262 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



The long-focus camera with a lens of a good 

 focal length must be used, and the short tripod, 

 spoken of in the chapter on photographing nests, 

 is a very convenient accessory for photographing 

 the flowers that grow close to the ground, for it 

 is not well to look directly downward upon them. 



In this work the swing- 

 back is a very neces- 

 sary adjunct to the 

 camera, for by its use 

 much of the fore- 

 ground and back- 

 ground can be brought 

 into clearer focus, espe- 

 cially when the camera 

 is tilted downward, 

 which will be necessary 

 in most cases. Any 

 grasses or leaves that 

 obtrude between the 

 flowers and the camera should be removed, but 

 the plant that is to be photographed should never 

 be touched ; for the value of the picture lies in the 

 fact that it is an exact representation of the plant 

 as it grows, and to change its position in any way 

 would be liable to spoil this truthfulness. 



The focussing should be done on the flower 

 or flowers of the group that are nearest to the 

 camera, and the rest brought into sharp focus, 



Trailing Arbutus. 



