GROWING FLOWERS.
In order to be successful in photographing growing flowers, it is absolutely essential to choose only days when there is no wind. The slightest breeze makes the work unsatisfactory, if not impossible. Clear sunlight or cloudy days are both good for the work, the latter giving in most cases the best results. In nearly all cases where growing flowers are to be photographed, it is necessary to use a small diaphragm, owing to the nearness of the subject and to the fact that so great a range has to be in focus. This particularly applies to flowers growing near the ground, such as violets, hepatica, anemones, etc.
Any ordinary good lens will answer for this work almost as well as the newest lens of wonderful speed. Depth of focus is what is wanted, and the more rapid the lens the less its depth of focus, so that it has to be stopped down until it works at the same speed as the cheaper lens. This fact is mentioned simply because the writer has been frequently asked "'Whether pictures of growing flowers can be made with the regular lens supplied with the Kodaks." Snap shots at growing flowers are usually out of the question, a time exposure being necessary in nearly every case, therefore it will be seen that for this branch of work the tripod is necessary to support the camera, or it may be advisable to use stones or other convenient support so that the lens will be about level with the middle of the plant. In cases of
this kind it may be found desirable to employ a background. For this purpose use a roll of gray cloth supported by two sticks, which may be gathered when needed, or better still have two light rods fitted with metal points. It is occasionally necessary to accentuate the fact that the flower is near the ground, as in the case of the trailing arbutus. For this purpose an .acorn or chestnut placed in an unobtrusive position will answer, and the picture will give the correct idea of the flower's form of growth, which, after all, is the object in photographing flowers in situ. Large plants will be found easier to photograph than small ones, as the camera does not have to be so near, and consequently the depth of the focus is greater.