Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-05-21
PHING WILD ANIMALS

PIIING WILD ANIMALS.
As the hunter selects his guns and am
muntion with respect to the particular
kind of game he intends to shoot. so
should the nature Photographic choose
his outfit. 1t Is true that one well-ChOSen
instrument can be made to do a great
variety of work. There are many kinds
of cameras which are suitable for one
branch of nature photography, but it is
easy to get camera which may he
quite suitable for one branch of nature
photographing, yet perfectly useless for
some other branch. For use in animal
photography, one usually needs n long
focus instrument of some kind. as it is
only in rare cases that it is possible to
get very near to the subject to be pho
tographed; but here again, some kinds
Of long-focus cameras are much better
than others for this work. Wild animals
are. as rule. very shy. and will not
wait for you to get ready; therefore 1t
is necessary to have an instrument which
may be operated with as little prcpara-
ton as a gun. There are at least two
such cameras on the market-the Re-
fleX and the Graflex. These cameras are
made in such way that the operator
may set the shutter and draw the slide
of the plate-h holder before leaving home
II he chooses, and be ready to make
the exposure at an instant's notice. A
mirror inside the instrument throws the
image upwards upon the ground glass
which is fixed in the top Of the camera.
Here the operator can watch the move
ments Of the animal to be photographed
meanwhile keeping II in focus by means
of a screw held between the thumb and
first finger of the left hand. When the
subject is seen to be IN exactly the re-
quired position. a button is pressed with
t1,,., ~
OF even greater importance than the
camera is the lens. which must he OK
tremely fast to accomplish the best re-
suits. There are many fast lenses on the
market. the Goerz being the most rclia-
bic with which I am acquainted. 1t is
advisable to have lens, Il size larger than
is absolutely necessary to cover the
plate as in very rapid work one cannot
diaphragm down in order to get the pic
turc sharp to the edge.
The quality Of the plates used is also
of great importance: it is the height Of
folly to save ten cents on box of
plates WHOM n rather more expensive
grade would insure much better results.
The operator will be sure to have many
failures ut the best, and there is no
sense in lis handicapping himself by
using poor material.
All other things being equal. the man
having the best knowledge Of the animal
he wishes to photograph. will get the
best pictures. He will know whore and
when to go in order to accomplish his
purpose and he will be able to avoid
many of those mistakes which would
surely lead to failure. Many years ago
my brother and lay out all night on the
bank of n stream. trying to got photo
praph of one of the muslkrats which We
had seen in numbers every other night
We had been down there If we had
l. Ia t-I. how a11
lied that no muskrat in his senses would
ever come near us while we were arm
ed with a piece Of burning punk, such
as we intended to set our flash-light off
with.
There are endless ways Of inducing
or forcing an animal to pose for his por
trait: hut it is better, where possible to
photograph him when he Is quito uncon-
scious of your presence He will then
be perfectly natural. and without re-
straint ana will take characteristic poses
which he would never assume if he
thought he was observed Woodchucks
chipmunks, skunks and certain other
wild creatures may be photographed at
or near their burrows and there is no
place where they arc more likely to be
found, OF course, the operator must al
ways conceal both himself and his in
strumcnt, and use such other precau-
lions rs each particular case may call
for. | obtained some interesting pic
lures Of Chipmunll, short time ago,
~ Sd'a''It to'uS"s 10y Oam,u,a 1tl ia,
.icuirt Silt u, """. M ltt'p
n"cNnv' was IN Wv "'"lt y, 7uIIniiE
h,i'S'I, ~ 'c',"i' tINn'9 W III, ""!'
"IS' phot"sl"P"'' wv NN"nN9 ny ru'N-
freshly killed hen, | fastened the hen
!" IN, si"ui," WIN SUN '"' inc
"'iIil"'9 '"ulu io' "''S II OUT o' r"hse
"l ,HP Vdintin'
sNray Spullre'S' tlNins squirrels ana
sometimes req Squrreis' may pc mad"
SO 'anle ny kliluIlTSS 'nat theY VII pose
Tor the pno'otrapiier IN any noSitlon ne
rnoUSos' NiS'tuVs 10 ten'ral fark new
tork' ana 10 ran River, MASS nave no
dlihculiy IN getting pictures OF gray