And trees 



33 



Fig. 5- 



they are actually to be worked, and as they are taken 

 out, dry off the water with soft tissue paper, or a rag 

 which will not "lint." Drops of water on flowers, stems 

 or leaves must be absorbed before an exposure is made. 



Other Make a composition on the plate-glass 



_ ,y . . with the carnations (first having carefully 

 preliminaries, j-jg^jjed the glass on both sides, so that 

 no specks, spots or dust atoms show), arranging them as 

 you think best, defeating their natural stiffness if possible. 

 The buds, if any are at hand, will help ; and to get a look 

 in^o one flower, it may be necessary to crack its stem just 

 below the flower, propping it up from below, out of sight 

 of the lens, with a little bit of wood or rubber. Before 

 going too far with the work, look at it on the camera's, 

 ground-glass, so that the right position on the plate is 

 assured ; it is not easy to move successfully a finished 

 composition. 



Also, get the focus before finishing the composition. 

 To work full size, the lens must be equidistant between 



object and ground-glass. If 

 a 7-inch lens is in use, the 

 distance from the flowers 

 to the lens must be 14 

 inches, and the camera will 

 need to be pulled out to 

 that distance also. Here 

 comes in the great utility of 

 the little focusing device 

 illustrated in Fig. 5. In- 

 stead of worrying long in 

 an attempt to find the pro- 

 per spot upon which to 

 focus, slip the device into 

 the composition in such a 

 way that the light will fall 

 strongly upon the steps. 

 Note how many inches high 

 the flowers are, from the 

 glass to the extreme point. It may be three inches. Now, 

 as we want the sharpest focus in front always, and as the 

 focus deepens equally from a central point when the lens 

 is stopped down, focus upon the 2-inch step, getting that 

 perfectly sharp, without paying any attention to the flow- 

 ers. In my own practice I usually sharpen upon two 

 numbers equally, and this diffuses the focus somewhat 

 better. In this case, it would be upon the i>^- and 2-inch 

 steps. It will be found probably much easier after obtain- 

 ing nearly the size and focus by the camera front, to ge' 



