i88 



THE FORMATION 



PHOTOGRAPHY 



235. The camera is an indispensable instrument for the ecologist. Al- 

 though it has too often b'een employed to give an air of thoroughness to 

 work of no ecological value., it is as important for recording the structure 

 of vegetation as the automatic instrument is for the study of the habitat. 

 No ecologist is eqiu"pped for systematic field investigation until he is pro- 

 vided with a good camera and has become skilful in its use. For this reason, 

 it is felt that a few hints concerning photographic methods and their appli- 

 cation in ecology may not be out of place. No written advice can take the 

 place of experience, but certain elementary suggestions and cautions will 

 greatly shorten the apprenticeship of one who does not have the good for- 

 tune to be taught by a professional photographer. To the student of 

 ecology, the camera is not a toy. It must be understood and operated with 

 as much thoroughness as any other instrument, and when this is done, the 

 results will be equally certain and desirable. 



Fig. 56. 4x5 long iucilt "Korona"' camera (scries V). 



236. The camera and Its accessories. Although two cameras are desir- 

 able whenever it is possible to obtain them, a single one will meet all the 

 requirements of field work. This should be 4 x 5 inches in size, since it is 

 much more convenient and will do all the work that a larger camera can. In 

 the comparatively few cases in which larger views are needed, the 4x5 

 negatives can be readily enlarged. The smaller instrument is less expensive 

 in operation because of the cheapness of the plates, and it gives a negative 

 of the proper size for lantern slides and for reproduction. A 6>^ x 8j^ 

 camera is valuable in special cases, such as making a series of photographs 

 for maps. In the writer's own experience, the 6,V^ x 8^ camera, although 

 used exclusively at first, has been almost completely supplanted by the 

 4x5. The best field camera is of the folding type with a good stout box. 

 It must be what is known technically as a long-focus instrument, which 



