PHOTOGRAPHY 
portrait attachment permits working within less 
than two and one-half feet. And with a box 
camera and fixed focus lens, where one must 
_work at least seven feet from his subject, with 
the portrait attachment he can lessen the dis- 
tance by one-half. When working so close 
with a wide open lens, there is no depth of 
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attached to the lens on the kodak, it was learned 
that the shortest possible working distance 
between the lens and the subject could be 
reduced from six feet without the portrait 
attachment to two feet and four inches with it, 
and that with this combination the ray filter 
could be used very satisfactorily, even when as 

DOWN-EAST HARVESTERS 
focus, but by stopping a rectilinear to 32, and 
by using the smallest stop in a single lens, 
there will usually be sufficient depth to render 
the subject clear and sharp. 
The portrait attachment is a supplementary 
lens, which fits in front of a box camera in 
the place of the plug and over the lens of a 
folding camera like a cap. Its use in no way 
impairs the working qualities of the principal 
lens. The portrait attachment costs only half 
a dollar, but it increases the working value of 
an outfit many times that amount, and, for the 
outlay, is one of the best investments an 
amateur photographer can make. 
One amateur of our acquaintance was 
engaged to do botanical photographic work 
along lines requiring much effort in the open 
field; in woods, in ravines, in swamps and on 
the hills. His only available cameras were a 
bulky 10 x 12 for plates, and a No. 4 cartridge 
kodak, the former being of too great weight, 
the latter with too short a draw to be of service. 
But, by experiments with the portrait lens 
large a diaphragm as 16 was used, but when 
possible, it was better to use the smaller stop 
so as to get more depth of focus. The use of the 
portrait attachment is not restricted to kodaks; 
it can be used with all hand cameras, with 
plates as well as film. With the kodak, there 
being no ground glass, the scale was used ex- 
clusively for focusing. With the portrait lens 
attached, the indicator set at six feet, the 
camera placed so that the distance from the 
front lens to the subject was exactly twenty- 
eight inches and stop 32 used, it was found, by 
experiments, that objects from twenty-six to 
thirty-two inches were sharply defined, and that 
the depth of focus was increased by using 
smaller stops. 
Later, the portrait attachment in connection 
with the kodak was used to photograph young 
birds, on their nests and about to leave the 
nests. The focus was set for six feet—a work- 
ing distance of twenty-eight inches; stop 4 was 
used, and the shortest possible bulb exposure 
