138 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 



the fertility of my blundering mind, and to see what a variety 

 of things can go wrong, and yet never repeat the same mis- 

 take. They run thus: Lost time exposure left open, losing 

 two films under-exposed lost through duplicating on last 

 exposure rolled film too far snapped the shutter attach- 

 ment by accident focus bad forgot to set any of the attach- 

 ments over-exposed. 



By and by the tide turned and the results began a dif- 

 ferent theme good fair very good excellent best of all. 



After three years of faithful practice I can set forth a 

 few words of advice not as a finished exponent of this art, 

 but as an earnest student who has learned somewhat of the 

 fundamental principles. One is that crisp details add beauty 

 to a flower photograph, and these demand a long exposure 

 and small diaphragm. No. 32 of the F. system is excellent, 

 even a 64, if the sun is very bright, or thin white clouds 

 flying, which give a high degree of the actinic rays. I find 

 with a 32 diaphragm, a bulb (B) exposure of 1-3 to i second, 

 or more, according to conditions, give good results. By 

 conditions, I mean the degree of light, and hour of day, 

 whether in full sun or in shade, whether light or dark objects, 

 at a distance of three feet or a distant view. From nine 

 to ten o'clock in the morning during the summer months, 

 the shadows are long and the atmospheric quality is tender 

 and diffused; but the light is not strong and the exposure 

 may be a second, which is beyond what is required at high 

 noon. Also from three to four o'clock in the afternoon, the 

 shadows are deep and rich in tone though the light is only 

 fairly strong. A hazy day is also good, even a dull day, 

 though it will be lacking in shadow, and the time of exposure 

 must be increased accordingly. An excellent guide in the 

 matter of timing exposures is found in the Wager Exposure 

 Scale, manufactured in Baltimore, Md., by the John H. 



