PHOTOGRAPHING TREES, ETC. 115 



almost always a faint breeze which is sufficient to 

 cause all flowers, especially those with long stems and 

 heavy flower-heads, to keep up a constant movement. 

 Seldom, except in the early morning and late evening, 

 does one find a day so quiet that the flowers stand 

 motionless. Were it not for that fact the photo- 

 graphing of flowers would be a comparatively easy 

 task, requiring only the ordinary technical photo- 

 graphic skill. 



One of the principal objects in photographing 

 a growing flower is to show its environment as 

 well as its form; therefore the individual flower 

 chosen should be one that is growing under normal 

 conditions in surroundings common to its kind. 

 For instance, the blue-flag, which grows commonly in 

 fields and swampy places, may occasionally be found 

 in perfectly dry woods, quite away from water or 

 swamps; it would be obviously absurd to photograph 

 the plant in such a place, unless to show its eccen- 

 tricity. In the same way the pink lady's-slipper is 

 almost always found in woods, but once in a great 

 while a single individual is found growing in a com- 

 paratively open place, such as a field on the edge of 

 the woods. So it is with all flowers: they occasion- 

 ally stray away from their natural locations and live 

 a short life in surroundings utterly foreign to them. 



It is well to select a plant that shows the flower in 

 full bloom and the buds in various stages of develop- 



