Mat 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE, 



125 



I suppose no process has made such rapid progress as 

 photography since the discovery, by Daguerre, of his 

 invention known as "Daguerreotype," in the thirties ; and 

 as an aid to science it is becoming more and more useful 

 every day. In natural history sabjects we have, indeed, 

 some very fine workers amongst us. Look, for instance, at 

 the photographs of animals, botanical subjects, and birds, 

 by Gambier Bolton, Henry Sandland, Henry Troth, Mrs. 

 Carine Cadby, E. B. Lodge, and others.* The field 

 naturalist is now greatly increasing his interest and 

 knowledge by the use of the camera.! "Natural history 

 is no work for one who loves his chair or his bed. Specu- 

 lation may be pursued on a soft coueh, but nature must be 

 observed in the open air. I have collected materials with 

 indefatigable pertinacy. I have gathered glow-worms in 

 the evening and snails in the morning. I have 

 seen the daisy close and open. I have heard 

 the owl shriek at midnight, and hunted insects ..y 

 in the heat of noon." So says Johnson. Now, 

 if amateur photographers would only follow in 

 the footsteps of these earnest workers, and 

 have some aim in view when out with their 

 cameras, how much more lasting would their 

 interest in photography become, and what 

 might not be the gain to science ! 



For photographing animals it is necessary 

 to have a thoroughly good lens of long focus 

 and working at as large an aperture as possible. 

 The one I principally use is of fourteen-inch 

 focus, and has a working aperture of F. 5-G. 

 This I work on a whole-plate camera. In 

 taking the animals at the Zoological Gardens, 

 I find them, as a rule, so tame that a very 

 short exposure is seldom necessary. [ For 

 nervous animals, such as deer in parks, a hand 

 camera is more suitable. 



One would think all that could be said about 

 hand cameras and how to use them had already 

 been published ; but, judging from results that 

 we are shown, with the remark, " I don't think 

 it is so bad considering it was done with a hand 

 camera," all that has been written has not 

 been digested. Now, the phrase, " considering 

 it was done with a hand camera," is no excuse 

 for bad results, as, with command of the 

 instrument, certain subjects are more easily 

 and satisfactorily taken with that class of 

 apparatus than with a stand camera. I think 

 the failures are the result of giving much too short an 

 exposure, of trying to take unsuitable subjects, and of 

 not using the lens with as large an aperture as possible for 

 single or near objects. The development of the plate has 

 also a great deal to do with some of the failures. I fancy 

 most people, when they first purchase a hand camera, think 

 the whole theory of using them is totally different from 

 stand camera photography, and that, in some extra- 

 ordinary manner, subjects that would require about five 

 seconds' exposure with a camera on a tripod can be taken 

 perfectly well in one-fiftieth of a second if the camera is 



* See two very interesting illustrated articles entitled "iVmong tbe 

 Sea-Birds," in the Badminton Magazini for November, 1895, and 

 " Sea-Birds at Home," in tlie Windsor Magazine for Jfoveinber, 

 189(i, both by Mr. E. B. Lodge. 



t See article by Harry P. W'itherbv in Knowiedge for October, 

 1895. 



:;: See also "Notes on Animal Portraiture," by W. Girling, in the 

 British Journal of Bhotographji Almanack for 1896; •■ Photo- 

 graphing Bats," by S. E. Stoddard, in the American Annual of 

 Fhotogra'phi/ for 1890 ; and also " Zoophotography," by Lewis 

 Medland, in the British Journal of Bhotography Almanack, 1894. 



held in the hand ! If you venture to remonstrate, they 

 say, " Oh ! but this is the instantaneous process, you 

 know." Because you have a shutter that can work in 

 one-hundredth of a second is no reason that you should 

 always use it at that speed. 



The generality of snap-shots can be taken quite satis- 

 factorily in one-tenth of a second if the subject is not too 

 close. A higher speed than one-twentieth I find is very 

 rarely required ; and with regard to not shaking the camera 

 during exposure, that is simply a matter of practice. An 

 esposare of one second can quite well be managed, and 

 even longer if the camera is pressed against something 

 solid, such as a gatepost or tree trunk. The hand camera 

 is not intended to take architecture or interiors, unless 

 used on a stand ; and, though it is not necessary for the 



■**-?■, 



Indian Zebus iu the Zoological Gardens. From a Photograph by 

 Mr. T. A. Geeald Strickland. 



sun to be shiaing, the light should be fairly actinic, and, 

 if possible, the subject well lighted. The lens can be used 

 at full aperture, as, if it is a good one (which is a sine qad 

 non for this kind of work), it is only necessary to use a 

 smaller diaphragm to obtain what is known as depth of 

 focus ; and as taking an animal is practically portraiture, 

 this is not required, and a shorter exposure can be given, 

 if the beast is restless, without hopelessly under-exposing 

 the plate. I think most of the hand cameras on the 

 market are good enough of their kind, but, personally, for 

 animals, I prefer one of the full-sized finder and twin-lens 

 type, and I have used six or seven difi'erent sorts during 

 the last eight years. Most people will swear by the kind 

 they happen to use, and this, of course, is as it should be.* 



The telephotographic lens would also be useful for shy 

 animals or birds, that will not allow a close approach. f 



" . . . . The photographer has now at his command a 

 lens " (the telephotographic lens) " which needs a camera 



* See also " The Hand Camera and Ho w to Use It," by W. D. Welford. 



t .?(;e "The Telephotographic Lens," byT. E. Dallmeyer.F.E.A.S. 



