50 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BIRD-LOVERS. 



near approach. There seems to be a natural 

 impulse, probably fostered by its general difficulty, 

 to try to represent the bird as large as possible, 

 and when, as with a chick, the working distance is 

 at our own selection, we tend to indulge the impulse 

 to excess. Remember that a small sharp picture 

 is much to be preferred to a large and badly-defined 

 one. The former may be subsequently enlarged, 

 and at the worst produces the latter, but the con- 

 verse of this does not hold true. Do not strive 

 for size, but rather for quality in the image. 



Short-Time Exposures. 



Short-time exposures, though productive of some 

 complete failures through the movement of the 

 chick, are particularly useful, and their discreet 

 use for other living subjects besides young birds 

 can hardly be over-estimated. Careful observa- 

 tion of a bird's actions will often enable one to 

 anticipate momentary periods of stillness, and with 

 a little patience exposures of from a half to two 

 seconds may be given on subjects apparently not at 

 rest, while for birds sitting on their nests and other- 

 wise naturally still we have at times, with the lens 

 .stopped down, given exposures of a minute or so, 

 and in rare cases, as with a Partridge in the bottom 

 of a dark hedge, of even double that time, without 

 a sign of movement being shown on the negative. 



