144 Pbofography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



the eggs, although some people seem to think so, 

 but if two or three of them show above the rim of 

 the nest it is sufficient. When the nest is so deep 

 that the eggs are entirely hidden, a small tuft of 

 cotton may be carefully inserted beneath them. 

 This will raise them into view and will not, as 

 may seem probable, give a false idea of their posi- 

 tion in the nest. Care must be taken, however, 

 that none of the cotton shows. 



When the camera is set up at the required dis- 

 tance, and all the intervening foliage fixed to our 

 satisfaction, we must focus upon the rim of the 

 nest nearest to the camera, regardless of all the 

 surroundings. Then by the use of the swing- 

 back it will be found that much of the foreground 

 and background will be sharpened up, but it will 

 still be necessary to stop down the lens, sometimes 

 to its fullest extent, before all the surround- 

 ings are brought into as sharp focus as is desir- 

 able. This, naturally, means a long exposure, 

 which is a drawback when the wind is blowing, 

 so that it is best, when we can, to work on a calm 

 day. 



Try not to underexpose, as the results have a 

 distinctly disagreeable hardness, showing the eggs 

 as blotches of white against a black background. 

 Much better to err on the side of over exposure, as 

 this fault can be corrected in development. 



Never make an exposure in the direct sunlight, 



