AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
June, 1911 
The garden walk is bordered with white phlox terminating in a tub of hydrangeas 
The Camera in the Garden 
By Frederick C. Beach 
$A WING to the improvements in the manu- 
; facture of color sensitive photographic 
plates within the past few years and their 
use in the camera in combination with 
special color screens interposed within 
the camera, between the lens and the plate, 
it becomes a comparatively simple propo- 
sition now to photograph flowers and trees in such a way 
that the resulting negative will render the greens, yellows 
and reds of the object photographed in their true value, 
showing detail where formerly there was a blank, with tonal 
values in the high lights which were apt to be too hard. 
Equipped with the camera lens, tripod, orthochromatic 
plates and screens just mentioned, the devotee of the garden 
beautiful may, as the season progresses, secure accurate 
photographic records of the various plants, flowers, flower- 
ing bushes, etc., while they 
develop and mature, with . cae eae 
so little trouble that the Soru 
records can be studied with 
reference to general ef- 
fects in the color grouping 
of the flowering portions 
of the garden, from differ- 
ent points of view. 
Besides this, separate 
special flowers may be pho- 
tographed for the purpose 
of illustrating their par- 
ticular features when in 
half or full bloom, and may 
be enlarged from the nega- 
tive up to their full size 
when desired, to more fully 
examine the miniature por- 
tions. 
In making time 
expo- 
A picture taken from the house 
sures on low beds of flowers, where it is desired to obtain 
a view looking directly downward, it is well to have a dupli- 
cate tripod head made with a supplemental camera base- 
board hinged to one side, having a screw socket in the 
baseboard for the purpose of securing the camera bed 
thereto. It is then only necessary to elevate the hinged 
baseboard from a horizontal to a vertical position and to 
secure it there by suitable means, in order to cause the 
camera to point directly down upon the flower bed below 
and obtain the photograph. The tripod legs are spaced 
apart somewhat more than usual to bring the lens nearer the 
flowers underneath. The closer the lens is brought the 
larger will be the image on the ground glass. This also 
requires a somewhat longer camera bellows than usual. 
Peculiar or artistic groupings of small flowers, in a space 
three feet square, can in this way be photographed map-like, 
so to speak. When the 
lens is so close to the object, 
the exposure must be a 
trifle longer, as the lens is 
at a greater distance from 
the plate and the light ac- 
tion on the plate is slower. 
By using what is called a 
large stop in the lens the 
exposure may be shortened. 
The proper time of ex- 
posure can be readily cal- 
culated or ascertained in 
advance by the use of ex- 
posure meters or tables 
which are supplied by 
photographic supply 
dealers. 
One of the annoyances 
in photographing delicate 
single flowers in the garden 
