What Horses Photograph Badly. 63 



why horses in very rapid motion photograph illy 

 is to be found in the too extreme curves de- 

 scribed by their legs in the powerful strides of 

 great speed, any position in which, arrested by 

 the lens, looks exaggerated, — sprawling. The 

 reason why, on the other hand, the photograph 

 of a daisy-clipper moving slowly looks tame is 

 the lack of action to suggest the motion which 

 the eye follows in real life. Many of the best 

 performers are plain in action. Some of the 

 most faultless movers, so far as results or form 

 are concerned, even when agreeable to the eye, 

 will show unsightly photographs. Let any one 

 who desires to test this matter have a half-dozen 

 instantaneous photographs of his pet saddle beast 

 taken. He will surely be convinced that a horse 

 must be extremely handsome in motion to give 

 even a passable portrait. If he gets one picture 

 in four which shows acceptably, he may be sure 

 that he owns a good-looking nag. Among the 

 silhouettes in the Stanford Book, scarcely one in 

 twenty shows a handsome outline. This seems 

 to be owing, as above explained, to the speed ex- 

 hibited in almost all the performances; and in 

 the slow gaits, to the want of action in the sub- 

 jects. Still, if the pictures had shown the light 

 and shade which instantaneous photography is 

 now able to give, many of the plates would have 

 made artistic pictures. 



