SOME NOTES ON PLANT PHOTOGRAPHY. 



By SOMEK\"lLLI-: HASTINGS. ^F.S. 

 Aiitliitr of " Sniniiicr Fluiccrs of the Hif^li Alps": " Toiulstnols iit Home." 



1-lGLKE 1. 

 To illustrate the use of the Swing-back in I'laut Photoi;iaphy 



In the following pages I want to tr\' and give the 

 results of a fairly extensi\e experience of the photo- 

 graphy of plants, both in monochrome and colour 

 (autochrome). This has been, for the most part, out 

 of doors, but I have also done some indoor or studio 

 work. I must, from the verv first, frankly admit 

 that I know ver\' little of what other workers ha\e 

 written on the sub- 

 ject, what little know- 

 ledge I possess being 

 derived almost ex- 

 clusi\'el\' from my 

 own experience and 

 failures, so that I can 

 safely say that all the 

 suggestions herein 

 contained I ha\e my- 

 self tried and found 

 to be of value. 



The Camera. 



Let me first of all 

 tell you of m\- appar- 

 atus. I am, at the 

 present time, using 

 a (piarter and a half- 

 plate camera for held work and another halt-plate 

 camera mounted on a special stand for the studio. B\- 

 a simple device, the reversing back of my quarter-plate 

 camera can be attached to both half-plate instruments 

 so that I am able to use my quarter-plate slides and 

 changing boxes with all three cameras. These are 

 very ordinar\- instruments of no special make. They 

 give double or triple extension and have rising fronts, 

 though I never use this attachment. What I do 

 consider of importance is a swing-back giN'ing a 

 large range of movement in the vertical direction. 

 and a side swing as well : and perhaps I had better, 

 first of all, tr\- and explain whv these attachments 

 are so valuable. I use the sw ing-back in exactl\' the 

 opposite wav to that in w hich it is generally used, not 

 for reducing distortion at the expense of focus, but 

 for the very reverse effect. By the help of a swing- 

 back, any plane surface, w hatever its inclination to 

 the plane of the camera, can be readily focussed. 

 Suppose, for example, we are photographing a plant. 

 sav a snowdrop, as it grows in the vertical plane, 

 with the camera pointing obliquely down upon it. 

 Such an aspect has the advantage that in it we get 

 the ground immediatelv behind tlie plant or surround- 

 ing objects as a background, whereas, with the 

 camera on the same level, the plant stands out 

 against distant objects or sky, and the sense of 



proportion is lost. Morever, it is much more con- 

 \enient to focus in this position. Suppose then that 

 the camera is tilted and directed obliquely down upon 

 the plant with a large aperture to the lens, and 

 we have focussed the flowers on the screen (AB) 

 (see Figure 1), the lower leaves and base will be hope- 

 lesslv out of focus. The natural tendency under these 



conditions is to thitjw 

 backward the swing- 

 back so that the 

 focussing screen be- 

 comes more vertical 

 (AB^). But the effect 

 produced will be just 

 the reverse from that 

 intended, the lower 

 leaves will be still 

 more out of focus. 

 What we have to do 

 is to throw forward 

 the swing -back, so 

 that its inclination 

 to the Vertical is 

 increased (,\B'M, 

 that is, to bring 

 the upper part of 

 the focussing screen nearer to the object focussed. 

 that is to the lower lea\es. When, however, we are 

 looking down on a group of plants near the ground, 

 when, in other words, the object to be focussed is 

 more in the horizontal plane, the swing-back is used 

 in the reverse manner and the focussing screen 

 becomes more vertical. Not infre(}uently also, when 

 a row of plants is being photographed, the most 

 satisfactory point of view is not directly in front but 

 rather to the side, and in this case the side swing, 

 used verv much as described above, becomes 

 extremely useful. By lueans of an efficient swing- 

 back, therefore, an\- plane surface, w hatever its 

 position, can be focussed. and although undoubtedly 

 a certain amount of distortion results, as we are 

 photographing plants and not architecture, this can 

 generally be neglected. So that, to return to the 

 subject under discussion, in selecting your camera 

 be sure and see that the swing-back has an extensive 

 range of mo\'ement and that there is a side swing also. 



Tilting Table. 



.\nother necessity for satisfactory field work is a 

 tilting table so arranged that the whole camera slides 

 hackw ard and forward upon it. As I have never been 

 able to purchase one of these and have always 

 had to ha\-e it made, I mav as well describe it in 



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