Photographing Wild Flowers 251 



worthless. The least jar, such as made by a per- 

 son walking across the floor, will also cause 

 them to move, and I have even found that, with 

 some of the more delicate flowers, the vibration 

 of my body, if I stood too close to them, would 

 cause them to tremble. The flowers must be 

 absolutely still before they can be successfully 

 photographed. 



I always do this work in the room of an un- 

 occupied building where there will be no 

 unexpectedly slammed doors or heavy footfalls to 

 jar my subjects. During the exposure I always 

 remain as far from the flower stand as possible, 

 and I sit down. One can more easily keep 

 absolutely still seated than standing, for there is 

 always a tension to the body when standing, 

 especially if the attitude is at all constrained, that 

 causes it to vibrate. Some may think that all 

 such precaution is nonsense, but I can assure 

 them that it is not. I learned the necessity of it 

 through the bitter experience of many wasted 

 plates, and I am now giving the results of that 

 experience to those who are about to enter the 

 same paths. 



One might think that, in comparison to 

 photographing animal life, the work upon floral 

 life should be easy. It is much easier, as would 

 naturally be the case in the difference between 

 animate and inanimate objects, but should any 



