AND TREES 47 



wrong direction. The failures were uniform, and I was 

 further convinced that to secure detail in green foliage, 

 the light must be shining right into the side photo- 

 graphed. 



The middle hours of the day are not good for this 

 work. Then the top light is especially strong, over-illu- 

 minating the flowers, and tending toward harsh high-light 

 spots on the upper leaves, with correspondingly dense 

 shadows below. The early morning hours are especially 

 good ; I have rnade successful rose pictures while the 

 dew-drops were yet resting on the petals of the rose, just 

 before sunrise. The long evening light is also very favor- 

 able, though much slower. Another important point' is 

 that even in windy weather there is usually a hush in the 

 morning, and again in the evening, during which delicate 

 flowers and foliage which have been tetering in a tanta- 

 lizing manner all the day, may be caught napping. 

 Indeed, it is worth much preparation and sacrifice to 

 arrange for undisturbed opportunity, especially during 

 the hours of daylight before ten o'clock in the morning. 

 Many times have I had good reason to deeply regret the 

 precious moments wasted on breakfast and courtesy, 

 while the beautiful morning light was fleeting and the 

 wind was rising to vex me ! 



That matter of wind — it is a vexing 



Zephyrs. one ! Often a zephyr so gentle that it 

 utterly fails to fan the perspiring forehead 

 of the photographer is sufficient to keep up a continual 

 movement of the delicately poised flower cluster he is 

 after. He will think of using the focusing cloth as a 

 wind-break, perhaps, and will then discover that the 

 offending breeze seems to come from nowhere, for he 

 can't shut it off ! The only thing to do is to wait for the 

 quiet moment ; and when the patience is all gone, and the 

 temptation is to make an exposure anyway, in despair, 

 dotit! Keep on waiting ! Better one good negative in a 

 half-day than a half-dozen bringing the regretful thought, 

 " It might have been ! " 



_ . , Now, we have had enough preparation, 



w^ k^ surely — let us sally forth with camera 

 ■ and tripod, plates and lens, on a cloudy 

 day in early spring. We think of the beauties of the 

 apple-blossoms, and we resolve that the apple-blossom 

 picture shall be ours. We come to the old orchard, and 

 are at once amazed at the wealth of material. We are 

 wanting.pictures of the blossoms, not of the trees, which, 

 when reduced to the limits of our plates, are a mere 

 blotch of white, perhaps against a sky that is also whitgj 



