346 THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Photography for Garden hovers. 
By the Rev. F. C. Lambert, M.A., F.R.P.S. 
It may be taken for granted that every 
garden lover at times feels the desire to 
preserve a permanent record of a beauti¬ 
ful bloom, a choice bit of fruit, a fine pot 
specimen, a well-developed shrub, a 
curious growth, or a favourite corner in 
the garden. These and a score other 
similar things appeal to us by reason of 
their beauty of form, glorious colour, 
curious structure, pleasing grouping, and 
so on. In the following chapters 1 pro¬ 
pose to offer some strictly practical hints 
which I trust will serve to help those who 
possess a camera and desire to use it for 
“ garden photography,” using that term 
in its wider sense of embracing anything 
and everything botanic, from the lowly 
hedge-row moss or lichen, to the lordly 
Oak of the forest. 
Now that the camera, like the sewing 
machine, is to be found in every house, 
I think I may take it for granted that my 
readers are already acquainted with the 
elementary part of ordinary photography. 
Possibly they have already tried their 
hands on a vase of cut flowers, or a cor¬ 
ner of the garden, and have had just 
enough success to make them wish to do 
better things. I hope this is the case, for 
nothing stimulates and helps the photo¬ 
grapher more than having reached such 
a degree of excellence that he can see 
there is room for further improvement. 
Now the first step is to adopt some sys¬ 
tem of working, just as one plans out a 
plot for sowing or planting. Many 
botanical photographers try one thing, 
get an indifferent result, and then skip 
off to some other subject, and then get 
disheartened. As likely as not they be¬ 
gin with the most difficult branch without 
having first laid a good foundation with 
work upon simple subjects. 
As a teacher of photography of a good 
many years experience, I lay very great 
stress on the axioms (ij Begin at the be¬ 
ginning, (ii) 'Work on a system, (iii) 
Make every failure teach the lesson how 
to avoid repeating that fault. 
At the outset we must recognise the 
fact that each class of works calls for 
its own special precautions and care. To 
recognise what are the peculiar difficul¬ 
ties of each case is nearly half-way to 
overcoming them. A moment’s thought, 
for instance, will show us that the pro¬ 
blem of photographing a vase of cut 
specimens in a room is not the. same as 
that of dealing with a general view of an 
old English garden. 
What I propose is that we make a num¬ 
ber of systematic studies or experiments, 
because we can in that way set ourselves 
problems and then attack them. The 
knowledge gained in this way will smooth 
out of our path most, if not all, of our 
photographic difficulties. In this way 
we learn to connect cause and effect, so 
that when we want to get a certain effect 
we know how to produce it. 
The starting point of all things for us 
is the fact that we have to deal with two 
things, viz., fi) light and shade and (2) 
colour. These are always present in 
every natural object as we see it, there¬ 
fore we must take them into account. 
At first I do not propose to say any¬ 
thing about the making of pictures in 
colour (autochromes, etc.), but of course 
we must take into account the colours 
of the subjects with which we have to 
deal. For example, the bright yellow of 
the Buttercup (Ranunculus) or the Dande¬ 
lion (Taraxacum) is really lighter to the 
eye than the green of the grass, but the 
ordinary photograph usually makes these 
flowers come out as black spots among 
the grass; an obvious and needless mis¬ 
take. Before we actually start off with 
the camera, I would like my readers to 
make a few systematic and careful ob¬ 
servations on the subject of lighting in 
an ordinary room, preferably one with a 
bow window if that can be borrowed for 
the time, but the bow window is not es¬ 
sential. Place any good-sized flower, 
such as a Daffodil or Rose, in a vase, 
and put it on a table about four feet 
from a rather small window so that the 
light is concentrated. Now roll up a 
piece of black or dark brown paper to 
form a tube about 6 inches long and one 
inch in diameter. Close one eye and 
look through the paper tube with the 
other eye at the specimen flower, viewing 
it now from one part of the room and 
then from some other point of view. 
Next try the effect of placing the flowers 
in different parts of the room and again 
examine the various effects. 
Again repeat the foregoing experi¬ 
ments, but this time alter the window 
blinds so as to get more or less light, 
sometimes using one window, sometimes 
another. 
I do not suppose that you will be able 
to remember all the differences so pro¬ 
duced, for that is a matter of long prac¬ 
tice, but at any rate you will have learned 
the important fact that a very great many 
different effects can be obtained by al¬ 
tering (i) the view-point, (if) the position 
of the object, (iii) the quantity and direc¬ 
tion of the light; you also will have got 
a general idea of connecting cause and 
effect. If at first you find a little diffi¬ 
culty in seeing the differences of the 
above three factors, you will find it a 
help if you partly close the lids of the 
observing eye so as nearly to obliterate 
the finer details in the object, so that the 
attention may be concentrated on the 
light and shade only. 
I daresay that this preliminary chap¬ 
ter may read rather dull, but I can 
assure the reader that this matter of light¬ 
ing lies at the root of the whole matter of 
successful photography. 
Finally, let us now make one test ex¬ 
periment with the camera. Select two 
lightings of the same subject that show 
a well-marked difference. For example, 
in the first case we may have the camera 
near the window and the object well away 
from the window so that the light is be¬ 
hind the camera, and in the second case 
we may have the object near the window 
and the camera so placed that the light 
is nearly facing the lens. (Direct window 
light must not fall on the lens). Use 
a piece of dark brown paper as back¬ 
ground, use the same stop in both cases, 
May 23, 1908. 
and give the two plates the same expo¬ 
sure and develop the two plates together 
in the same dish. Then print the twc 
negatives side by side and carefully studr 
the results, noting the differences of de¬ 
tail, modelling, relief, and form gener¬ 
ally. This experiment will well repar 
the twopence for the two quarter plates." 
-♦-++- 
Odontoglossum naevium. 
This Odontoglossum is amongst the 
more difficult to grow, but the plant showr 
by Messrs. Armstrong and Brown, Tun 
bridge Wells, at a recent meeting of the 
R.H.S. carried two branching spikes 0: 
flowers. The flowers are of moderate size 
with white segments curled at the tips anc 
thickly blotched with crimson. Ai 
Award of Merit was accorded. 
Veronica variegata, 
A Beautiful Plant for All. 
Of the shrubby Veronicas, this one i 
singularly attractive on account of it 
variegated foliage. Why this plant is s< 
rarely cultivated seems unaccountable. 1 
is a half-hardy shrub of free branchinj 
habit, with beautiful green and whit' 
foliage, the leaves being from 2 to 3 in 
long and about 1 in. broad. Adapted fo 
bedding-out work and greenhouse decora 
tion, it also makes a splendid house plant 
a duty it is rarely asked to perform. 
For bedding out it can be treated sirm 
larly to Calceolarias, being easily roote 
from cuttings. In autumn prepare th 
cuttings like Calceolarias, and insert the: 
in a cool frame. These will make nic 
plants for bedding out in May, quit 
dwarf and of a loose habit, branching 01 
freely, and as a ground plant associatin 
well with Gladioli or forming a relief t 
the spikes of Lobelia cardinalis or similr 
stuff. Interspersed with Calceolarias c 
planted in the general flower border, th 
Veronica is always bright, rain c 
shine.” The flowers are a pale blue, bv 
the blotched foliage is its prominent fe; 
ture. To the suburban man or grower < 
limited quarters, it will serve a doubl 
purpose, a bedder in summer and a Irons 
or glasshouse decorative subject in winte 
In autumn these plants can be lifts 
and potted into 5-in. pots, or a larger si; 
in accordance with the growth, using 
compost consisting principally of loai 
and sand. If placed in a greenhouse tl 
Veronicas will quickly recover and p> 
vide a winter display. Trim the plan 
and make use of the rambling points ft 
cuttings. 
As house plants Veronicas seems sui 
able in any position, and therefore 
might form a welcome change to mar 
who are accustomed to see Aspidistra 
Palms, and Ferns as the only presentab 
subjects in a house. In spring cut ba< 
the plants all over just an inch or tw 
and add a top-dressing of new' soil; tin 
will then respond to watering with hi 
healthy glossy leaves that will look mm 
cleaner if sponged over with luke-war 
water once a month. 
A. V. M. 
