260 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



can feel no breath of air, still he will see that the 

 flower-heads on their slender stems keep up a 

 constant motion, and are seldom still for a second 

 at a time. I once was forced to wait for over an 

 hour, when trying to get the photograph of a 

 group of seeded dandelion heads, before they all 

 remained quiet enough for the three seconds' 

 exposure that was necessary, and there was not 

 enough air stirring to evaporate the perspiration 

 that continually gathered on my forehead, or to 

 give me one instant of relief from the intense 

 heat. 



This difficulty, happily, does not extend to all 

 plants, as there are some, such as the skunk 

 cabbage, that can be photographed even when 

 there is considerable breeze blowing. 



If the breeze is slight, the more delicate flow- 

 ers may be protected from it, during the expos- 

 ure, by means of a cloth screen stretched about 

 them, but it must be so placed as not to show 

 in the picture for what it is. 



The value of pictures of growing flowers lies 

 principally in showing their manner of growth 

 and environments. In every case the whole 

 plant should be shown, and we should select 

 typical specimens, and ones that are growing 

 under normal conditions. A skunk cabbage, for 

 instance, is a plant of the low, swampy woods, 

 but I have found it growing, occasionally, in dry, 



