

 as desired by cardboards or cloths placed out of focus 

 in relation to the plate-glass stand. The camera-stand 

 is mounted on casters, so that it may be readily 

 moved about to secure the most favorable lighting. 

 Objects which can best be handled on a horizontal 

 plane may be disposed somewhat as shown in Fig. 

 2924. For work of this sort a north side-light is found 

 vastly preferable to the conventional sky-light. A 

 greater mistake in the equipment of a studio for horti- 

 cultural work could not be made than to provide the 

 sky-light deemed essential by old-fashioned professional 

 photographers, although now happily abandoned by 

 the more progressive workers for a "single-slant" light, 

 which gives far better results. There should be pro- 

 vided in the workroom of the horticultural photog- 

 rapher several good reflecting surfaces, so that the 

 side of the object opposite the main source of light 

 may be properly illuminated. 



2925. Adjustable camera-stand, vertical position. 



The Photo-Miniature No. 135, "Flashlight Photog- 

 raphy." 



The horticultural photographer also requires an 

 outfit for developing and printing; but as this may 

 be conventional, it is not deemed necessary to discuss 

 it here. 



Plates and color-values. 



As practically all horticultural photography has to 

 do with the tints of growing things, the well-known 

 color inaccuracy of the ordinary dry-plate is a serious 

 disadvantage. The ordinary plate responds most 

 actively to the rays at the blue end of the spectrum, 

 and is very sluggish in taking an impression from green, 

 yellow and red, the latter color, indeed, being rendered 

 practically the same as black. Yellow, which in actual 

 color-value is on a par with light blue, and sometimes 

 to the eye seemingly more intense than white, is ren- 

 dered by the ordinary plate as a dark color, as all 

 operators who have photographed yellow roses, yellow 

 apples, yellow plums, and the like, will have observed. 

 Fortunately, .there are available photographic plates, 

 known as isochrpmatic or orthochromatic plates, 

 which, to a certain extent, correct these difficulties; 



