Photographing Wild Flowers 249 



The water plants are the most difficult to work 

 with, for even if placed in water immediately 

 after being picked, the leaves will generally dry 

 and curl up and the flowers die and drop off in 

 a very short time. It is necessary, in order to get 

 a photograph of them at all, to make the exposure 

 as soon after picking them as possible. 



With those flowers growing in drier soil this 

 difficulty is not nearly so great, for, no matter 

 if they have become badly wilted while being 

 carried home, they will, in most cases, revive in 

 a few hours after being placed in water. With 

 these flowers it has been my practice, generally, 

 to pick them and arrange them in the groups in 

 which I wish to photograph them in the late after- 

 noon and allow them to stand over night, doing 

 the photographing the next morning. By doing 

 so they are usually in as fresh condition when 

 I come to work with them as when they were first 

 picked. 



In gathering plants for subjects, always choose 

 the best flowered specimens that you can find 

 and pick them with as long stems as possible. 

 It is best to carry them home in a botany box 

 or some other kind of closed case, for they will 

 wilt less than if carried in the hand ; and if, before 

 putting them in water, about an inch of the end 

 of each stem is cut off they will revive much 

 more quickly. 



