ii8 NATURE AND THE CAMERA 



rod ? We cannot show the exquisite colour, but by 

 using slow isochromatic plates the values of the col- 

 ours are well preserved, so that the feeling of colour 

 is in the picture. In securing such photographs a 

 good deal of technical skill is necessary, for the nega- 

 tive must have the rare quality after which we are all 

 striving, that is, the peculiar combination of softness 

 and vigour. Practice alone will give you this, and 

 even the most expert photographer must count real 

 successes as things that do not often happen unless he 

 has complete control of the conditions under which 

 his pictures are made, and of course, in working out 

 of doors, with the ever-varying quality of light and 

 diversity of subject, the conditions are so changeable 

 that it requires great skill to produce much evenness 

 in the quality of the photograph. 



In picturing flowers it is usually necessary to use a 

 fairly small diaphragm, as the camera is often quite 

 near the plant, and, with few exceptions, the leaves 

 will protrude toward the camera. Having to work 

 with so small an aperture, with an object as unsteady 

 as a flower, it is obvious that there is every advantage 

 to be gained by employing a lens of great rapidity, 

 though, of course, much good work is done with 

 ordinary lenses. 



Isochromatic plates are nearly always necessary, 

 and at times a colour-screen may be used with 

 advantage. It is in the use of this colour-screen 



