264 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



growth is not particularly sturdy, had best not be 

 attempted except on an absolutely calm day. 



Flowers should never be photographed in the 

 bright sunlight, for the glaring light of the sun 

 causes too contrasty a picture with a consequent 

 loss of much of the delicate detail that helps to 

 make it beautiful. If they are not already grow- 

 ing in the shade, then they must be shaded dur- 

 ing the exposure, and care must be taken that 

 this shade extends over the entire field covered 

 by the lens; otherwise, with a normal exposure 

 for the shaded parts, that part not shaded will 

 be overexposed. 



Never attempt to make the image so big that 

 it will occupy too much of the plate. It must 

 be large enough to show distinctly in detail, 

 but small enough to allow its surroundings to 

 show plainly and sufficiently for one to tell at a 

 glance in just what kind of a situation it was 

 growing. If you attempt to photograph it life 

 size, unless the flower is a very small one, you 

 will find that the image will not only be consid- 

 erably distorted, owing to the foreshortened view 

 which you must take of the plant, but that it will 

 be almost impossible to get any of the back- 

 ground or surroundings in focus, and, conse- 

 quently, much of the value and beauty of your 

 picture will be lost. 



In this line of work there are many chances for 



