138 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 
the fertility of my blundering mind, and to see what a variety 
of things can go wrong, and yet never repeat the same mis- 
take. They run thus: Lost—time exposure left open, losing 
two films—under-exposed—lost through duplicating on last 
exposure—rolled film too far—snapped the shutter attach- 
ment by accident—focus bad—forgot to set any of the attach- 
ments—over-exposed. 
By and by the tide turned and the results began a dif- 
ferent theme—good—fair—very good—excellent—best of all. 
After three years of faithful practice I can set forth a 
few words of advice—not as a finished exponent of this art, 
but as an earnest student who has learned somewhat of the 
fundamental principles. One is that crisp details add beauty 
to a flower photograph, and these demand a long exposure 
and small diaphragm. No. 32 of the F. system is excellent, 
even a 64, if the sun is very bright, or thin white clouds 
flying, which give a high degree of the actinic rays. I find 
with a 32 diaphragm, a bulb (B) exposure of 1-3 to 1 second, 
or more, according to conditions, give good results. By 
conditions, I mean the degree of light, and hour of day, 
whether in full sun or in shade, whether light or dark objects, 
at a distance of three feet or a distant view. From nine 
to ten o’clock in the morning during the summer months, 
the shadows are long and the atmospheric quality is tender 
and diffused; but the light is not strong and the exposure 
may be a second, which is beyond what is required at high 
noon. Also from three to four o’clock in the afternoon, the 
shadows are deep and rich in tone though the light is only 
fairly strong. A hazy day is also good, even a dull day, 
though it will be lacking in shadow, and the time of exposure 
must be increased accordingly. An excellent guide in the 
matter of timing exposures is found in the Wager Exposure 
Scale, manufactured in Baltimore, Md., by the John H, 
