AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



99 



If only the editors of some of the magazines could be persuaded to sub- 

 mit all Nature photos to some expert in the subject, it would not only 

 prevent their being the ignorant deceivers of their readers but would 

 drive such fraudulent schemers out of business by closing the market 

 for their wares. 



The only qualifications necessary to 

 successfully photograph wild birds are: 

 A love for birds, (not a collective sort of 

 love, but for their welfare;) an abundance 

 of time; and an unlimited abundance of 

 patience. There seems to be a general 

 mistaken impression among those who 

 have not tried, that good pictures can only 

 be obtained with the most expensive appar- 

 atus. This is not so and any one armed 

 with a rectilinear lens and a wooden box 

 for a camera, can do just as good work in 

 this line as he who has a finely polished 

 camera, brass trimmed and with all the 

 latest improvements and an anastigmat 

 lens. All of the pictures of live birds I 

 secured the past year were made with the 

 ordinary trade lens supplied by the Man- 

 hattan Optical Co., on their 5x7 Wizard 

 camera. With the subjects that I worked 

 upon I could not have improved upon what 

 I obtained if I had used any other lens of 

 like focus, no matter how expensive. This 

 year I have several other lenses to use, 

 but they were selected solely because of 

 their greater speed and not because they 

 will take better pictures. 

 A number of our subscribers have asked what equipment is necessary 

 for nature photography. To anyone about to purchase an outfit I 

 would suggest that they obtain a lens of between ten and twelve inches 

 focus. This will be best adapted for all classes of work. The camera 

 may be home made or a stock camera but for a lens of this focal length 

 the bellows should not be less than eighteen inches long in order to se- 

 cure good sized images of the birds. A good substantial tripod should 

 be included and always carry some strong twine with your outfit. This 

 will prove useful for tying back branches that would be out of focus or 



l-lg. 5. Photo from life. 



HAIRY WOODPECKER. 



