Photographing Fish 219 



carefully from the car with the landing net. 

 Take him quickly in your hand, holding him 

 firmly but with not too strong a clasp, and place 

 him gently in the compartment arranged to 

 receive him. At first he will undoubtedly be 

 extremely restless and will swim rapidly from 

 one end of the compartment to the other look- 

 ing for some means of escape, and you must 

 wait until he quiets down before anything can 

 be done. When he has finally satisfied himself 

 that he cannot get away, he will probably sink 

 to the bottom and sulk. Now you can focus 

 upon him, and, in doing so, be sure that there 

 are no reflections from the sun's rays upon the 

 glass, for this would entirely ruin the picture. 

 Also be careful to note just what portion of the 

 aquarium you can see upon the ground glass, 

 so that you may be sure to have the fish in 

 that portion when the exposure is made. It is 

 rather discouraging, after having spent much 

 time in photographing a subject, to find, upon 

 development, that only one-half of his image 

 is upon the plate, and maybe not that much, 

 and it does not make the discouragement any 

 the less to realize that it was our own stupidity 

 that caused it. 



After having focussed to your satisfaction, in- 

 sert the plate-holder, draw the slide, set the shutter, 

 and then cover the camera well with a dark cloth 



