AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



77 



AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



•' For sport the lens is better than the gun. " 

 I wish to make this department of the utmost 

 use to amateurs. I shall, therefore, be glad to 

 answer any questions and to print any items sent 

 me by practical amateurs relating to their experi- 

 ence in photography. 



not familiar with the facts to prove that 

 the dog is not alive. If you desire it, I 

 will send you a proof to substantiate my 



statement. 



E. C. Way, Lincoln, Neb. 



THE BEAVER PICTURE. 



I send herewith my negative vote in 

 the matter of awarding to Mr. Balch the 

 first prize in Recreation's contest. I have 

 devoted over 10 years to the study of sci- 

 entific photography, especially along the 

 line of trick, or monstrosity, work. I 

 have read carefully all articles that have 

 been published on this subject, and I draw 

 my conclusions from those articles, togeth- 

 er with the experience I have had in this 

 class of work. I agree with the writer in 

 July Recreation in every particular, with 

 the exception of the size of the nearest 

 beaver as measured on the negative. Be- 

 fore considering myself qualified to talk on 

 this matter I took a photo of a stuffed 

 coon, using a 5 x 7 Karona, at a distance 

 of a trifle under 10 feet, and, after a care- 

 ful measurement, the coon's length, exclu- 

 sive of tail, was 1^4 inches. _ 



Beaver are hard subjects indeed, chiefly 

 on account of their shyness around things 

 that have been recently disturbed. Unless 

 the noise made by the opening of the shut- 

 ter was slight, the beaver would have beaten 

 a hasty retreat. They are sensitive in this 

 particular, and really have more common 

 sense than they are usually credited with. 

 All objects on the negative being in sharp 

 focus, would at once suggest the use of a 

 small stop, and it would not be an easy 

 matter to obtain a good negative even in 

 the bright sunlight with a one second ex- 

 posure. Therefore, Mr. Balch has evi- 

 dently made a bungle about this. I have 

 taken pictures of minks in Arkansas ; and 

 on account of the color of the animal it 

 has been a difficult matter to get a good 

 negative without the use of a small stop 

 and plenty of time. If anything, the beav- 

 er is a more difficult subject, because of 

 the lack of contrast between his color and 

 the probable surroundings ; and to say that 

 those beaver remained absolutely motion- 

 less for the period it would require to im- 

 press the dry plate, is absurd in itself. It 

 is my opinion, based on actual experience, 

 that those beaver were killed and placed in 

 a position as near to life as possible, and, 

 after they stiffened sufficiently to insure 

 their rapidity, they were placed in position 

 to be photographed ; thus accounting for 

 the much talked about string. I did this 

 same thing with a favorite dog that had 

 been poisoned, and I challenge any person 



Readers of Recreation in this village 

 have become interested in the beaver pic- 

 ture discussion, because we have some 

 ground for thinking the picture may have 

 been made on Blackwater brook, or one of 

 its branches, in this county of Aroostook, 

 instead of in Penobscot county, as claimed, 

 and within 30 miles of this place. Also, 

 things have come to our knowledge, out- 

 side of what has been written, which war- 

 rant the suspicion that the animals may 

 have been dead when photographed. 



But be these things as they may, there 

 are 2 reasons why Mr. Balch must con- 

 tend that the beaver were alive when the 

 picture was made. First, because he so 

 stated and therefore must continue to as- 

 sert. Secondly, because, in this State, 

 there is a perpetual close time on beaver, 

 and has been ever since 1893. The orig- 

 inal act creating said close time, which I 

 drafted, would have expired by limitation 

 in the spring of 1897, but before that it 

 was renewed for another period of 6 

 years. Under the provisions of that act 

 there is a penalty of $25 for each beaver 

 caught, killed or destroyed. In 1899 the 

 Legislature gave the Commissioners of In- 

 land Fish and Game authority to grant 

 permission to persons to take beaver; but 

 I am informed they have never availed 

 themselves of the authority given, except 

 in a few instances to take beavers alive 

 for park purposes. I assume, therefore, 

 that Mr. Balch had no authority from the 

 commissioners to take beavers. If he had, 

 that fact can be easily ascertained by writ- 

 ing to Hon. L. T. Carleton, chairman of 

 the commissioners, at Augusta, Maine. So 

 it will be readily seen that if the animals 

 in the picture were dead, somebody is un- 

 doubtedly liable for violation of the law, 

 unless it can be shown that the beavers 

 died of old age, whooping cough, cerebro- 

 spinal meningitis, or some other disease to 

 which they are subject. 



If the beavers shown in the picture were 

 alive when the photograph was taken, then 

 Mr. Balch richly deserves his $100, for he 

 has performed far more than an ordinary 

 feat in photographing them at work. If 

 they were dead, then somebody should ex- 

 plain just how they came to their death. 

 Geo. H. Smith, Presque Isle, Me. 



I have been closely following the dis- 

 cussion on the genuineness of the beaver 

 photo by Mr. Balch. I do some hunting 

 and trapping, and my experience in that 

 line convinces me that the pictured beav- 

 ers were dead. One important point your 

 experts have overlooked. They say there 



