Vol. XVII, No. 7 



WASHINGTON 



July, 1906 



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PHOTOGRAPHING WILD GAME WITH FLASH- 

 LIGHT AND CAMERA* 



Copyrighted, 1006, by George Shiras, jrd 



By Hon. George Shiras, 3rd 



Member of Congress, 1903-1905 



Mr Shiras zvas the originator of the sport of hunting wild game with the 

 camera, and for twenty years has devoted his vacations to this fascinating recrea- 

 tion. The methods and implements zvhich he invented have been adopted through- 

 out the world, and have greatly simplified and popularized this branch of photog- 

 raphy and sport. Mr Shiras has made it a point never to photograph animals in 

 parks or reservations, all of his shooting being directed against game in the strict- 

 est sense wild. The pictures printed in this number zvere all taken by him, and 

 it is the first time that he has permitted their publication. Several of the flash- 

 lights, those on pages 376, 377, 378, 379, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, and 387, zvere 

 exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1900, where they received a gold medal, and 

 they zvere again exhibited at St Louis in 1904, receiving a Grand Prise. The 

 reader of this article must admit that no line of sport requires greater patience, 

 perseverance and skill, or is rewarded with such rich and lasting trophies. The 

 game which Mr. Shiras has bagged during these twenty years, he shares zvith 

 many thousands the world over. 



LOOKING back to that period, 

 many years ago, when the finger 

 eagerly pulled the trigger and 

 the eye anxiously sought to pierce the 

 momentary veil of smoke between the 

 gun and its intended victim, and then to 

 that later period, when the simple press- 

 ing of a button captured, for all time, the 

 graceful image of the hunted quarry, one 

 becomes conscious of a peculiar mental 

 evolution. Success in the hunting field 

 should properly be dominated by a keen 

 sense of pleasure which, if absent or but 



a minor incident in the chase, indicates a 

 misdirected effort. We all know, today, 

 that the average successful and contented 

 sportsman will admit that the mere taking 

 of animal life is regarded as an appar- 

 ently unavoidable incident in the gratifi- 

 cation of desires existing wholly apart 

 from the shedding of blood. One purpose 

 of this article is to show that the time 

 has come when it is not necessary to con- 

 vert the wilderness into an untenanted 

 and silent waste in order to enjoy the 

 sport of successfully hunting wild birds 



*An address to the National Geographic Society, April 6, 1906. 



