HUNTING BIRDS WITH A CAMERA 



A Record of Twenty Years of Adventure in Obtaining 

 Photographs of Feathered Wild Life in America 



By William L. Finley 



Of TTIIC NaTIIINAL ASSliCIATKiN (F AuDTRON SnClK'llFS 



H'itli Illitstratiniis from I'hotoijniphs by H. T. Bolihiiaii, Irene J'iiilev. and 



the Author 



AS FAR back as I can remember, I 

 ZA can see the Black-headed Grosbeak 

 X A. that took his meal of elderberries 

 in the tree just outside the east window. 

 I recall the Goldfinches flocking in the 

 autumn fields and I hear the evening calls 

 of the White-crowns gathering in the 

 rosebrier to spend the night. These were 

 all friends of my childhood days. The 

 lure of the wild birds developed into a 

 hobby. 



Later the opportunities opened for me 

 to hunt out the haunts of rarer birds and 

 make friends with them. Finally. I have 

 made business out of pleasure by l\'ing in 

 wait with camera and notebook. 



Behind the years of hunting lies an 

 eagerness for the chase that has been fully 

 satisfied in hunting and shooting with the 

 camera. Outwitting has often come in 

 outwaiting a shy subject. Some call it 

 patience, but it is a lasting joy that has 

 come with the cjuiet chances to stud\- at 

 bird homes and learn of the real character 

 and individuality in these wild children of 

 nature. 



THE painter's ADVANTAOIv OVER THE 

 PHOTOGRAPHER 



Years ago, in reading about Audubon 

 and looking at the pictures in his big port- 

 folios, Bohlman and I developed an am- 

 bition to show some of the things with 

 the camera which this great naturalist had 

 shown with the brush. 



Our object was to secure a series of 

 photographs of American birds that were 

 both artistic in value and which showed 

 the home life, traits, and habits of indi- 

 vidual species. To achieve this aim, the 

 search was made for typical nests of 

 artistic setting, and when these were 

 found, visits were made from time to 

 time to get different stages of growth of 



the young birds and to make a photo- 

 graphic life history of the species. 



We soon discovered that the skilled 

 painter has an advantage over the photog- 

 rapher in many ways. The art in a bird 

 photograph is so greatly limited by the 

 M'orking possibilities of the camera. 



The painter may place his Heron on 

 one side of the river or the other, plant 

 his trees just where they produce the ])est 

 effect, make the water ri])])le or reflect, 

 flow east or flow west. 



When the camera hunter tries for these 

 effects, he has to search high and low for 

 foreground or background. He has to 

 move to .suit the light. Even if he selects 

 a good position, he never knows just 

 when his bird subjects are willing to ]50se. 

 J-Ie may try for days and weeks and not 

 succeed in getting a combination that will 

 make a picture. 



A good bird photograph is a reflected 

 image of facts. The reality of things, the 

 truth, is the appeal which the photograph 

 makes. We cannot set photography over 

 against art. A photograph has to be stud- 

 ied for its own sake. It may be compared 

 with other photographs, Ijut not with 

 creative work of pen or brush. 



In considering the photogra])h from an 

 artistic standpoint, we have to take into 

 account the relation between the camera, 

 which is a mechanical means of expres- 

 sion, and the ideas expressed in the pic- 

 ture. Because of the difference in the 

 means of expression, we cannot compare 

 a ])icture made with a camera to a paint- 

 ing made with a brush. 



In wild-life photography one generallv 

 has to take what he can get. Yet this is 

 not always so. ( )ne may often obtain 

 photographs of artistic value by combin- 

 ing a technical knowledge f)f the camera 

 with a sympathetic stud_\- of nature. He 



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