AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



81 



possible, and they represent neither efforts 

 at composition nor timing. They are sim- 

 ply the best I could do under unfavorable 

 conditions. They are strictly of the record 

 of fact variety. Were I writing an article on 

 composition and timing I should offer as 

 illustrations a different set of pictures. 



One more honor has been heaped on 

 the devoted and worthy head of Mr. Al- 

 fred Steiglitz, in his selection by the gov- 

 ernment to represent the United States of 

 America at the Photographic Congress, to 

 be held in Paris in connection with the 

 coming Exposition. He undoubtedly holds 

 first place among the exponents of high 

 art photography, and his selection will be 

 hailed with applause by all his admirers. 



E. L. Wilson says, "Nature must be 

 rendered truthfully, yet surprisingly." 

 There is no question about the surprises 

 of most amateur photographers. Their 

 truth is not so apparent. 



REGARDING PRIZE WINNERS. 



I have a copy of your magazine for De- 

 cember containing the list of prize winners 

 and those highly commended by the judges 

 in your photo contest, and am fortunate to 

 find my picture among them. It may be of 

 interest to you to know how my picture 

 was secured, and I believe it is absolutely 

 original. We rode n miles along the rail- 

 road track to make our picture. The bridge 

 is 37 feet high. The train on the bridge is 

 a freight, moving about 10 to 12 miles an 

 hour. The ycung man is hanging and hold- 

 ing the bicycle at the same time. The 

 other party on the bridge was caught by 

 accident and was not supposed to be there. 



While I am perfectly satisfied myself, I 

 cannot say the composition of your first 

 prize winner has had much previous 

 thought. It is a wonderful picture, but I 

 believe it is the result of chance and that 

 the person taking it was favored by dame 

 fortune. I also note the winner of third 

 prize is a clergyman. Do you fully believe 

 his picture illustrates anything pertaining to 

 the end for which your magazine is pub- 

 lished, or was this picture awarded a prize 

 from the fact of its maker being a D. D.? 

 In naming the conditions of your photo 

 contest you stated that cycling pictures 

 were preferred, yet as far as I can see none 

 have been awarded prizes. The question 

 with me is, should a picture that shows 

 originality and forethought be considered 

 above one without these qualities? Kindly 

 favor me with criticisms on my picture. 

 B. Forsythe, Franklin, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



You are laboring under a misapprehen- 

 sion in several respects. The maker of the 



picture which won the first prize tells me he 

 visited the eagle's nest several days in suc- 

 cession and watched several hours each 

 time for a chance shot at the bird on the 

 wing. He finally got it, as you see, but 

 that the bird should have had a rabbit in 

 its claws at the time is, of course, a rare 

 piece of good fortune. However, it was 

 taking food to the nest for the young every 

 day, and the trips were usually in the 

 morning or evening when the conditions 

 for making an instantaneous picture were 

 not good. The rabbit was brought in mid- 

 day when the light was right for a snap 

 shot. 



The man shown in the winner of third 

 prize is a fisherman, and is leaning against 

 his boat. True, he is a salt water market 

 fisherman, but these men are a necessary 

 adjunct of every community anywhere 

 about the seaboard. This old chap is also 

 a guide and takes out parties of rod and 

 reel anglers whenever they wish to go with 

 him, so he is legitimate game for Recrea- 

 tion's picture contest. Certainly the fact 

 that the maker of this picture is a clergy- 

 man had nothing to do with his winning. 

 The rare good qualities in the picture won 

 the place without regard to anything else- 

 None of the judges know Mr. Ramsdell; 

 neither do they know what church he be- 

 longs to, so they could have no possible 

 leaning toward him on account of his pro- 

 fession. 



The reason no cycle picture was award- 

 ed a high prize is that in the judgment of 

 the committee none of those submitted had 

 the necessary number of points of excel- 

 lence to entitle them to places high up in 

 the list. The difficulty evidently encoun- 

 tered in securing a picture is always con- 

 sidered by any such committee and your 

 picture was given very careful thought; yet 

 as I have said, these gentlemen decided 

 there were some other pictures in the list 

 that ranged higher, all things considered, 

 than yours. Your picture is a fine one, and 

 in many competions would win; but sev- 

 eral hundred pictures were entered in this 

 competition, to which the judges would 

 have been glad to award prizes if there 

 had been enough to go around. I trust 

 you may not be discouraged and that you 

 may be more fortunate in my 5th compe- 

 tition, which will open April 1st. — Editor. 



HOW TO USE SHUTTERS. 



I am greatly pleased with the photo de- 

 partment of your magazine, and have 

 learned much in reading the ideas of differ- 

 ent writers. I should like to know if any- 

 one has used Nehring's $8 telephoto lens, 

 and what results he obtained. I notice 

 Nehring's ad in Recreation. 



