ANIMALS.
As a sport, wild animal photography should enjoy a far greater popu larity than it does, for anything more exciting than stalking a wild animal with the camera is hard to imagine. Usually it is impossible to approach as near as one wishes to animals in their native haunts, and it is astonishing how close one needs to be to a deer for instance, with the lens of ordinary focal length, in order to secure an image of appreciable size. Every year hundreds, almost thousands, of Kodak photographs of deer are made, and in nearly every instance the owner of the camera is surprised, often disgusted, at the insignificance of the animal, frequently a magnifying glass being necessary before its whereabouts can be discovered, so the first thing to remember is, not to press the button too soon. Wait until you are near enough to have a picture of the animal. Before going off to the woods make a few experimental pictures of a calf at different distances and notice the results. Then you will have an idea of what you may expect when photographing a deer. The hand camera telephoto lens can be used when conditions are favorable, that is to say when there is plenty of light, for they are very slow, and instantaneous exposures can only be made under most favorable conditions. Practically speaking, it is not possible to make
instantaneous exposures with a telephoto, giving a magnification of more than four diameters. In using a telephoto for hand camera work it is of the utmost importance that the lens should be extremely rapid, nothing slower than f. 6.S being of any real use.
In all wild animal photography, the cam era has to be kept in complete readiness, fre quently for many hours at a time, sometimes for an entire day, therefore it is advisable to keep the camera sheltered from the sun as much as possible, and as a further precaution, the lens should be capped until you are about to make the exposure. Do not be tempted to make instantaneous exposures . . .
of animals in the woods, especially if there is much foliage. Even in winter, when the ground is covered with snow, snap shots in heavily timbered woods are not as a rule satisfactory.
Small animals, such as squirrels, mice, rabbits and others are all inter esting subjects for the camera, but to give any idea of the methods employed, would be to give a life history of each animal. Experience alone must be the teacher.