Photographing Wild Flowers 257 



is correctly exposed is always the best, for that 

 needs no special manipulation in the development. 



Many people use a vertical stand, such as was 

 spoken of in Chapter V, for this work, and arrange 

 their flowers by laying them on a piece of clear 

 glass with the background a foot or so below. 

 The flowers are less apt to move by this arrange- 

 ment, but they cannot be made to look so natural as 

 when they are 

 photographed 

 erect. 



The arrange- 

 ment of the 

 flowers is be- 

 yond doubt one 

 of the most diffi- 

 cult parts of the 

 whole opera- 

 tion, and it is 

 here that one 

 can give full scope to whatever of the artistic 

 sensibilities he may possess. In this arrange- 

 ment one can follow no given instructions, but 

 must rely entirely upon his own ideas, and de- 

 pending upon whether these ideas be good or bad 

 lies much of the success of the picture from an 

 artistic standpoint. Some flowers are so stiff that 

 it is impossible to impart to them one iota of 

 grace, but in this very stiffness there often lies 



Spring Orchis. 



