CHILDREN AND ANIMALS.
Animals and very young children are perhaps the most troublesome models the photographer will have to deal with, and both require about the same amount of coaxing and humouring. As regards the first, these will only be dealt with here NI; here the subject properly touches on studio work ; the larger aspect of success ful photographic work in this direction will be found fully treated in the chapter on Natural History Photography. Briefly, then, a somewhat larger plate should be used than the size required, since one cannot rely on the subject keeping in the same place, and the exposure should be made instantaneously, as soon as the animal has been persuaded to assume a satisfactory position and expression. It is difficult to know if the picture is in focus, owing to the constant movement of the subject, and a twin-lens camera is certainly a great convenience. A new at
tachment for studio cameras has lately been introduced by Dallmeyer, by means of which the plate may be exposed within a fraction of a second after focussing (see Fig. 617). The dark-slide is placed in position and the image focussed in the ordinary way. At any suitable moment the whole of the frame is pushed as far as it will go to the right, and the rubber ball pressed. These two simple and rapid movements displace the screen, open the dark-slide, bring the plate into position, and make the exposure. This is obviously an ideal arrangement for photographing animals or children, or indeed for all de scriptions of studio work ; it can be fitted to any camera. Children must be in terested or amused, and in some way caused to forget that anything unusual is going on. A rapid exposure must then be made at a favourable moment.