Photographing Trees, Fungi, etc. 271 



In summer-tree photography, the main trouble 

 is again, as with the flowers, the wind ; for when 

 one can feel not the slightest zephyr from his 

 station on the ground there seems to be always 

 enough air stirring in the upper currents to cause 

 the topmost twigs and branches to sway. It is 

 worth while noting that after a sharp blow of two 

 or three minutes' duration there is almost always 

 a lull, and, if we are on the constant lookout, we 

 may catch the tree, during this small period, when 

 the leaves are sufficiently still for the short time 

 necessary for the exposure. 



This question of exposure is again entirely de- 

 pendent upon many things, principally the light ; 

 but usually, with a near-by tree, a quarter of a 

 second is amply sufficient unless we are using 

 the ray filter, which is never necessary in this 

 work. Of course, we will be forced on occasions 

 to stop down our lens somewhat, in order to get 

 the whole tree in sharp focus, and we naturally 

 must take this into consideration when judging 

 the length of exposure to be given. Certainly it 

 is always best to have an accurately timed expos- 

 ure ; but here, as with the flowers, it is better to 

 err on the side of over than under exposure. 



The work should be done either in the early 

 morning or late afternoon, never in the middle of 

 the day, for the sun directly overhead gives a very 

 poor light for this work. We must remember 



