NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY 



79 



animal to be taken, then to focus and touch the button. 

 This is the class that goes "snap-shotting" through the 

 jungles and forests, under the impression that a "snap- 

 shot" is the whole thing and the best that any one can 

 do. This idea is very wide of the mark, as will be shown 

 further on. To be sure, now and then perhaps one 

 in thirty a scientist or scientific illustrator may be able 

 to use such a result, but rarely oftener. Our "snap-shot" 

 photographer, in a little-known country, may, on some 

 occasion, meet with a gorgeous butterfly resting on a 

 rare and beautiful flower, a good photograph of either of 

 which would constitute a positive contribution to pic- 

 torial biology. He levels his camera at it, focuses, presses 

 the button, and takes up his way again^ flattering himself 

 that he has a picture that will cause science to sit up and 

 take notice. Well, he may have, or he may not; the 

 chances are, if he has had no instruction in such matters, 

 that the photograph he will get on his return to base 



instantaneous work is absolutely essential. One camera 

 may be a very small one, to be used for a class of sub- 

 jects that will bear enlargement, while the other should 

 be at least six and a half by eight and a half for sub- 



BUMBLEBEES AND HORSE MINT 



Figure 3. A District of Columbia specimen of Horse Mint, and an 

 exceptionally fine one. Photography does not do it full justice, as 

 it is an extremely showy plant. 



within the realm of civilization will not be worth the 

 paper it is printed on. 



Very frequently an unsuitable camera and accessories 

 are selected by the traveler for such work; but this is a 

 subject which the limitations of space will allow of but 

 scant treatment. If circumstances admit of it, it is best 

 to }>c provided with two cameras, and both must be the 

 best of their kind to be found in the market; in fact, one 

 should be supplied with only the best of everything, in 

 order to secure results at all worth while. Material for 



BLOSSOM OF THE POPLAR TREE 



Figure 4. This flower has been posed so as to exhibit almost its entire 

 structure. Large tropical orchids and other showy flowers can readily 

 be shown in this way. A small piece of pure white cardboard answers 

 for a background. 



jects demanding a sharp negative of a larger size, where 

 enlargement is undesirable or fatal to the requirements. 

 For the traveler, films are far and away ahead of dry 

 plates, as the latter are very likely to be broken ; besides, 

 films weigh much less, and take up far less room. 



Now let us suppose that our world traveler is passing 

 through the forests, or over the open country of some 

 little-known part of the globe. He may be on foot; he 

 may be transported through the aid of native convey- 

 ances ; or fortune may have helped him to command a 

 serviceable automobile. Then the questions present them- 

 selves to him : What is it that you want me to photo- 

 graph for you, and how am I to go about it? Do you 

 want people? No; leave that to the ethnologist and to 

 the student of races. Moreover, the field has been pretty 

 thoroughly worked, and science is in possession of an 



