THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID I/ PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS BY DOUGLAS ENGLISH. ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR'S PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE LIVING OBJECTS. LONDON : ILIFFE & SONS LIMITED. 1901. Toad. ' !? PREFACE. The author wishes to express his indebtedness to his brother, Mr. T. M. S. English, to Mr. J. H. Sussex Hall, and to Mr. Bernard Russell ; without their ready and generous assistance much of the photographic work hereafter described could never have been accomplished ; also to Mr. Charles Job, for permission to utilize, in illustration of the haunts of British fauna, some examples of pictorial photo- graphy whose excellence stands unrivalled. Hawley, Dartford. August, 1901. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory .... .... .... .... 9 II. Apparatus and Materials .... .... 17 III. The Photography of Mammals and Birds 27 IV. The Photography of Reptiles .... .... 42 V. The Photography of Fish 62 VI. The Photography of Insects .... .... 76 VII. The Photography of Pets and Domestic Animals .... .... .... .... 91 VIII. Decorative Natural History Work .... 106 IX. Conclusion 121 ILLUSTRATIONS. Landscape .... By Charles Job Frontispiece. Toad .... .... .... .... .... Back of title. Landscape .... By Charles Job page 18 Hedgehog .... .... .... .... 27 Woodmouse .... .... .... 28 Red Vole .... .... .... .... .... 29 Pipistrelle .... .... .... .... 29 Brown Rat .... .... .... .... 30 Dormouse .... .... .... .... 32 Field Vole .... .... .... .... 34 Landscape .... By Charles Job 36 Hedgehog 39 Common Newt .... .... .... .... 42 Male and Female Smooth Newts .... 44 Male Palmated Newt .... .... .... 46 Male and Female Great Newts .... 47 Landscape .... By Charles Job 49 Tadpoles .... .... .... .... .... 50 Coronella .... .... .... .... .... 52 Viper Striking .... .... .... .... 54 Male Sand Lizard .... .... .... 56 Female Common Lizard .... .... 57 Blindworm .... .... .... .... 59 Frog 61 Stickleback .... .... .... .... 62 Sticklebacks .... .... .... .... 64 Lampern .... .... .... .... .... 66 Roach .... .... .... .... .... 67 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. Gudgeon page 72 Trout 73 Grasshopper .... .... .... .... 76 Dragonfly.... .... .... .... .... 77 Caterpillar of Privet Hawk Moth .... 78 Red Admiral 80 Lappet Moth 81 Caterpillar of Geometer Moth .... .... 83 Landscape .... By Charles Job 85 Stagbeetle.... .... .... .... .... 87 Wasp 89 Twenty years a cat .... .... .... 91 Persian Cat .... .... .... .... 93 Red Deer .... .... .... .... .... 94 Sheep .... .... .... .... .... 96 Ram .... .... .... .... .... 99 Swans .... .... .... .... .... 101 Poultry .... .... .... .... .... 104 Male Palmated Newt 106 Female Sand Lizard .... .... .... 107 Grass Snake .... .... .... .... 108 Tree Frog.... .... .... .... .... 109 Sticklebacks .... .... .... .... in Chameleon .... .... .... .... 113 Paradise Fish .... .... .... .... 115 Cat 118 Landscape .... By Charles Job 125 Newt's Skin ... .... .... .... Tailpiece. [The majority of the above illustrations are considerably reduced from the original negatives. Lantern slides of all my subjects are published by Newton and Co., 3, Fleet Street, E.G. D.E.] CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. all the branches of knowledge to which pure photography can be applied, as a means ol illustration, natural history is perhaps the most im- portant. The illustration of natural history requires a method which, in the first place, shall ensure minute and detailed accuracy, and, in the second place, shall admit of rapid execution. No method of draughts- manship can vie with photography in either of these respects. To compare the camera with the pencil in point of speed would, of course, be absurd. It would be almost equally absurd to compare it in point of accuracy. Granted that, by the most skilful art and the exercise of almost superhuman patience, an original drawing could be secured which would represent with distinctness every scale on a fish's body or every feather on a bird, there would yet remain the ordeal of the engraver before such a drawing could be multiplied. Call in the aid of photography at this stage and there would remain the chance of stereotyping an error. An example may be given of an error on the engraver's part which has made an illustration io PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. ridiculous. In the well-known book by the late Rev. J. G. Wood, entitled " Common Objects of the Country," there will be found on page 75 the figure of a stickleback. It reclines on the bank in the orthodox fish fashion of the natural history books, with the fins well spread out in defiance of gravitation. This, how- ever, might be forgiven it if it were not for the position of its mouth, which starts somewhere in the middle of the underjaw and extends in a happy smile well into the gills. The mouth, as originally designed by the artist, is just traceable in its proper position. The above example illustrates an accidental blunder. If, however, such a blunder can occur in the case of a large organ like the mouth, what can we suppose the risk to be in dealing with minute external differences of markings and so forth ? A broad distinction is generally held to exist between the biologist of the museum and the naturalist of the fields. It is to the latter of these that the writer addresses the following chapters ; to all those, indeed, who love the teeming life of the country and desire to make some record of that life. The power to do so is in their hands already if they are photographers. If they are not photographers, let them straightway become so, in order to acquire this power. Photography for naturalists falls into two obvious divisions. The first of these, of which the brothers Kearton are the most widely recognised exponents, may be termed u stalking" photography. In "stalking" photography the camera is approached as nearly as INTRODUCTORY. n possible, either to the object, or to the spot which the object is expected to occupy. It may be necessary in certain cases to disguise the camera, or operator, or both. A variety of methods for so doing are given in the interesting works which the Keartons have already published. The success of stalking photography is obviously largely dependent (i) on the observing power of the photographer, (2) on his patience, and (3) on the time at his disposal. The second division, with which the following chapters are mainly concerned, is in some respects the antithesis of the preceding. It may be termed "photography of natural objects " by control." Instead of the camera being approached to the object, the object is approached to the camera ; the disguised surroundings are transferred from the photographer to the thing photographed. It is not the photography of " Wild Life at Home," but of wild life made to look at home, and, in some instances, to feel at home. Photography by control is obviously more limited in its action than " stalking" photography, but the field is a sufficiently wide one to satisfy any ordinary aspirations. The excitement of the hunt is not lost, for the object to be photographed has to be secured in the first instance ; nor is the study of life in the fields imperilled, for there will be ample opportunity to study, while one is engaged in trapping or pursuing. To the question which arises Will the results as natural history studies be as good as the pictures obtained /;/ situ by stalking ? the writer ventures to submit the illustrations of the present book as an 12 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. answer. In nearly every case the object photographed has been handled and has lived for a considerable time in captivity. In every case, where it was neces- sary and possible, the object has been actually tamed. In no case has the habitat of the animal been focussed and the animal waited on. It is "zoo" photography, without supervision, and far from the madding crowd. Two preliminary qualifications are essential, and both, if non-inherent, can fortunately be acquired by continual practice. The first of these is patience, and the second the power of observation. Without the former the success of the photographer-naturalist will be remittent and fortuitous ; without the latter he will have nothing to photograph. The quality of patience is a fairly well understood one, and it would not be going too far to say that an " impatient" naturalist is a contradiction in terms. " Power of observation," however, is a term which admits of such different interpretations that it may not be amiss to discuss its meaning as applied to a photographer-naturalist at greater length, In every- day life, power of observation would seem to be a quality of mind which enables its possessor to make deductions from such data as the generality of man- kind would pass over as insignificant. Accompanied by sound reasoning powers, such a quality is probably the most potent of all factors in determining the success of one man rather than another. In the case of a naturalist, power of observation is confined to material fact, without th e disturbing INTRODUCTORY. 13 influence of ethics. It requires no particular education- it is sometimes apparently inherent, as may be noticed in the case of poaching families. Generally, it may be taken as meaning the power of noticing small differences in what seems homogeneous to the majority. A simple example is to be found in the man who has an eye for a bird's nest. It is not a mere matter of sharp sight, but of a sight which can distinguish a bird's nest from the hedge in which it is built. What seems requisite is an eye which is exceedingly sensitive to small distinctions of colour, and the possession of such an eye would, and possibly does, give one naturalist an advan- tage over others. Again, when the wind is ruffling the heather, one pair of eyes may detect a move- ment which is not due to the wind. The owner ot those eyes is the likeliest to secure the originator of the movement. It is easy enough to see a lizard basking on a stone ; it is not so easy to instantly mark down the spot which a lizard has just left, and the direction in which it is proceeding; yet this must be included in a naturalist's power of observation. The first indication of a snake's proximity is usually an inch or so of disappearing tail. When that has disappeared an almost imperceptible movement of the undergrowth is the only clue to his whereabouts. There is only one satisfactory method of studying the movements of animals bent on concealment in such a way that these movements shall be equally recognisable in the field. It is to confine them in a i 4 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. fairly large prison (a packing case, for instance, glazed over), and to make their surroundings as realistic as possible. To watch a wild snake conceal itself on one's approach is a most impressive lesson in the art of silent and stealthy movement. Such powers of observation as are alluded to in the above examples must be cultivated by the photographer- naturalist in the field ; there are other no less important powers to be cultivated when one is actually at work with the camera. In the succeeding chapters reference will be made to the various forms of apparatus which it is desirable to employ in photographing various forms of life. We shall here lightly touch on the main principles which underlie all natural history illustration. In the first place, the photographer must have a clear idea in his mind as to what he really wishes to photograph. Suppose, for instance, that he has come across the scarcer English toad, the Natterjack. There are three particular features about the Natterjack toad which distinguish it from the commoner variety. It has a yellow stripe down its back, its hind feet are not webbed, and it has a peculiar running method of progression. A really good illustration of this toad would show these three distinctive features. A photo- graph might easily be produced which would show none of them a side view, for instance, of the toad sitting still and such a photograph would probably be the one taken by a photographer who had not troubled to make himself acquainted with his subject. On the other hand, it would be equally easy to produce a photograph INTRODUCTORY. 15 which should show the stripe on the toad's back and the absence of webbing on his feet. Without moving the subject, it might be effected by moving the camera slightly to one side, and elevating it so that the lens was pointing downward a position which, in natural history work, is, as a rule, the right one. The problem of photographing an animal's char- acteristic movement is a harder one to solve, and will subsequently be treated more fully. It naturally leads, however, to our next and most interesting considera- tion how to ensure that our picture shall be not only a complete representation, but also a characteristic re- presentation of the subject. Here, fortunately, Nature herself seems to have come to the assistance of the camera. Living creatures adopt their characteristic attitudes more frequently than any others. The photographer has therefore to learn which attitudes his subjects most frequently adopt, and should endeavour to perpetuate them in his store of negatives. There is one point which cannot be too strongly insisted upon. In natural history work it is absolutely necessary to pay the greatest attention to the " acces- sories." Most photographers have heard of the famous photograph of the prize hen. The unhappy bird is struggling to keep her balance on the slippery surface of a solid mahogany table. The background is a ducal drawing-room. The victim is eyeing its silver cup with a mingled expression of pain, indigna- tion, and amazement. Its legs tend to assume the position known as the split, and the exposure is obviously " instantaneous." 16 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. This instance is, of course, an extreme one, but an almost equal incongruity of surroundings can be easily effected by a little want of thought and pre- liminary preparation. One is often sorely tempted to seize the opportunity of securing a good photograph of an animal, if one has the chance, regardless of its sur- roundings. Sometimes one is compelled to do so. The proper course to pursue subsequently is to block the animal out and make a fresh negative with a suitable background. The labour is quadrupled, but in such cases this is unavoidable. CHAPTER II. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS. IT would not be desirable in this small volume to devote a chapter to photography for beginners. In- numerable treatises exist good, bad, and indifferent which leave but little to be said on the subject of dark room manipulations. The writer would here address himself to those who have passed through the glamour of enrly dark room speculations, and regard work which has to be done in other than white light as a necessary and unavoidable evil. It must always be borne in mind that, in natural history work, detail is of paramount importance, and that, to secure good half-tone repro- ductions, the original negatives must be fairly vigorous. No good purpose would be served by a discussion of the merits or demerits of various commercial plates and developers. Experience will inevitably lead to the conclusion that the ideal plate and the ideal developer have yet to be discovered. The nearest approach thereto would seem to be attained by the plate which acquires density and gradation in the shortest possible time, i.e., with a quick-acting developer. In natural history work there is practically nothing to be gained by tinkering. Plates will either be suffi- ciently exposed or under-exposed. If they are under- exposed they may as well be thrown away ; if they are By Charles Job. APPARATUS AXD MATERIALS. 19 sufficiently exposed, the time taken in development will depend mainly on the developer employed, but also on the leisure at the operator's disposal. With a suffi- ciently exposed negative it is possible to spend five minutes or fifty in the dark room, without any appre- ciable difference in the result. Generally speaking, the naturalist will find that he has little time to waste over minims of A, B, or C. What he wishes to get at is the knowledge as to whether he has failed or succeeded. Half-an-hour spent over a plate before one can realise that there has been such movement on the part of the subject as to render the negative useless is a pure waste of time. In a subsequent chapter the reader's attention will be directed to the kind of movements referred to, and to the difficulty of detecting them at the moment of exposure. Again, if time must be spent on experiment, the naturalist will find it profit- able to deduct twenty minutes from the time spent in the dark room, and to spend those minutes in exposing a few more plates outside. It must never be forgotten that a dozen plates are a cheap price to pay for a good natural history photograph. It must not be assumed that, in the foregoing paragraphs, the writer wishes to suggest that tentative development is a useless proceeding. Nothing could be farther from his thoughts. He wishes rather to emphasize the fact that to secure a negative giving detail, density, and gradation a negative, that is, which may be valuable it is the exposure, and not the development, that is of paramount importance. 20 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. Correct exposure mean?, in pure photography, that all subsequent operations may be performed mechanically. The matter of apparatus is of such importance to the naturalist, that it merits treatment under separate headings. Our first consideration is naturally as to the best form of camera, or cameras. A half-plate stand, and a magazine quarter hand of fixed focus, will be found to fulfil all likely requirements. It is essential that the half- plate should have a long extension, for much of its work will be ll copying" as nearly life-size as possible. It should have square bellows on account of the greater rigidity of a square frame. Appearance is of no conse- quence whatever, and the photographer-naturalist, who wishes to invest in a half-plate camera, could not do better than secure a second-hand one of the old- fashioned heavy brass-mounted models of fifteen years back. Let him avoid the original dark slides and have new ones fitted three will be ample and let him be certain that they are absolutely light-tight, both in themselves and at their junction with the camera. The latter point is of some importance, as in natural history work one has not much time for careful adjustments, or even tor covering the dark slide in the orthodox fashion. In the writer's judgment a dark slide is worthless unless it can stand the full blaze of sunlight when fitted to the camera with shutter drawn. To talk of light " creeping" in", unless the slide is under the protection of the focus- sing cloth, is to confess that either the slide itself or its junction with the camera is defective. If light proceeded APPARATUS AND MATERIALS. 21 in the leisurely fashion suggested, instantaneous work would be a matter of some difficulty. A small point, but an important one, is to have the shutters of the dark slide self-locking. Spirit levels, fancy move- ments, and so forth, are merely in the way. An endeavour should be made to secure apparatus of such a simple character that the hands can be trained to manipulate it automatically, while the eyes are employed elsewhere. The writer is unfortunately unable to enter on the vexed question of lenses with any degree of authority or experience. All the work reproduced in the present volume was done with an unpretentious French rapid rectilinear, for which he was recently offered 75. 6d. exchange value by a well-known City firm. This lens has been found quite fast enough for ordinary purposes. For objects in the same perpendicular plane it covers a half-plate at full aperture f/8. The depth of focus is, of course, increased by stopping down, and as animals are of three dimensions, copying small ones so that they shall be of a reasonable size on the plate invariably necessitates considerable stopping down and increased exposure. The inventor of an optical system which shall copy a lizard end on at a large aperture, so as to show sharp definition from head to tail, will earn the undying gratitude of the naturalist. The shutter is the naturalist's principal difficulty. After experimenting with every form on the market, he is not unlikely to resign himself to the simple flap. 22 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. For natural history work, the following points are essential in the shutter: (i.) It must be absolutely noiseless before and during exposure if it can avoid a click at the finish so much the better. (2.) It must be of such simple construction as to be repairable without being sent to the makers. (3.) It must be able to stand the roughest usage. (4.) It must never jam. It is difficult to name a shutter on the market which fulfils all these requirements. Natural history work, however, invariably leads to the accumulation of different patterns, and, out of the remnants of such, it is not difficult to construct one which shall approxi- mate to the ideal. A pneumatic release is essential, but for any but really fast work the "flap" pattern is probably the best. For high speed work there is nothing to compare with the focal plane. Besides the ordinary tripod, some form of vertical stand will be found so convenient as to become eventually a necessity. The simplest form of vertical stand consists of two stout boards hinged together at one extremity. In the lower there is a bush for the tripod screw, in the upper a row of holes for the screw attaching the camera. Two adjustable side struts, similar to those employed for swinging back, complete the apparatus. With such an arrangement, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, the camera can be made to point in any desirable direction. In the figure, A A represent the hinged boards, B one of the side struts, C the camera, E E the tripod screw attachments, T the ordinary tripod stand. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS. An equally effective vertical stand, when the lens is required to point only in a vertical direction, can be made at a nominal cost out of a packing case. Let A represent the packing case, B a solid piece of planking screwed on to the inside of one end, C a second solid piece of wood screwed on to B, and if necessary, D a third piece screwed on to E. The object of this arrangement is to prevent part of the view being cut off, as would be the case were the camera screwed on to B pro- simple Vertical Stand on Tripod. duced vertically upwards. Rigidity system is secured by filling the packing case with earth, and, where a fixed adjustment has been determined for vertical copying, no more effective stand could be desired. In natural history work one is frequently obliged to manipulate the tripod in awkward situations. As these not unfrequently entail considerable strain on the tripod head, it is as well to have the latter of metal, and to bear in mind that the possible positions of a tripod are practically doubled by the expedient of drawing one leg backwards between the other two. in the whole Vertical Stand on Packing case. There is rarely occasion to employ a finder with a 24 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. stand camera. With a hand camera, however, a good one is essential. The main desiderata in a finder are that it shall show neither more nor less than is included on the plate, that the image shall not be reversed, and that it shall be of such a size as to be easily seen without the necessity of stooping the head. There are several on the market fulfilling these require- ments. They are high-priced, but a good investment. A consideration of the above list may show a ten- dency to what is sometimes termed reckless economy. It must not, however, be assumed that high-priced lenses and so forth are not well worth the money spent to those who can afford them, and have some know- ledge of optics. There is a certain analogy between the camera and the microscope, in that it is usual in the employment of the latter to master the use of the half inch objective before employing the one-twelfth inch. It is probably true that as much bad work is being produced with first-rate lenses as with inferior ones ; it is probably also true that as much good work has been produced with inferior lenses as with first-rate ones. It is not unreasonable to conclude that it is easiest to do good work with a good lens, if the worker understands the advantages of a good lens, and how to utilise those advantages, but that it is not impossible to do good work with an inferior lens if the worker under- stands the disadvantages of an inferior lens, and how to minimise those disadvantages. To put it briefly, the intelligence behind the lens has a greater effect on the finished result than the lens itself. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS. 25 Passing from the class of apparatus which is common to all photographers to that which is specially adapted to naturalists, we find, as might be expected, that the photographer-naturalist, like any other specialist, is continually under the necessity of devising fresh forms of apparatus to suit his own particular requirements. As a rule, little is required beyond a supply of wood, and the ability to use a hammer and saw. Readers of "Wild Life at Home" will remember the interesting descriptions of the artificial tree trunk and rubbish heap employed by the Keartons in stalk- ing. The tree trunk would be hard to beat as a combination of ingenuity, simplicity, and effectiveness, and is well worth a trial by anyone whose ambition is the photography of wild creatures in situ. Nothing could be easier than its construction according to the methods described by its inventors, and it is curious to note that, with the exception of this and a miniature camera finder, the Keartons appear to have employed no form of apparatus which would not naturally be found in the kit of an amateur photographer, who was also a collector of birds' eggs. Fortunately, the appa- ratus which is necessary for photography by control is of an equally simple character. Plate glass is the only item which can be termed exceptional. Generally, when it is impossible to photograph the victim in situ, one of the three following contrivances suffices: A packing case without any cover ; a high packing case with a glass cover, and a hole through each end for the camera lens ; a narrow tank with thin plate glass sides and 26 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. solid ends, to hold water, if necessary, and to admit of a cover, if necessary. More detailed description of these three simple appliances will be given in subse- quent chapters. There is little doubt that any living creature, which is not larger than a rabbit or smaller than a bee, can be photographed in one or the other of them, in a characteristic attitude, and amid apparently natural surroundings. CHAPTER III. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. T T may seem, in a sense, pre- sumptuous to endeavour to treat of the subjects included ^ under the above heading in a single chapter. The true explanation, however, of the writer's intention lies in the Hedgehog. fact that, as regards the shy mammalia of these islands, his results have not been such as to justify him in being didactic, while, as regards birdlife, the published works of the Keartons, Pike and others, tell their own story. Without going so far as to say that nothing further remains to be told, it may be confidently asserted that, of all specialised branches of photography, that which deals with birdlife has at present been the most ex- haustively treated and excellently illustrated. Nor is this surprising when we consider that, species for species in this island, the birds outnumber the animals by at least five to one, that the birds-nesting instinct has at some time or other been strong in every healthy minded male, and that birds are not only easier to sight, but easier to watch, than our diminutive and, for the most part, nocturnal mammalia. 28 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. In bird-photography, however, there still seems an opening for a keen naturalist who will content him- self with a monograph on one particular family, who will in fact make up his mind that his string of frightened nestlings on a branch shall only be the first of an increasingly difficult series, and that neither his pen nor his camera shall be limited by merely pretty ideals. The list of British mammalia, fercz naturce, is a surprisingly short one. The most liberal estimate places the number at forty-one, of which five or six have become extinct within historic times. The following list comprises those which the photographer naturalist may reason- ably hope to encounter at some time or other : Great Bat, Small Bat, Long-eared Bat, Hedgehog, Mole, Shrew, Water Shrew, Fox, Stoat, Weasel, Badger, Otter, Squirrel, Dormouse, Woodmouse, Fieldmouse or Vole, Common Mouse, Brown Rat, Water Rat or Vole, Hare, and Rabbit. Of these twenty-one species not more than a dozen can be said to be so common as to be seen without the trouble of looking for them, whilst the number of those Woodmouse. PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AXD BIRDS. 29 which one can expect to see by daylight, as opposed to twilight or moonlight, can be counted on one hand. The photographer-naturalist may well pause when he finds that the first difficulty in photographing wild mammalia at home is the want of actinic light. He is driven to one of two alter- natives : he must either capture his game or must wait upon fortune the fortune, that is, of finding a mole above ground during the day, or of watching a weasel saunter across his path, or of getting within easy range of a squirrel un- observed, when he has his camera with him. The three experiences men- tioned above have occurred more than once to the writer, but he has never been fortunate enough to take advantage of them. The bitterest experience in his knowledge was that of a camera- less friend suddenly confronted with a family of otters disporting themselves in full sunshine on the opposite bank of a narrow stream. Red Vole. Pipistrelle. 3 o PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. Of the list given perhaps the following four crea- tures are most likely to be seen, without necessarily being " put up," by daylightand under such conditions as to be photographically possible : Stoat, weasel, squirrel, and water rat. Of these the latter is undoubtedly the easiest to get close to ; indeed, in rivers where these delightful miniature beavers are fairly common, it is difficult to travel far without sighting one, and if one happens to Brown Rat. be silently drifting in a canoe, the curiosity evinced appears to be pretty evenly divided between man and beast. The other three creatures have been most frequently seen by the writer while bicycling on some quiet road, flanked on either side by woods, especially in the so-called " preserves." One can hardly fail to be struck by the analogy PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 31 between these two modes of progression and the one advocated by that master of wood-craft, Richard Jefferies, for the naturalist-observer. In both the practical absence of sound in both the practical absence of arms. Readers of Jefferies will remember his advice to those who wish to see the life of the fields, that they should place their feet deliberately, and that they should keep their arms still the first to avoid any sudden jarring of the ground, the second to avoid the uncanny impression produced by the actions of the human arm on an animal mind. Compare this approach with that of the bicyclist. In the case of the latter the arms are practically motionless, the jarring of the ground, if there be any, must be of the nature of a steady crescendo not a series of jerky vibrations, such as the animal mind has learnt to associate with man. Similarly with a drifting canoe- no jerky vibration, no movement of the arms. The lesson cannot be too firmly impressed on anyone who wishes to read nature with his eyes close to the page. Undoubtedly the most frequently sighted of the British mammalia is the common rabbit, but he is rarely seen under photographic conditions. Interesting studies can be made of a monochrome tame rabbit in a field, and for a natural history such illustrations would be an improvement on a wood block, for the external differences between the wild and some tame varieties are imperceptible. The ideal rabbit photograph, however, would show, not the individual, but the colon)-, and the 3 2 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. activity of the warren unfortunately varies inversely as the actinic power of light. There are occasions, however, and every photo- grapher must have encountered them, when, for some Dormouse. PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 33 unexplained cause, there remains sufficient actinic power in the light immediately after sundown to enable one to make a really fast exposure. The opposite phenomenon is sometimes observed. Clouds, for in- stance, may be secured without special precautions on an original negative, when such clouds ought, according to one's past experience, to be hopelessly over-exposed. The writer still cherishes the hope of obtaining a picture of the bustling activity of a rabbit-warren under some such exceptionally favourable conditions. Failing this good fortune, the only plan is to secure the rabbit when young and to tame it, and so we find ourselves reduced to photography by control. Bats present no particular difficulty to the camera, for they are easily obtained, easily handled, and, if not thoroughly awakened, steady sitters. The specimen figured, a pipistrelle, was one of several who selected the dinner hour during the recent hot summer to enter the room by an open window. He was secured in a butterfly net, and spent the remainder of the night in a Bryant and May's matchbox. Morning found him in such a state of somnolency that several pictures were secured before he was fairly awake, including, of course, the typical head-downwards attitude. The one reproduced is the last of the series, and has been selected chiefly on account of its showing the creature's ears and the powerful claws which terminate the thumbs. The surly expression, though the rule rather than the exception with bats, is probably accentuated by the fact that his aim in life just previously was to retire in the darkness 34 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. of the background, and that his sudden and forcible reversal roused him to such an extent as to cause him to display his ears on other than the customary occasion of flight. The writer has hitherto failed to secure a picture showing the natural spread of a bat's wings. Field Vole. He has attempted, unsuccessfully, to do so by causing his victim to fall in daylight across the field of view. However sleepy the animal might appear, he found that the wings invariably formed a natural parachute when a few feet of descent were accomplished. The possibility of such a picture is therefore established; but, as may be imagined, the difficulty of releasing the shutter at the proper moment is no slight one. For the photography of any small mammal which PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 35 is both wild and vicious, under which category we may include the stoat, weasel, and land rat, the following arrangement has been found efficacious. A large packing-case is supported at a convenient height from the ground. It is lined sides, ends, and bottom with neutral-tinted plaster of Paris. The corners are rounded off with plaster of Paris, so that the interior, looking downwards, is elliptical. The object of this precaution is to prevent the awkward upright line of junction between sides and ends appearing in the photographs. Through each end of the box an aperture is cut rather more than large enough to admit the lens Each aperture is covered with a piece of indiarubber having a slit in it, wide enough to pass the lens through, and yet narrow enough to grip it tightly round the mount. We have thus an arrange- ment by which the lens can be pointed towards almost any position of the interior of the box, without the risk of tearing it from the camera by a sudden strain. The box is filled to a convenient height with earth, plants, and such like. Two heavy pieces of glass resting on the top of the box form the lid; a third piece of glass of the exact width of the box interior is kept close at hand. The adjoining diagram .shows the general arrangement. B B B ends and bottom of box, P plaster of Paris lining. I I holes covered with indiarubber, with slit to admit lens. G G panes of glass covering top. 'fW*X:\j m&! * & ,Vi t PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 37 G 1 supplementary pane of glass to shut off one half of box if necessary. S S supports of box. If it is not necessary to keep one's victim in the studio for any length of time, the plaster of Paris lining may be dispensed with. Some means of ensuring rounded corners will, however, be found desirable, and it will often be convenient to leave one's sitter, even if pos- sessed of gnawing capacities, overnight. A similar box of metal might, of course, be constructed, but would be beyond the powers of most amateurs. The modus operandi is as follows. The victim, having been secured, is dropped (out of the trap as a rule) through the narrow opening made by drawing apart G G the two covering panes of glass. The camera lens is next inserted through the indiarubber. If there is any trouble about this, as may occur with a large shutter fitted to the lens mount, one has two alternatives either to arrange the camera before inserting the sitter, or to confine the sitter in the half of the box farthest from the camera, by the insertion of the additional pane of glass G 1 . If the sitter is especially wild it may be necessary to restrict his move- ments by moving G 1 towards him, and photographing through it. In this case G G must be of suitable pro- portions. When first inserted in his new surroundings the animal's efforts will be probably directed towards finding a corner by which to escape. The rounded plaster of Paris at the junction of the sides and ends of the box will obviate the constant repetition of back views, due to this endeavour. 38 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. If no immediate opportunity of photography pre- sents itself, it is as well to leave everything in situ for an hour or so. The chance of one's subject escaping through the slit in the indiarubber is a very small one, though, if one is to leave him overnight, it is as well to put something substantial across the opening. On one's return it will usually be found that matters have calmed down considerably, and the problem resolves itself into one of securing the animal in focus. As a general rule, this can be effected without recourse to the partition pane. When one is driven to employ the latter, it will be found that subsequent labour on the negative will be avoided by the "precaution of .keeping it clean. The thinnest and whitest glass is desirable, as it is in all cases when glass is used as a fence.* The writer has found polished plate (which he invariably employs in fish photography) to be well worth the money paid for it. For a partition pane it can hardly be too thin, but it must be thick enough to stand a rush from the animal a by no means unlikely occur- rence if the glass is really clean. The photograph of the rat, on page 30, was secured with considerable difficulty. It was the first attempt with the box apparatus. The rat, a medium size one of the common brown variety, was trapped in the first instance. It was a male and vicious, even for a rat. The transfer from trap to box was accomplished easily enough, but then commenced a chapter of accidents. Ic should be mentioned that, in the original box * Hetley and Co., 35, Soho Square, stock some most useful qualities and sizes. PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AXD BIRDS. 39 employed, one hole had been cut through an end sufficiently large to take the lens mount, but not the shutter attached to it ; further, there was no supple- mentary pane of glass. The box had been about halt filled with mould, and the corners left in their ordinary square condition. The rat commenced by rushing with loud squeals from corner to corner, raising a cloud of dust in every direction. The sun happened to be shining on the glass cover, - ^B with the result that the inner side of it soon m had the appear- ance of having been rubbed in mud. This meant that the actinic power of the light inside was about halved. Finally, our friend commenced to burrow under the; lens. This position, of course, was hopeless. The glasses forming the cover were carefully slid along so as to leave room to insert a piece of wire between the end ot the glass and the end of the box. The result of the application of the wire to the rat was somewhat unexpected. With one bound he had leapt on to the Hedgehog. 4 o PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. shutter, a flap one lightly fastened to the lens mount with three screws, and torn it off. Having done this, he settled down in an admirable position at the farther end of the box. It was the first chance of focussing, and was taken advantage of. Unhappily, however, the only means of making the exposure was inside with the rat. The problem was how to secure the shutter, without allowing the rat to escape and bite en passant. This difficulty suggested the use of the third pane ot glass It had to be cut to fit. and so about half-an- hour was wasted. Meanwhile the rat was mauling the shutter. The use of the supplementary pane enabled the writer to secure the shutter, and also to clean the top glasses, one at a time. Hostilities then recommenced, and after considerable lapse of time, threequarters of the rat was secured in focus, the remaining quarter, which included a gracefully curled tail, being just outside the plate. Forgetting for the moment that the lens mount was practically fixed, the writer proceeded to swing round the tripod so as to point the lens more to the right. The result, which ought to have been foreseen, was that the camera front w r as pulled bodily off. The rat almost laughed. Once again the third pane was inserted, and an hour spent in repairing damages. Finally, but not until after several failures, the picture on page 30 was secured a picture whose value, as a natural history study, is discounted by the animal's obvious terror. The lens hole was then boarded over, a brick was placed on each of the cover glasses, and further PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 41 operations were postponed till the following day. On the following day, however, there was no rat. His method of escape was ingenious. The writer had been curious to know if a rat could gnaw his way out in the course of a single night. The plan this rat adopted, however, was to force asunder the two covering panes of glass, in spite of the weight of a brick on each, and escape between them, leaving a wedge-shaped opening across the middle of the box. It is the writer's invariable custom to set his sitters at liberty after they have been immortalised. In this instance he could not help admiring the ingenuity with which his intentions had been anticipated. The picture of the dormouse, on page 32, was taken some fifteen years back. To the best of the writer's recollection this particular specimen was secured when young and tamed. The photograph gives a fair repre- sentation of a dormouse, but is spoilt by the very unsuitable surroundings. Mice of all kinds are excel- lent subjects for the camera ; they must be taken life- size to make a picture of any value, not only because they will barely fill a quarter-plate, but also because when the image on the negative is a very minute one, there is a risk of entirely losing the delicate shadows on the fur, which contrast so beautifully with their brilliant eyes. Fur of really fine texture is by no means easy to render satisfactorily. Much will depend on the lighting, but more on correct exposure. The result of a sharply focussed snapshot will almost always be too hard. CHAPTER IV. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. ""THE photography of reptiles by stalking is practically impossible. We are not here confronted by the difficulty experienced with the mamma- lia, that of invisibility during Common Newt. the daytime, for the majority of British reptiles (and there are only thirteen recognised species) rejoice in the sunshine. The difficulty arises from (i) their small size and (2) their shyness in the wild state. The latter feature is not a surprising one when we consider the life of, say, the common frog. There are few creatures who give more hostages to fortune, and there are, as a natural corollary, few who are more liable to perish ere their prime. It is the sad penalty of being succulent. Lizards and snakes have, in addition to their natural enemies, the hand of man and boy against them. Newts pass the time they spend ashore in the strictest seclusion. Toads are nocturnal, and so we finish the list. Yet despite this natural, and justified, timidity, there are no British fauna who are more easily tamed THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 43 or more interesting as pets than the reptiles. The writer has at different times had every variety in captivity and under observation, and has no hesitation in affirming that an average specimen of any British reptile will get to recognise its keeper within a fort- night, and within a month will become so tame as not to attempt to escape when handled. From the foregoing it may be naturally assumed that, with the reptiles, the photographer has a com- paratively easy task. The actual photography of a reptile, when it is tame, is undoubtedly comparatively easy ; but there are certain features, peculiar to the physiology and anatomy of reptiles, which render the taking of a good reptile photograph a matter of greater difficulty than might be supposed. First and foremost comes the metallic and shiny surface of most reptiles' bodies. An attempt to photo- graph the common lizard in bright sunshine will fail, because every scale that is touched by the sun's rays, at a particular angle, will appear as a dark spot on the negative and as a white spot, not recognised by nature, in the print. The same phenomenon will be observed in the case of a toad, if we attempt to portray him at the moment when, through fear or excitement, he has burst, literally, into a cold sweat. Similar considera- tions prevent us taking a photograph of a frog who has but recently left the water. Secondly, we have the difficulty of the reptile's breathing. It must be mentioned, as was laid down in the chapter on Materials and Apparatus, that to secure Male and Female Smooth Newts. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 45 a reasonably large direct photograph of a small animal, stopping down, and hence time exposure, is essential. The breathing of reptiles is, in times of distress or agitation, of a most violent character. In the case of snakes, this is complicated by the fact that it is im- possible to determine in which particular convolution such violent breathing is going to start. In the case of batrachians the breathing is of a regular character at irregular intervals. For instance, the writer has ob- served in the case of a toad, two short gasps, a long gasp, and a pause of varying duration, after which the first movement is repeated. This pause is obviously what the photographer should wait for, but he should nevertheless be prepared, and resigned, to lose two or three plates before he can give the full exposure neces- sary. With the lizards the breathing is not of so obvious a character ; but the photographic gain is unfortunately fully counterbalanced by their greater restlessness. Our third difficulty lies in the tendency of reptiles to adopt their characteristic attitudes either mo- mentarily, when in motion, or under cover, when at rest. It is the natural outcome of a life of apprehension. To take some instances the coiled up, resting position of the grass snake and coronella occurs when the creature is completely under cover and photographically im- possible. The lizard sunning on the stone strikes delight- ful attitudes, but seldom maintains them long enough to have them perpetuated. Similarly, the whole life of newts seems to be dominated by the spirit of unrest. 46 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. With these general remarks one may come to a consideration of the illustrations. Taking the newts first, as presenting the greatest difficulty, we find that there are three very distinct British species the palmate, the smooth, and the great. They form together an admirable exercise for the photographer-naturalist. In the first place, the bright Male Palmated Newt. orange coloration of the under surfaces in all three species (we refer to the colour assumed during court- ship) is difficult photographically, being of a very low actinic power, and in the second place, if we compare the females of the smooth and palmate varieties, we find the differences so subtle as to be easily lost si<;ht of, unless special care be taken to secure a distinct representation of them on the negative. Further, we have the difficulties of aquatic photography to contend THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 47 Male and Female Great Newts. with a subject which will be more fully dealt with in the chapter dealing with the photographing offish. There is only one satisfactory time in the year for the photography of newts, and that is in the spring, say April and May, when they have taken to the water for family reasons. It is for this short period only that the male appears in his full glory of crest and colour, and that the female does her best, in rather a dingy way, to emulate her lord and master. Among the three species the palm of beauty must undoubtedly be assigned to the common smooth variety. The illustrations give some notion of his form, but the colours he assumes must be seen to be realised. He is run very close, however, by his small palmated relation. The crest of the latter, as can be seen from the figure, is not of so ambitious a nature as that of the smooth newt. His markings, however, especially those on the under surface of the tail, are very beautiful, and, as the predominating hue is purple, of a fairly easy nature to secure in their correct values. If we add to these attractions the curious filament which terminates his 48 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. tail, and his tiny webbed feet, we find our subject afford us ample scope for the exercise of photographic patience. The great newt, though the most imposing in form, has, in the writer's experience, proved the least interesting sitter. The orange colour of the under surface of both sexes is a most difficult one to render satisfactorily, even with isochromatic plates. A screen is out of question, owing to the prolongation of exposure, and so one is reduced to supplying the deficiency on the negative by the use of matt varnish or the stump. Apart from this, however, which is after all merely a photographic diffi- culty, the great newt seems to take his confinement to heart much more than his smaller relations. The woe- begone expression of the illustration is not really natural to Triton cristalus, but rather the effect of his environment. The expression of the other varieties might almost be termed jolly by comparison. Hitherto we have dealt with the adult newt. It must not be supposed that the photographer's task is done when he has secured satisfactory pictures of the adults of each variety. The metamorphosis of these reptiles through egg and tadpole is photographically possible, and of extreme interest. The tadpoles of the smaller kinds are exceedingly difficult to photography owing to their fragility, transparency, and smallness. The student is advised to try conclusions with the tad- pole of the great newt before he attempts those of the other two species. Neither must the chance of a picture be passed over, when, on the approach of autumn, the newt leaves By Charles Job 50 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. the water. His glorious apparel has left him, and he is a poor-looking object, but still by no means negligible from a natural history point of view. There are also various important occasions to be observed in con- nection with the adult life of our subject. Not the least interesting of these is the periodical change of skin a peculiarity which is shared with all the other reptiles. Tadpoles. In the case of the newts, however, the skin is, like a snake's, discarded in one piece, and forms when sus- pended in the water such an exquisitely delicate object that no photographer should let the chance of per- petuating its appearance escape him. One need do no more than mention the characteristic dart to the surface for air, the struggles between two well-matched rivals for food " dragons that tare each other in their slime" or the peculiarly confident display of his attractions THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 51 by the enamoured swain, to show what an immense field for pictures exists in the life history of this single family. The writer has not infrequently been asked when he obtains his sitters. It is with a view to answering some such question on the reader's part that he gives the following suggestions for the capture of newts. It is useless to search for newts except in the spring time. It is difficult then to look for them in a likely place without finding them. Taking the common (smooth) variety first, the newt catcher should start, armed with a net and a receptacle for the newts, to the nearest pond or stagnant ditch which contains the common vernal starwort. This plant will be seen figured in the illustrations. He should then secure a netful from the water with a swift sliding movement, and look it carefully over. If, after two or three trials, he has not secured some newts, he is unlucky, and must move on to the next known spot of a similar nature. The common newt is so widely distributed that it is almost impossible to avoid him when one employs this method at the proper time of year. The great newt has, in the writer's experience, the peculiarity of confining himself to ponds on a clayey soil. A brickfield pond is as likely a spot as any to find him in, and, where it is impossible to use a net and great newts are known to exist, a very fair form of sport can be obtained by fishing for them with a worm attached to a thread. No hook is necessary, and the landing will, after one or two trials, be found of a fairly simple character. 52 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. The palmate newt is generally supposed to be scarce, but should rather be termed local. His special locality is heath land, such, for instance, as is found in the neighbourhood of Bournemouth. The pondweed with which he is generally associated is shown in the illustration. Coronella During the spring months all three species live comfortably and breed in captivity. Except when they are called upon to sit, they should be accommo- dated with a comfortable aquarium, and a supply ot weed from whatever locality they came from. They will grow tame in quite a short time, and, when tame, are infinitely more valuable as sitters. Small worms form a good staple diet, and care should be taken that they are provided with some rockery or other form ot terra firma in case they wish to leave the water. It is THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 53 essential, in order to prevent their untimely appearance about the house, that the aquarium should be covered over ; but it must not be covered over in such a way as to prevent the free entrance of fresh air. The photography of the batrachians presents almost as much- difficulty as that of the newts, for no series of illustrations of their life history can be con- sidered complete which does not include the aquatic tadpole stage. Nor can the frogs and toads be considered easy subjects to deal with out of the water. It is easy enough to take a photograph of either reptile, but it is not easy to take one which will show the sitter amid natural surroundings and in a characteristic attitude. The majority of toad photo- graphs published show a full-faced likeness of the subject. The position is a bad one for any four-legged creature, but more especially so for the batrachians whose distinctive "points" are thereby completely concealed. As with the newts, we find three indigenous British varieties the natterjack toad, the common toad, and the -common frog. The latter two of these need no introduction. The natterjack is distinguished by a yellow stripe down the centre of his back and the absence of webbing on his hind feet. From the latter fact it may be concluded that he is less aquatic in his habits than the common variety. It has already been pointed out that a good photograph of the natterjack should display both these external features, and should also suggest his peculiar running method of progression. 54 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. The surroundings should be in conformity with the creature's habits. They should not convey that sugges- tion of moisture which would be allowable and even desirable in the case of the common toad. The fact that the common toad's hind legs are web-footed, and that the natterjack's are not, gives an additional value to a toad photograph which shows the hind feet to advantage. The eye is another point which must not be overlooked Viper striking. in photographing these two varieties. In the toad this organ is singularly beautiful, and even pathetic a fact which is usually entirely lost sight of in the natural history illustrations. The common frog is perhaps the most easily obtainable of British reptiles, and in his case we have another excellent chance of comparative photography. We can emphasise, in our illustrations, the points which distinguish him from THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 55 the imported and practically naturalized edible frog. This is an easier matter than in the case of the toads, the external differences of size, form, and markings being obvious, and photographically easily distinguishable. To keep frogs, toads, and snakes in captivity, large open packing-cases will be found as serviceable an arrangement as any. If there B i r ,1 B iiiiiiiiiinim _. A is any chance of the prisoners escaping, the cases should be glazed over by the simple ex- pedient of laying three pieces of glass over the top, and, if we are dealing with strong snakes, weights on the glass. The interior should be made to resemble the creatures' natural home as nearly as pos- sible, and a supply of water must never be omitted. The accompanying figure shows a section of such a packing- case with one side removed, and it will be observed that the position of the panes of glass allows for the free entrance of fresh air. A A A section of ends and bottom of wooden packing-case, B B B panes of glass in place of lid, C arrangement of stones, earth, grass, moss, etc., according to the prisoner's natural preferences. Another admirable receptacle, especially for lizards, who are adepts at climbing, is a galvanised iron water-tank (the larger the better). The writer has kept lizards in such a tank whose dimensions were about 3ft. by 2ft., and whose ends and sides were bent inwards at the top for a whole summer, and has not found it necessary to have a lid of any kind. There is, as a rule, no necessity 56 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. to remove one's sitters from such receptacles as the two foregoing for the purposes of photography ; the natural surroundings are in the prison, and the camera can easily be erected to point into any desired portion of it. Should the sides form an obtrusive background, the difficulty can be easily overcome by the insertion oi some additional vegetation, but as a general rule these reptiles seek a high point of vantage, and, if care has Male Sand Lizard. been taken to make the highest point oi surface attain- able well away from the sides, it will be found that our small friends will take up their position there, and, if fairly tame, watch the process of erecting the camera with considerable interest. In photographing lizards, the caution given as regards photographing in sunlight should be borne in mind ; indeed, it may be said of all animal photography THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 57 that when sunlight is not absolutely necessary to avoid under-exposure it had better be avoided. Confusion is bound to arise in the print between violent contrasts of lighting and actual markings. The common viviparous lizard, for instance, may, through injudicious lighting, be made to appear with light spots (reflections of sunlight), not unlike the real markings of the sand-lizard. Apart from this question of coloration, it will be found that of the three recognised species of British lizards the common viviparous lizard, the sand-lizard, and the blindworm the common variety presents the most difficulty. " Agilis " is curiously enough applied to the sand-lizard as a distinguishing epithet. It is far more appropriate to the viviparous. No reptile is more difficult to secure, and none more difficult to photo- graph satisfactorily, even when comparatively tame. The best results which the writer has obtained with this small reptile have been in a glass-sided tank of Female Common Lizard. 58 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. similar construction to that employed in fish-photo- graphy, but of somewhat wider dimensions, and, of course, without water. He has also been able to, in some degree, circumvent its activity by building an island for its reception in the middle of a large tank, with six or seven inches depth of water surrounding it. The above method is a very useful one to employ with fairly tame small animals. If, however, the sitter be really frightened, he will promptly take to the water, and this has always been the writer's experience when he has attempted to confine the movements of mice or small rats with such an arrangement. The island has also proved useful in photographing grass-snakes. After making a tour of inspection by water the snake, if reasonably tame, will return to the island, and remain there apparently the better for its bath. The inclusion of water in the actual photograph will in this case be rather an advantage than otherwise, but great care must be taken to avoid sky reflections, which have an exaggerated and disastrous effect on the negative. To photograph a sand-lizard is comparatively easy after one has had experience of vivipara. It must not be forgotten that the surroundings should be altered to give any verisimilitude to the resulting picture. Nothing is more effective than heather as a back- ground, and a supply can pretty certainly be obtained from the same locality as the lizard. Of the two species the latter is perhaps the most handsome. His beauty, however, like that ot all reptiles, depends greatly on the freshness of his skin, and as a really THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 59 Blindworm. dingy one will change his skin after a week or two among fresh surroundings, it is well to give one's captives a fair rest before attempting to photograph them. Apart from the photographic advantage of a fresh and brilliant appearance, they will, by this time, have become accustomed to their owner (if he has looked after them), and, as a natural consequence, be better sitters. The blind worm or slow-worm is really a lizard, but photographically a snake. By this is meant that the photographer-naturalist will find much the same difficulties in photographing a blindworrn as he would in photographing an adder or grass-snake. The difficulty arises from the fact that it is impossible to get the whole of a blindworm or snake of a reasonable size on the plate and in reasonable focus without stopping down to something like f/32, and that, therefore, a 60 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. reasonable length of exposure is essential. In the case of the blindworm there is a further difficulty due to the peculiar polished surface of its body. This polish, in a light-coloured specimen, has, in the writer's experience, been sufficient to cause halation on the plate. Apart from this drawback, for whieh the blindworm can hardly be held answerable, he is a good sitter. He is the most amiable of all reptiles, and, as a natural corollary, exceedingly shy. He has, however, the habit of emerging from his underground retreat at fairly regular intervals, and may usually be found above ground displaying his full length (if he has it, for frequently his tail is " gone before ") in the early morning. The snakes are perhaps the least difficult reptile subjects for the British photographer. They are com- paratively large, and comparatively lethargic. We have again three British species the viper, the grass- snake, and Coronella Icevis. The latter is scarce, but can be usually obtained by applying to the celebrated Brusher of the New Forest for a " lever." Readers need hardly be reminded that the viper is venomous, and must be handled with caution. It is probable, however, that he is far more afraid of the photographer than the photographer is of him. The best variety to photograph is the sandy-coloured one. The peculiar zigzag marking down the back is then comparatively easy to reproduce, and this with the darker coloured varieties will be found a considerable difficulty. The figure of the viper reproduced which shows THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF REPTILES. 61 the striking attitude was taken from a specimen confined in a packing-case, with surroundings made to look realistic previous to his incarceration. The water-tank method of photographing grass-snakes has already been referred to. The writer, however, has secured several good results in a packing-case. The figure of Coronella Icevis given emphasises the extraordinary difference, which, it must be admitted, is more photographic than real, between the appear- ance of a snake with a fresh skin and a snake with an old one. CHAPTER V. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. ^TREATING this matter in the first place in its scientific and most impor- tant aspect, it is obviously necessary that, in order to give the photography of fish stickleback - any real scientific-value, the photographer should be more or less acquainted with the points of a fish. It has been laid down that, from the ichthyological standpoint, a correct delineation of a fish should show the following important external characteristics : i, The length of head, tail, and fins, in proportion to the total length of body ; 2, the general contour of the living specimen ; 3, the number of rays in the fins ; and 4, the lateral line and number of scales along it. From a photographic point of view very great importance should be attached to No. 2, for there is little doubt that a photograph correctly showing the contour of the living fish, and accompanied by careful measurements, would be of higher scientific value than any drawing, however laboriously executed. A reference to a standard work, such as that of Day, will probably convey two general impressions THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 63 firstly, that an enormous amount of time and patience must have been expended on the illustrations (Mr. Day tells us in his preface that he " personally delineated every species from nature") ; and, secondly, that by a. natural consequence the completion of each plate must, in most cases, have been long time subsequent to the death of the fish. The change in shape and appearance of our common fish, which follows immediately on their removal from the water, cannot have escaped the notice of the most casual observer. As a consequence of this change, the correctness of a fish drawing must, so far as contour is concerned, depend on the correctness either of the artist's memory, or of the description with which he is supplied. In cases where the artist has not the advantage of even a moderately fresh specimen, but has to depend on one which has been stuffed or pre- served in spirits, the resultant drawing becomes almost entirely a matter of guesswork. It has been well pointed out that, in addition to the inherent want of accuracy in such a class of illustration, the expense of original hand- work leads to a constant repetition of error, as one fresh natural history succeeds another with borrowed illustra- tions. An absolutely true representation of a fish can only be obtained by a photograph of it while alive, and as far as practicable under normal, that is, swimming, conditions. If it be impracticable to obtain the live fish, the dead specimen should be photographed with as little delay as possible, so that the representation of the general contour may approximate to reality. A long period of " stuffedness," or even the delay of a 6 4 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. few hours before delineation, may not unreasonably be held to account for some varieties among the salmonidse. Little need be said here as regards the photography of dead fish. It is sometimes unavoidable, but should always be regarded as one's last resource. Bearing in mind the requirements of a scientific picture, the fins should be spread out and careful measurements recorded. Sticklebacks. It is desirable to take the ordinary precautions for correct colour values in the negative, and a vertical stand will be, owing to the slipperiness of the subject, almost a necessity. Apart from these small points, there is nothing to deter the ordinary photographer, or to make other than the ordinary methods applicable. The writer is inclined to deprecate the attempt which has not infrequently been made to represent a dead THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 65 fish as a living one, as swimming, for instance, with a printed-in background. With a discerning critic such an attempt will stand self-convicted, while it may easily mislead the general public. When we commence to tackle the living subject the following difficulties immediately present themselves : I, The mobility of the fish, which necessitates very short exposures ; 2, the great loss of actinic power in white light, resulting from its passage through glass and water ; and 3, in some cases, the delicacy and terror of the subject under operation. To counteract the first of these difficulties the writer has adopted the principle of the animalcule tank employed in con- nection with the optical lantern ; in other words, he has confined the fish in such a way that its swimming movements are restricted to the space enclosed between two parallel planes, while it suffers little or no dis- comfort. It may not be amiss to give his experience with the various forms of tank employed. As a preliminary experiment, two equal-sized pieces of window glass, with a U-shaped piece of indiarubber gas-tubing between them, were tightly bound together with wire at the extremities. The result was a tank whose ends and bottom were formed by the indiarubber tubing, and whose sides were formed by the glass. The width between the glass sides was about half an inch. The tank was supported out of doors in bright sunshine and filled with ditchwater. Some twenty or thirty sticklebacks were then inserted. The focussing presented no particular difficulties, a size of picture 66 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. being selected of which clear definition could be obtained at full aperture. It may here be mentioned that one of the chief charms of fish-photography is that of watching a sjioal of small silvery fish on the focussing screen, especially. if they are lively, and such means as are described below for illumination by reflected light are adopted. The first exposure made was a shutter one on one of the fastest plates obtainable. Develop- ment with metol showed hopeless under-exposure, and Lampern. a few further trials confirmed the impossibility, under such conditions, of an exposure which should be long enough to secure a passable negative and yet short enough to give a sharp image of fish in motion. An endeavour was then made to increase the light available by the use of looking-glass reflectors, the operator holding the shutter tube in one hand, while, with the other, he manipulated the largest mirror he could handle in such a way as to throw reflected sunlight 68 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. on to the tank from below. The result was in some degree successful, the under surface of each fish appearing a brilliant silver, and the general effect being almost dazzling. By the use, moreover, of side reflectors, harshness of contrast was, to a certain extent, avoided. There were, however, serious draw- backs to this concentrated form of illumination. Every small scratch or defect upon the glass surface was shown up with irritating exactness, and each fish cast one or more shadows on the glass behind it. The experience thus gained determined the writer to avoid, if possible, artificial lighting, whether by means of reflectors or flashlight, and to construct a fresh tank, whose sides should be of the thinnest and whitest plate glass obtainable. A consideration of his own case, and of that of the photographer-naturalist in general, led him to the following conclusions. The tank, whose object is to confine living fish within such a space as will enable a photographer to keep them to some extent in focus while swimming, must fulfil these requirements : Its sides must be of the thinnest and whitest plate glass, sufficiently strong to withstand the head of water contained between them. It must be portable. It must be of cheap material, and easily constructed. There must be pro- vision for widening or narrowing to suit, within certain limits, fish of various sizes. The following is a description of the tank which was eventually constructed. Only such material as happened to be at hand was utilised, with the exception THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 69 END SUPPORT Tank with Bicycle Tube. of the plate glass, which was purchased. The writer purposely omits measurements, which depend entirely on the length and breadth of the glass sides. An idea, how- ever, of the general proportions can easily be gathered from the figure. A B, C D, the two end supports, are each formed of two pieces ol half-inch oak picture-frame mould- ing, so placed that their rebates 'are inside facing one another, and joined at top and bottom by sash screws to allow of their separation in a horizontal direc- tion. One half ot each support is fixed by screws to the baseboard E, the other half remaining free to move. The whole system is so arranged that the plate glass sides slide easily up and down between the rebates of the supports, but cannot fall outwards. Between the two glass sides is a portion of an old inner tube of a bicycle tyre, the two ends of which are done up tightly with wire ; the valve F is left intact, and occupies the lowest portion of the tube, as in the figure. The inflation of the tube presses the glass sides against the rebates of the sup- - r i Simple Tank with Gas Tubing. ports, and makes a fairly water- tight tank, which can be made perfectly water-tight by the addition of two clamps, as at G and H. The width of the tank obtainable is obviously limited by the bursting PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. point of the rubber tube employed. A very narrow tank is best obtained by the substitution of ordinary gas-tubing, the spaces between glass and rebate being wedged up with thin strips of wood. For carriage the whole may be easily taken to pieces and packed so that the baseboard forms a protection for the glass. The arrangement described has been success- fully employed with a stand camera : a modification will probably occur to the reader in which the base- board is prolonged at right angles to the face of the tank and supports the camera. On such lines a fixed focus system could easily be devised for fair weather use on shipboard, and, as there would be no question of portability, might be fitted with a series of solidly con- structed tanks of varying widths. An alternative and equally effective method for the construction of small portable tanks is as follows : Three pieces of wood are fixed in the form of a three-sided frame, whose length and height are slightly greater than those of the glass it is intended to em- T == Jf = c ploy, and whose thickness is the width of the proposed tank. For really small sizes a similarly shaped frame may be cut out of a solid plank, but it is important that the plank should be properly planed up. Following the line of the frame- work is a piece of small indiarubber tubing, secured in position at S S S S by four tacks, which should not pierce the tubing, but merely clip its edge firmly with THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 71 their broad heads, The arrangement is the same both sides. If we now take two pieces of plate glass and clamp them in close contact with the indiarubber, a pad being placed between clamp and glass to avoid fracture, we shall find a very simple and efficient water- holding tank. In the figure III represents the india- rubber tubing, G the glass, and C the clamps, the pads being omitted for the sake of clearness. The writer has found ordinary fretwork clamps, with pads formed of thin strips of wood, answer admirably. The great advantage in the employment of a tank ot this kind is that it can be used " dry " for the photography of insects, reptiles, and small mammalia, and, as it has a flat bottom, can have any kind of groundwork inserted which is suitable to the subject. Moreover, it can be taken to pieces and cleaned in a few minutes. For use as a dry tank one clamp at each side will be found sufficient. A lid, of course, is necessary, and nothing is better than a strip of perforated zinc. If thicker plate glass and gas-tubing are employed it will be found that a tank can be constructed capable of holding practically anything that is not large enough to admit of treatment with a hand-camera To deal with fish-photography satisfactorily it is obvious that in addition to the arrangements described above one must have some convenient method of photographing vertically. This is absolutely essential in the case of flat fish, and highly desirable in the case of eels, bullheads, and ground feeders in general. Mr. Saville-Kent, in his " Great Barrier Reef of Australia," 72 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. advises the use of a square frame, into which the camera fits pointing downwards ; an additional leg to the stand, and a wide angle lens for the purpose of securing life-size pictures of small objects. There is not any trouble about the water, as only sufficient to cover the fish is needed, but there is very great trouble with reflections from the sky. Without some kind ot shading it is impossible to avoid them, and shading in this country usually means such a prolongation ot exposure as cannot be afforded with moving fish. The Gudgeon. writer has hitherto failed to secure a vertical photo- graph of a living fish without the addition of some reflection, which has spoilt half the plate. As regards the actual process of photography with the tanks described above, there are no particular difficulties other than those to be found in all instantaneous work under unfavourable conditions THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 73 of lighting. All the photographs repro- duced were taken out of doors in the brightest light obtain- able. Fast plates were employed, and, Trout wherever it was possible, without loss of definition, the subjects were taken life-size, with the lens full aperture. The exposure was entirely governed by the activity of the fish, and could only be termed instantaneous. Great care was taken to avoid re- flections from the sides of the tank, which had to be kept perfectly clean. The background did not appear to be of much consequence. In some cases the open sky, of which an example will be given in a subsequent chapter, is useful for a decorative effect. If anything is introduced into the tank care should be taken to ensure that its appearance shall be congruous with the subject. It is wrong, for instance, to photograph newts among weeds that only flourish in flowing water, and per contra, 74 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. a weed that only grows in stagnant water is not the best background for a trout. Equal care should be taken with the bottom, if it is to appear in the finished photograph. There is a wide distinction between mud and gravel from a natural history point of view, and one is as easy to insert in the tank as the other ; though it must be admitted that a bottom composed of finely divided material may cause considerable trouble when disturbed by the movements of the subject. Nothing can be laid down as regards the develop- ment of fish photographs other than the usual pre- cautions against fog and harshness, to be observed in the treatment of all very sensitive and under-exposed plates. In work of this kind the writer inclines to the use of metol or rodinal, followed, if necessary, by careful intensification. It can hardly be necessary to remind readers of the moral obligation to treat their prisoners with humanity, but, as it is possible that a fish may be put to discomfort and perhaps killed unintentionally, a few words on the proper handling of fish may not be out of place. That a fish should not be kept out of water a moment longer than is necessary is obvious. It is not so obvious that a sudden change from one kind of water to another may prove fatal to a delicate species. It is always advisable to fill the tank with the water from which the fish is taken. Some fish are much more liable to mechanical injury than others, some are more nervous. The art of handling all fish as delicately as possible should be cultivated. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF FISH. 75 Curiously enough, this art of gentle handling seems to depend more on the muscular strength of the individual than anything else. It is very difficult to induce a small child to handle a small living creature without causing it discomfort, and this appears to be due not so much to the child's natural carelessness as to his or her want of muscle strength, and its natural adjunct, muscle control. To say that an animal requires to be handled " gracefully " would probably be open to misconstruction. The muscular qualifica- tions, however, which secure a " graceful " movement of the hand, are much the same as those which are required for due successful handling of small animals, or of a scalpel. Should a fish in the tank show signs of exhaus- tion it is probably due to one of two causes either a rise of temperature, or an exhaustion of the oxygen in the water. A sure sign of the latter is seen when fish swim with their noses at the surface. In either case the first remedy should be the addition of some fresh water, and, if this treatment be ineffectual, the fish should be immediately removed to a larger tank to recover, or put back to where it came from. A photograph of an exhausted fish is not desirable. In desperate cases the writer has more than once resorted, with success, to small doses of brandy. CHAPTER VI. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. SLIGHT consideration will suffice to show that fortunately, or perhaps unfor- tunately, for the photographer, there are no insects of any considerable size. The stag-beetle among the coleop- tera, and the death's-head moth among the lepidoptera, are the largest he is likely to encounter in this country. The very minute varieties are almost innumerable, and, without the aid of a microscope and expensive plant, photographi- cally impossible. The butterflies, moths, bees, dragonflies, and larger beetles are, however, excellent objects, both from a decorative and natural history standpoint, and will supply the hobby of a lifetime to anyone who cares to devote himself to their artistic and correct representation. Of all creeping things the beetle, not the cock- roach, is perhaps the easiest to photograph, provided he is of a reasonable size. He is also ubiquitous, though he sometimes requires looking for. Those who THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 77 are dwellers on the chalk can hardly fail to find a carabus if they take the trouble to turn over a few large stones. At the right season of the year, say late summer, half-a-dozen dorbeetles may easily be secured on a fine evening almost anywhere, while in some localities stag-beetles are equally common. Every bicyclist must have at some time experienced the feel- ing of one of the smaller brachelytra lodging itself in his eye. The mischief is usually attributed to a fly, but it is not the less painful. The larger and more familiar member of this family, the devil's coach horse, provides the photographer with an excellent object, and can be made to display his points, both head and tail, with a minimum of irritation. The golden rule in handling 'beetles for photo- graphic purposes is to place them on a sample of the plant or soil which they are accustomed to, and which has been arranged in focus for the camera beforehand. The larger beetles can exercise a considerable force in their endeavours to escape from one's grasp. It is not unlikely that they possess a delicate sense of smell, and, if this be so, their efforts are easily accounted for. Once the beetle is safely settled (of course, the settling must be done quietly) on a plant which is familiar to him, he will in all probability remain motionless Dragonfly. \ Jl Caterpillar of Privet Hawk Moth. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 79 sufficiently long for the photographer's purpose. In any case he will rarely attempt to fly by daylight, and, if he attempt to change his position, need only be per- sistently replaced. The unexpected disappearance of his sitter into mid-air occurred to the writer while engaged with the stag-beetle figured on page 87. After securing various more or less successful pictures, the last plate was expended on the picture reproduced. No sooner was the dark slide closed than the model slowly raised his wing-cases and unfolded his wings with absurd deliberation ; then, with wings outstretched, he poised for a couple of seconds and was gone taking with him one of the chances of a photographic lifetime. The bitterest thought of all was that there had been ample time between the first preliminary movements and the outstretched wing stage to change the dark slide, if only another plate had been forthcoming. The following species of British beetles, from among the odd 3,000, are recommended as affording good photographic exercise, alive or dead : tiger beetles, carabi, large water beetles, chafers, and stag- beetles. The printing in every case, for the best decorative effect, should be carbon-metallic, and will be treated of in the chapter dealing with decorative photography. The two best methods of capturing such beetles as would otherwise be passed over unseen are the use of the sweepnet and the practice of turning over likely looking stones or corpses. It is well nigh impossible to employ these two methods on a country walk without a find of some sort. 8o PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. With respect to the photography of butterflies and moths the writer fails to see any particular advantage to be gained from photographing them alive. Dead specimens can easily be set in any position that is characteristic of the living creatures. The wings, which, by their markings and coloration, form the most important distinctions between members of the same family, remain for a considerable time unchanged after the death of the owner. The absence of any visible muscular anatomy in that portion of a large moth which requires to be stuffed for preservation renders the stuffing, if carefully done, lifelike enough for ordinary photographic purposes. Should the photogra- pher, however, be bent on securing a picture "from life," he will find the follow- Red Admiral. . ... ing " control method a simple and certain one. The butterfly, or moth, having been secured, is placed in a wide-mouthed glass jar, together with some of its favourite food plant, the latter being inserted in such a way that it can easily be withdrawn. The jar is covered over and left overnight in some dark place. In the morning it is brought into the daylight, and, in nine cases out of ten, the subject will be found asleep on its plant support. The camera being in readiness, plant and insect are gently removed from THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 81 the jar and placed in a suitable position. In the case of a butterfly the side view can be secured at once, and the out-stretched wings at the moment when, under the awakening influence of light, it begins to stretch itself. The writer is inclined to deprecate the use of the flash-light in photographing moths in situ. The concentrated brilliancy of the illumination is dan- gerously unnatural. If we consider the metamorphoses of the moth or butterfly in order, and first take into consideration the eggs, we find that these objects, although of extreme beauty when viewed through a micro- scope, are too small to admit of being treated photographi- cally with ordinary Lappet Moth. non-magnifying ap- paratus. Caterpillars, however, will provide ample scope for the photographer's ingenuity. As a general rule, if they are seen, they can be taken in situ or be gently re- moved to where they can be taken. It is not a bad plan to break off bodily the portion of the plant or tree on which they happen to be feeding and fix it either in the mouth of a bottle (the kind that holds metol and so forth is usually suitable for plant stems) or in some arrangement of twisted lead like that employed in the 82 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. photography of flowers. The caterpillar on page 78 was observed and taken in situ. Caterpillars, like everything else alive, have their characteristic attitudes, and it is, therefore, worth while directing attention to the figure, which represents fear and indignation on the part of a caterpillar. In the matter of form and markings alone some caterpillars are interesting enough to justify us in wishing to preserve a record of them. We may instance those of the puss-moth, the magpie- moth, and the hawk-moths generally. Once caught they are very easy subjects. The catching, however, is not an easy matter to the novice. It may be mentioned that the first requisite for the caterpillar hunter is a knowledge of the plants on which his quarry feeds, the second the knowledge whether such plants as he finds have been so fed upon recently. If he is sure on these two points, his search will probably be successful. Cocoons are sometimes very beautiful, but no one but a very keen entomologist can raise much enthusiasm over a moth chrysalis. It must be borne in mind, however, that a complete photographic record of a moth or butterfly will show all its externally different formations, and that, therefore, the chrysalides must not be neglected. Passing from the lepidoptera to the hymenoptera (why did not our Anglo-Saxon ancestors classify ?) we find that, with one very important proviso, they also may as well be photographed dead as alive. The proviso is that dead specimens must be fresh. Every boy is familiar with the common wasp. If he THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 83 wishes, which is unlikely, to secure fresh varieties of this vicious insect, let him kill and set half- a-dozen. In a few weeks his ambitions will be gratified. Bees are not particularly difficult subjects. They may sometimes be caught napping. It is best, however, to take them in a net, and confine them with a suitable arrangement of flowering plants within a glass-sided tank. It may be mentioned that from a natural history point of view the main distinction Caterpillar of a Geometer Moth. between bees and wasps consists in a wide and flattened first joint of the hind tarsus in the case of the former. In photographing either, therefore, the hind legs should receive special attention. The ants are too small to be treated individually ; an interesting group, however, may be obtained by placing a dead mouse in the vicinity of an ant's nest, and it should be borne in mind that an ant's nest always provides the chance of capturing some of our rarest beetles. In the diptera we are again confronted with photo- graphic quantity rather than quality. Daddy-longlegs 84 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. is familiar to most people, and so is the common blue- bottle. Both are photographically easy, but the majority of the odd British 3,000 are too minute to be of any particular photographic value. Generally it may be conceded that, when we have to measure in " lines," photography without the aid of magnifiers, prolonged exposure, and, consequently, killing or stupefaction of the sitters, becomes impossible. If it were not for this, pulex irritans at work would form a fine lantern slide. With the orthoptera one's hopes spring into new being. Crickets, grasshoppers, and cockroaches all form interesting objects, and require no qualifications in the photographer other than patience, watchfulness, and the power to secure them. A grasshopper forms the initial letter of the present chapter. He is especially interesting to the writer as having been one of his first essays in the photography of the minute, and as having initiated him into the great secret of insect photography that of bringing the insect within range of the camera rather than the camera within range of the insect. Grasshoppers were practically innumerable in the spot where this particular one was taken. The writer had a half-plate camera with him, and was in search of " views." The number of the grasshoppers suggested the possibility of using plates which might otherwise have been brought home to accumulate pinholes. At first an effort was made to secure a picture by focussing a likely piece of grass and waiting on fortune. The decline of day made By Charles Job 86 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. more drastic measures imperative. A grasshopper was secured, placed gently on the blade of grass in question and photographed. There was no difficulty ; the surroundings were as they should be ; it was merely stalking reversed. Neuroptera are of importance from the photo- graphic point of view, for they embrace a common and magnificent object the dragonfly. The colours of these brilliant insects form an excellent test for the value of an isochromatic plate, and, if we except the delicate wing structure, they are not at all difficult objects to secure photographically. The searcher after dragonflies should visit a brook on some bright September day armed with his half-plate camera, with quarter-plate holders in the dark slides. The reason of the latter precaution is that there is no advantage in securing a half-plate's worth of surroundings, when a quarter-plate is sufficient, even for life-size pictures. As has been observed previously, the photographer- naturalist must be possessed of a half-plate camera in order to take photographs of a reasonable size. There is no necessity, however, to expend half-plates where quarters are amply big enough, and for insect photography in this country nothing bigger than a quarter-plate need ever be summoned into service. Once the dragonfly is sighted he must be watched. If he be already settled, the camera may be very quietly erected as close to him as possible. The writer has secured several pictures by this simple method. Should, however, the proposed sitter be startled, he THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 87 will, after taking a few turns, in all probability return, and it is sometimes worth while waiting ten minutes on the chance of his doing so. The beautiful and delicate network of veins on a dragonfly's wings forms a difficult subject to render photographically. Much depends on the nature of lighting both in front and behind the sitter, and it is very seldom that one can secure the four wings equally well illuminated at once. As a general rule, it will be found that the wings on one side are all that can be desired, while those on the other, owing to their being ^ - r at a different angle with the camera and conse- quently under different conditions of lighting, are practically invisible. Some of the hemip- tera are interesting and of a reasonable size the Stagbeetle. water-scorpion, for in- stance. The latter, of course, must be taken in water, and will sit steadily, but, owing to his dull colouring, is difficult to make a satisfactory picture of. The best methods of capturing beetles have already been referred to. In using the sweepnet, repre- sentatives of all the insect orders will probably be met with in the course of a morning's walk. As a general rule, the thicker the vegetation the greater chance of things creeping innumerable. If photography is not to be done in the field the 88 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. captives will have to be conveyed home in good order, and for this purpose nothing serves better than a pocketful of small corked glass tubes. The kind in which M.Q. developers are stored is a good size, and easily obtainable. Those supplied by the entomological trade are as a rule rather too small not too small to contain the insects, but too small to coax them into from the net. Butterflies and creatures of a delicate structure should be killed in a killing bottle. Most photo- graphers possess the materials for their manufacture- potassium cyanide, with an overlay of plaster of Paris. Anything that is not likely to be damaged thereby can be dropped into boiling water, and this is the most efficacious and instantaneous way of killing the larger beetles. In either case the subsequent use of a setting board will probably be necessary if we are to have the insect's legs, which are usually important, displayed so as to be distinguishable. When the insect is too small to be easily set on a board, it may be placed on a piece of card, or even plant stem, which has been smeared with a thin coating of coaguline. The legs are gently pulled into position with a hooked needle point while the coaguline is still soft, and left to stick. For the preservation of all kinds of organic matter and, to a certain extent, of natural colours, a weak solution of formalin, say five per cent., will be found a decided improvement on the old-fashioned turpentine or methylated spirit. Precautions to secure correct colour values are, in THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 89 the case of insects, almost as important as in that of flowers. Among the beetles, black will be frequently found contrasted with a bright red or orange, and such combinations of colour are almost impossible to deal with on ordinary non-corrected plates. One cannot leave the subject of insects without some reference to the phenomenon of mimicry. The original hypothesis declared that certain edible insects were, in the struggle for existence, enabled to avoid their enemies by an appearance which re- sembled certain other non-edible insects. This resemblance was not confined to mem- bers of closely allied species. The hypo- thesis is disputed, but wasp. photographers will for- tunately be concerned more with the facts than the discussion. A branch of the subject of mimicry which is of exceptional interest is that which treats of the resemblances between insects of different orders. We may take, as an instance, the resemblance of the clear-wing moths to bees or wasps. In treating this branch of the subject photographically, it is obviously necessary to take stringent precautions for securing correct colour values. If possible, both moth and wasp should be secured on the same plate. Similar caution is necessarv when dealing with examples of the more j G> r 9 o PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. familiar forms of " protective " mimicry. The cater- pillars of geometer moths, which, when disturbed, resemble rigid twigs, form an interesting study ; so, too, does the lappet moth, which resembles a withered leaf; and the orange-tip butterfly, the under-surface of whose wings resemble some of the umbelliferous plants. Photographic work of this nature should always be accompanied by a colour record. If this be carefully done, and the relative values of the colours preserved in the negatives, such work will have a high value. The material in our own islands is practically inexhaustible, the subject is popular and deeply interesting, the photographic difficulties are insignificant, and the hand illustrations which have hitherto done duty are some- times inaccurate and almost invariably deceptive. In the face of these facts one can only wonder at the scarcity of workers. Perhaps the true solution is to be found in the apathy of hanging committees. CHAPTER VII. Twenty years a cat. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. A S it is on the photography of domestic animals that the photographer-natu- ralist will, in all probability, try his 'prentice hand, it will not be amiss to give a few suggestions as to the methods conducive to the best and most easily attained results. Domestic animals will, for include such creatures as are habitually kept in this country more or less tame and more or less in confinement. Park deer, for instance, or swans, will be considered as belonging to the same class photographically as dogs, cats, and the ordinary denizens of the farmyard. We will treat first of the photography of dogs and cats. Of all living creatures these two are probably the most persistently photographed. To photograph one's own dog or cat is a comparatively easy matter to photograph somebody else's property is, as a general rule, difficult. The latter, however, is a task which the animal photographer will often be called upon to our present purpose, 92 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. perform. The ideal method is to borrow one's sitter for a week and make friends with it. Such a course is sometimes viewed with diffidence on one or both sides. The photographer is more often invited to call and bring his camera. The idea is that, when the camera is set up, the owner will induce his favourite to adopt a pleasing attitude, and the picture will then be taken. The photography of strange cats or dogs resembles in several respects the photography of strange children. It is imperative for one thing that the dearest friend should be out of sight and hearing. The intrusion of a large badly focussed hand, even though it be shapely, is to be avoided in an animal photograph, and the mere fact of being alone will incline the sitter to sit still and watch events. In all domestic animal work a hand camera will be found useful, but it must be remembered that the negatives so obtained must, for practical pur- poses, be able to stand enlargement. If it be possible to secure a half-plate negative in the first instance the photographer should by all means do so, even though this necessitates the use of the tripod. The photo- graphy of cats stands in much the same relation to that of kittens as the photography of birds to that of nestlings. With a good light out of doors and kittens confined within a certain space, a dozen Christmas card photographs can be turned out in a morning. They will all be pretty, for the sitters seem incapable of adopting other than pretty attitudes and expressions. Much the same feat can be performed with a row of tiny nestlings on a branch. An adult cat, however, THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 93 will stand no nonsense of this kind. We are not speaking so much of "show" cats, which in the writer's experience usually remain kittens in intelligence, but of the common ordinary short haired English variety the cat that has made its way in the world without much human assistance, and is perfectly conscious of the fact. To secure a good characteristic picture of such a cat will tax the photographer's abilities to the utmost, whatever be his record. In the first place, he will have to inspire his sitter with confi- dence he will have to be on friendly and even intimate terms before he can secure much in the way of results. Some people possess to an extra- ordinary degree the power of making friends with animals. The writer has never met anyone possessed of such power who was able to impart his secret to others. Its existence, however, is as unquestionable as is that of certain illogical, but none the less real, antipathies. As an example of the latter there are well authenticated instances where the mere presence of a cat in the room causes genuine discomfort to the human occupant. i t> Persian Cat. Red Deer. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 95 Spiders and even butterflies are in certain cases regarded with an abhorrence which amounts to actual fear, and, however strong the wish may be to overcome it, the feeling remains an instinctive and inherent one. If the photographer be fortunate enough to belong to the class of natural " tamers " of those, that is, who, far from feeling any sense of repugnance, take a delight in animals and animals' friendship he will find his difficulties very considerably lightened. But whatever be his case, the observance of a few commonsense principles must secure a result sooner or later. In the case of domestic animals, as in that of wild ones, natural surroundings are of great importance. It may be urged that the natural surroundings of the cat are much the same as those of the household. It must be remembered, however, that the common vulgar cat and this is the kind that interests the naturalist prefers, as a rule, the stable- loft to the fireside ; and the window-sill, if it is attainable, to any other portion of the room. The cat that, as the result of over-indulgence and feminine attentions, has lost its natural hunting instincts, is photographically not worth a plate. The poaching variety, on the other hand, will form the best study possible. What, then, are the best surroundings to select ? In the case of domestic animals some pre- liminary observations are always possible. A watch should be kept to determine the resting place usually selected, for the cat is pretty sure to be conservative enough to rest daily in the same locality, and, if we 9 6 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. except the "stalking" attitudes, there are no posi- tions more suggestive of feline character than those it adopts for repose. It has been suggested, with some show of reason, that the ordinary " tabby " marking is an example of protective mimicry ; the effect of a curled-up tabby being similar to that of a snake. The photographer who secures a really satis- factory picture of a cat in the act of " stalking" may Sheep. count himself lucky. Out of a very large number of snapshots of the subject the writer cannot recall a single one which adequately expressed the silent grace of the movement. It is hard to conceive a more perfect combination of strength, suppleness, and balance, but, as in the photographs of the galloping horse, the camera, in reproducing the present fact, fails to suggest the sense of past or future. All that one THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 97 sees is a picture of an animal in a position which, though it has of necessity been seen with the eye, has yet not conveyed so lasting an impression on the brain as to be in itself suggestive of what precedes and follows. The photography of dogs is a simpler matter than that of cats. This probably arises from the fact that a dog forms more indiscriminate friendships. A complete series of the different breeds commonly met with in this country by a photographer, w r ho either knew or set himself to learn their points of excellence and distinctive features, would form a most valuable record, and would increase in value from year to year. Some of the sporting dogs pointers, for instance have been thoroughly well done already. It is hardly necessary to dilate once more on the value of surround- ings, but the dog pictures that are sometimes displayed in the showcases of professionals show better than words can describe the necessity for care in this respect. The absurdity of the lighting from a " natural" point of view is sometimes as great as that of the accessories. If it be desired to attract a dog's attention, there are better ways than the appeal to the stomach. Slight and unmusical sounds, which it is hopeless to attempt in print, will, as a rule, have the desired effect. It is very necessary that the photo- grapher should avoid any flurry or excitement : all his movements should be deliberate. The writer remembers watching an expert animal photographer endeavouring to secure the photograph of a stalking 9 8 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. cat with a stand camera. His movements were made to accord as closely as possible with those of the cat : when the cat stole forward, he stole forward ; when the cat paused, he paused. The picture was a failure, but the procedure, though apparently ridiculous, was a good lesson. The cat's object was the same as the man's to get within striking distance of its prey unnoticed. For the credit of humanity, it may be remarked that the cat failed as well as the man. A small point which the above experience impressed on the writer was the convenience of rubber shoes for silent progress ; another was the possibility of moving a stand camera bodily without noise, and planting it down without noise in any desired position. Both are well worth the attention of the photographer-naturalist. It may also be noted that to keep the head concealed under the focussing cloth is an advantage rather than otherwise. It is only a very cowed dog that is much influenced by the power of the human eye. The dogs which in some households supply the place of children should be severely left alone. Their environment is altogether abnormal, their appetite depraved, and their points of interest to a naturalist insignificant. It is a relief to get away from the kennel or cattery to the farmyard and the fields adjoining. In a grazing -country the photographer need never sit idle for want of models. It may be laid down, as a general principle, that whenever it is possible to photograph animals on their feeding-grounds, this should be done. The rule applies especially to horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 99 To photograph a horse or horses in a field is to put one's self in direct opposition to the sporting print or photograph. It appears to be essential to the success of the latter that the horse should form a subsidiary portion of a picture of the rider booted and spurred. In default of this, the stableyard is the background, and Ram. a groom is included whose function appears to be to arrange that the horse's head shall be elevated at the proper angle, and that its forefeet shall be sufficiently apart to show that they are naturally separate. The naturalist will not lose much if he avoids the artificial horse in the same way that 'he would avoid the artificial ioo PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. cat or dog. If he would study the movements of a horse, the lines of a horse, and the habits of a horse, let him go, not to the racecourse or the stables, but to a field where horses are out at grass. Let him watch the movements of a lumbering carthorse breaking into a canter at the sight of a stranger, and he will learn more about the real horse than he will in the return journey from Epsom. The impression will be matt-surfaced, but it will be more akin to truth. Cattle, by which we mean oxen and cows, are photo- graphically one of the most difficult subjects possible. It is hard to say why it should be so, but the fact remains that, with the possible exception _of half-a- dozen prints which are frankly pictorial, and in which cattle supply a subordinate contribution to the general effect, there are no really satisfactory photographic pictures of cattle published. A reason may possibly be found in the angularity of the subject. Personally the writer has hitherto altogether failed to secure a group of cattle in which one or more have not displayed this angularity to disadvantage. Yet, if one watches a herd of cows pasturing or walking along the road, there is nothing obviously displeasing to the eye, and so one is driven to conclude that in the common cow we have photographically a really difficult subject. With sheep, the case is just the opposite. Sheep have suffered very much at the hands of pictorial photographers. They ( not infrequently form a piebald and subordinate part in a landscape scheme. " Where the nibbling flocks do stray " has been a peg on which THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 101 to hang innumerable travesties of the context. Photo- graphically, the straying generally takes place at sun- set ; and some have even dared to introduce the watchful shepherd, who is, of course, occupied quite differently according to the original. Quite apart, however, from its pictorial possibilities, the sheep forms Swans. a most interesting subject for a naturalist. The writer introduces the picture on page 99 as representing, with fair accuracy, the position of the ram as defender of the flock. The shutter exposure was a short one, but the time between its completion and the moment when the photographer found himselt floored was still shorter. The main thing to avoid in photographing sheep, 102 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. or any other animals which group themselves naturally, is to have the whole crowd facing the camera. It is almost equally unsatisfactory if they all face in any other direction. Except from a pictorial standpoint little value attaches to a picture of a driven flock. A good photograph of sheep will show them as a flock, but scattered, though still forming the chief point of interest in the picture. If the lambs are about with their mothers, so much the better. It is always a natural history gain to be able to represent adult and young together. It is generally supposed that the original sheep was a mountaineer ; however this may be, the motion of a portly sheep on a steep incline (parts of the South Downs, for instance) is instructive, and it is in surroundings of this kind that the best pictures are likely to be secured From the flock of sheep it is a natural transition to the herd of swine. The common pig has been neglected by pictorial workers, but he would form a welcome variant on the common sheep. The " styed " pig is no more to be attempted than the stalled ox. But a herd of pigs,, which embraces all stages between juvenile and adult, will justify the expenditure of many plates. As part of a landscape they " compose " almost as well., as sheep ; as a study they provide infinitely greater entertainment. This is partly a matter of temperament. The independence of the pig is proverbial The writer recalls to mind a herd of swine in a large field, which the swineherd, in view of an approaching homeward journey, was endeavour- THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 103 ing to edge into a corner. No sooner was his intention detected than the herd, which previously had formed a scattered but homogeneous and friendly mass, broke up into a variety of small cliques. Each sow collected her progeny around her, and started independently for the most interesting spot she remembered in the neighbourhood of the other three corners. It was a photographic opportunity which was immediately taken advantage of. The consideration of poultry will exhaust our survey of the farmyard. Of ducks, fowls, and geese, considered as poultry types, the latter undoubtedly form the best photographic exercise. All are easy subjects, requiring nothing beyond a fairly quick exposure and the ability on the part of the photo- grapher to loose the shutter at the right moment. Geese, however, if only for the reason that they have been accepted at the Salon, deserve more than a passing notice. They are the most grotesquely self- conscious of all created things. Once again it will prove more profitable to take the flock than the individual. The gander will always be well to the front, and, in this point alone, will be easily distinguish- able from those who take him as their model, but the pretentious dignity of each individual will form such a combination as will be almost the equivalent of a sermon to humanity. The white plumage of geese and ducks is, when clean, of a brilliant character ; con- sequently in snapshot work the contrasts tend to be much too harsh, and the negatives may be advantageously treated with ammonium persulphate. 104 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. The naturally graceful lines of the swimming swan have made it a favourite subject* with* pictorial photo- graphers. Haphazard snapshots, however, are likely to be disappointing. Careful observation will show that the swan is seen at his best at comparatively infrequent intervals. This probably arises from the mobility of his long neck, and the fact that the normal position of the wings is flat upon the body. One is Poultry. sometimes strangely reminded of the pictures of the plesiosaurus. In the breeding season it should be possible to secure a picture of a swan flying. In the spring of last year the writer observed one pass over the same spot at nearly the same time for a suc- cession of days. Its approach was always heralded by the peculiar and unmistakable whirring of wings, and had the camera been in readiness one could hardly have failed to secure a picture. THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PETS, ETC. 105 The photography of park deer presents no particular difficulties if the deer are reasonably tame and not too numerous. A large herd will almost invariably stampede at the sight of a stand camera, and even when snapshotting one has to move with great caution, and to take any cover that is available. The writer has secured two or three good results by riding boldly up to the herd on a bicycle. The ability to take a snapshot whilst so riding is a useful one to the naturalist, and by no means difficult to acquire. The simplest method is to suspend the camera with a strap round the neck, and to keep one hand free to work the shutter. It is quite possible, however, and does not require an extraordinary degree of skill, to add to the accomplishment of riding without the help of the handle-bar that of simultaneously manipulating a hand- camera. Snapshotting on horseback is even simpler, and well worth a trial when it has been found impossible to get close enough on foot. The rationale of both methods is identical, the object being to get within range of the animals under circumstances which they do not usually associate with the approach of man. The photography of domestic animals should never be neglected by the naturalist-photographer, for it is the grammar of his craft. It is always possible to secure some sort of result, but to secure a good result requires nearly as much patience, nearly as much observation and nearly as much practice, as are re- quired when dealing with wild life. CHAPTER VIII. DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. I N the preceding chap- ters we have been con- sidering a scientific rather ^m*^ C^TT"^/ than an artistic side of photography. The photo- grapher-naturalist is con- tinually employed in securing Male Palmated Newt. mere transcripts of the objects of natural history, and it is fashionable to assert that nature per se is rarely pictorial. It is useless for the naturalist to attempt to remedy this unfortunate state of affairs on the lines adopted at photographic exhibitions. He will find that it is only on rare occasions that he will have more than one main object of interest in his picture, that his subjects will be too small to benefit by the introduction of a sky, and that the suppression of detail by a general blurring of the whole will be outside his province. So diverse, however, are the manifestations of nature, in the matter of small forms of life, that the naturalist, far removed though he be from the pictorial, may sometimes approach the decorative unawares. To appreciate how decorative mere transcripts of DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 107 nature can sometimes be, one has only to study the works of the Japanese. They are deeply interesting to the photographer, because they are " photographic " in the best sense of the word. The writer has before him several examples of small mammals, fishes, and birds. All are distinguished by purity of line and fidelity to natural types. The types are sometimes very humble the commonest of creatures, the commonest of plants- Female Sand Lizard. but each is handled with a rare discrimination. The surroundings are in perfect accord with the subject ; the subject itself, even though it be a mere sketch, is convincing, and one cannot but feel that here is the work of men who, even if they are not naturalists, are at any rate devoted students of nature. Between those who would discover beauty in nature and those who would supply it, there is all the photographic difference in the world. PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. Grass Snake. Suppose, then, that the photographer has, from among his store of natural history subjects, selected a few which seem possible from a decorative standpoint, how is he to proceed ? In the first place, he must decide on the size of the ornamentation desired ; in the second place, on suitable means of reproduction. His taste alone will govern the first decision. As regards the second there is no doubt whatever that, for a natural history subject, the only really satisfactory printing method is that of the carbon transparency backed with what is suitable to the subject. This printing process is so intrinsically beautiful, and so little employed, that the writer feels justified in treating it at some length. Let us consider its advantages. To begin with, we have practically an unlimited range of colour. Take a blue carbon transparency, and immerse it in a weak solution of picric acid : in about half-a-minute's time it will have DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 109 turned to the ordinary commercial sea-green (from which we may conclude that it is useless laying in a stock of both tissues). Leave it a little longer, and a brilliant apple-green results ; longer still, and you will approximate to yellow. Take another blue trans- parency and immerse in a five per cent, solution of persulphate of am- monium : it will be slightly reduced and approximate in colour to the com- mercial engraving black. Indefinite changes can be rung with the other tissues by the use of various dyes Each particular effect must be learnt by experiment, but it is not too much to say that, with the five or six ordinary commercial tissues, and a supply of simple aniline dyes, any desired colour can be approximated to. Moreover, the supply of material from which one can form a backing for the transparency is practically un- limited in its variety metal, wood, opal, thick plate glass, paper of any kind, colour, or texture and yet how many thousands of photographers are there who employ nothing but silver papers with their hideous and uncertain tones, or platinum tristissimum ! Nor Treefrog. no PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. is it a difficult matter in natural history work to differen- tiate the subject of the picture from its surroundings in tone, or even in colour. All that is necessary is to coat either the subject on the transparency, or the surround- ings, with a solution of rubber in benzole, before immersing the whole in the dye selected. The coating should be a fairly substantial one, and, of course, must be done with care, but there is a very little difficulty in producing such a subject as a bright-green lizard amidst dull-green grass, or a. dull-green lizard amidst bright-green grass. The writer has not infrequently been consulted as to a good method of making carbon transparencies. It would seem that many who plunge boldly into the chemical difficulties of toning P.O. P. shy at the very idea of straightforward single transfer work, to say nothing of carbon transparencies. It is hard to account for this view, unless one is to assume that the unfortunate beginner is invariably supplied by the dealer with P.O. P., and tnat P.O. P. brings gold and- hypo in its train. But, whatever be the real reason, the hard fact remains that carbon printing is easier and more economical than silver or platinum, that its results are more beautiful and more permanent, and that a greater variety of colour, tone, and texture in one's pictures is obtainable thereby than by any other form of photographic printing. Against all these advantages we have to weigh the solitary disadvantage that carbon tissue is only obtainable by post. There is no more difficulty about making a carbon Sticklebacks. ii2 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. transparency than about making a simple carbon print ; and, if we assume that the photographer buys his paper supports ready coated, only one additional operation, that of coating the glass with a substratum which, like that on the paper support, shall be insoluble in hot water. The fact that this single operation, simple as it is, seems to deter many carbon workers from transparency work, leads one to suppose that the instructions of the textbooks on this point are vague' or unintelligible. On referring to two well-known books on the carbon process the writer finds that the instructions are to coat the glass with a substratum of gelatine rendered insoluble by the addition of .potassium bichromate or chrome alum. The formula runs some- what as follows : Gelatine i ounce (soaked in cold water for some hours and then dissolved by aid of a hot- water bath), water 20 ounces, add potassium bichromate 20 grains, and water 2 ounces. The thought that will immediately occur to the amateur will be, " How are glass plates coated ? " and he will promptly conjure up the vision of a pneumatic holder, and a fairly large pool of liquid on the glass, tilted nervously from one corner to the other, until it lands itself on the floor or on the operator's garments. The mere prospective stickiness of gelatine under such circumstances would deter any but the most earnest worker. Moreover, in the ordinary amateur's hands, the dried result would probably be a conglomerate of dust and yellow streakiness. Fortunately, the coating of glass for carbon transparencies does not require the DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 113 exercise of any particular skill. In the first place, the quantity of gelatine required is so small that the overturning of the stock solution would not cause any appreciable damage. The quantity recommended in the textbooks would coat something like a square mile of glass. In the second place, the best way of coating glass plates is to take a small wad of cotton-wool, dip it in the gelatine solution, squeeze it out, and go gently Chameleon. over the glass backwards and forwards, until it is com- pletely covered with an exceedingly thin coating. How thin this coating is can be realised when the gelatine is dry. It will then be found and this is a good test of proper coating that the glass will be covered with iridescent bands, due to interference and following the original motion of the cotton-wool over its surface. When bichromate of potash has been used the coated plate should be exposed to bright sunshine for about ii4 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. half-an-hour, or to diffused light for several hours. The plates keep indefinitely ; indeed improve by keeping ; and their coated sides can easily be distinguished by touch. An enormous number can be done in half-an- hour, if they are cleaned and ready beforehand. For the best possible results polished plate should be used, but old negative glass will answer all ordinary purposes. The great advantage in the use of polished plate, apart from its translucency, arises from its equality of surface, and consequent close contact with the tissue. Ordinary, as opposed to plate-glass, is always slightly curved. The best method of cleaning negative glass, after getting rid of the emulsion, is to soak it in a very weak solution of ammonia. Plates must be selected which are free from serious defects in the way of bubbles or scratches. The glasses being coated, and a supply of sensitive tissue at hand, printing proceeds by the aid of an actinometer. There is not much to choose between the various actinometers on the market. It must be borne in mind, however, that the term " standard tint " is misleading, owing to the fact the colour acquired by P.O. P. on exposure to light varies, not only with the brand employed, but also with the state of the atmosphere. Consequently, a tint which will match a certain stage of exposed P.O. P. on one day will not necessarily do so on a future occasion. In practice this makes very little difference, as one gets to judge by the P.O. P. itself without troubling about the standard tint. DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 115 Carbon tissue is a substance of a certain thickness and elasticity, and requires a really good printing frame in order to ensure contact with the negative. If Paradise Fish. a good printing frame is not at hand and the number of bad ones about is surprising a fairly good substitute can be secured by placing an old negative in the n6 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. place sometimes occupied by a pad. No inconvenience arises from this course, as the tissue is not inspected during the printing stage. The length of exposure required for a transparency which is destined to be backed is obviously precisely the same as that required for a print on paper. As there is rather more risk of the tissue leaving its support during development, the safe edge should be a substantial one. Development may be conveniently performed in a basin, in which, if desirable, a transparency can be left face downwards to develop itself while further operations are conducted above it. It is not advisable to employ alum, still less formalin. The hardening of the gelatine is a distinct disadvantage in a carbon transparency, as it renders it brittle and, therefore, easily scratched and liable to chip. As soon as the transparency is dry, the photo- grapher will realise the advantage of this over any other form of printing. He will probably first try the effect of white paper as a backing : he should not, however, confine himself to this. Papers of all tints and textures should be experimented with. Even bright colours, yellows or blues, are suitable to certain subjects. A metal backing is pre-eminently adapted to fish, reptile, and insect subjects to anything, in fact, whose natural colour is "metallic." Again, in the case of metals, the colour and texture of the backing admits of variation. We may have a backing composed of polished copper, an admirable one for the photographs of certain kinds of carp ; or of frosted silver, which suits almost any- DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 117 thing with strong silvery reflections a roach or dace, for instance. For certain kinds of beetle a blue trans- parency, backed with a " blued " metal, approximates very closely indeed to nature's colouring. The writer inclines to the use of thin sheets of copper, silvered, if desirable, as a metallic backing. The simplest way to mount them in contact is as follows. Select a printing frame a size larger than the picture, say a whole-plate one for a half-plate transparency. Make a stout cut-out mount, and cement the edges of the transparency to the back of it. Bend your sheet of metal so that it curves from the centre to opposite ends. Place the convex side gently on the transparency, and clamp the back of the printing frame gently down. Experiments with aluminium as a backing have led the writer to the conclusion that it is useless until the trade devise some more reliable means of " frosting " the surface. He has been given to understand that the process of frosting is a difficult one, and the samples he has been supplied with have certainly not been satisfactory. This is the more unfortunate, as the white and non-tarnishable quality of the metal would render a good preparation of it particularly useful. As a "general rule, a " frosted " or " matt " metal surface will be found more desirable than a highly polished one. Small scratches thereon are of less consequence ; and the shadows of the transparency are more brightly illuminated when viewed at other than one particular angle. Opal is well suited to soft furry subjects mice, for instance, or moths ; the n8 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. polished and matt surfaces should both be experi- mented with, and the opal will generally be found to lie naturally in close contact with the transparency glass, merely requiring cement at the edges. A paper backing should first be slightly damped and then glued, round the edges only, to the transparency. On DECORATIVE NATURAL HISTORY WORK. 19 drying it will be found to have stretched itself into the closest of contact. Precautions should be taken to ensure that it shall remain dry when framed. The effect of several pieces of glass together at the back of the transparency is the same as that of a dull mirror. Silvered glass is delightful, but difficult to prepare. Ordinary looking-glass gives too many reflections, owing to the glass being in front of the reflecting surface. It need hardly be pointed out that carbon prints can be directly transferred to any of the substances referred to as backings, if these have pre- viously received an insoluble substratum of chromated gelatine. For natural history subjects the print is never quite so effective as the backed transparency, perhaps because a matt surface is as " unnatural" ;is a highly polished one. The application of carbon transparencies, especi- ally metallic transparencies, to decorative purposes, is of so varied a character that it is impossible to do more than outline its possibilities. A water subject will usually be in good keeping as the surround of a mirror. The figure (p. 120) shows a simple and effective arrangement. It consists of a rectangular sheet of white metal, with seven openings. The large centre one is occupied by the mirror, and the six sur- rounding ones by carbon transparencies of some water subject newts or fish, for instance backed with the same metal as that which composes the frame. The surround of a washing stand "splasher" may be similarly treated. One need not hesitate at working on 120 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. a fairly large scale with panels, and it is possible that a negative of fish or reptile may be secured sufficiently isolated, and sufficiently suggestive of a type, to stand repetition in a small frieze. It is not to be expected that pleasing results will attend the photographer's first efforts. Decorative work by photography will probably require as much study and perseverance, and will produce as many failures, as pictorial work. If, as is assumed in certain quarters, pictorial work has reached its limits, the possibilities of decorative photography would seem to be worth investigating. Among the thousands who dabble in the pictorial, there must be many who have abandoned the hope of attaining to a high standard of excellence. There must be many also to whom even the highest standard, hitherto attained in pictorial work, seems unsatisfactory. It could be no disadvantage to photography if a large percentage of both classes abandoned the cult of the pictorial for the cult of fact. Whatever might be the artistic result there would be no question as to the increased utility of their efforts. It is in the recording of what does not endure, of fleeting expressions and momentary gestures, of crumbling relics and mortal forms, that the future of photography assuredly lies. It is in this, in its artistic application to science rather than its scientific applica- tion to art, that the value of photography will be recognised by succeeding generations. CHAPTER IX. CONCLUSION. T N commencing the last chapter of this short work the writer feels only too conscious of having failed to do more than give the merest outline of the possibilities of natural history photography. He has been com- pelled to abandon the idea of writing chapters on geological and botanical subjects by the necessity of confining the subject matter within definite and reason- able limits. A reasonable photographic division of the subjects with which naturalists are concerned seemed to be effected by distinguishing those forms of life which have the power of rapid locomotion from those which have not. This division has excluded the consideration of the photography of plants. The living and moving creatures selected as examples have, with very few exceptions, been taken from among the common British varieties. As stated in Chapter III., the photography of bird life has, as regards the methods employed, already been exhaustively treated. A quality which is absolutely essential to successful bird-stalking is the possession of keen sight, and the fact that this vital point does not appear to be touched upon in the works hitherto published makes it worth recording. 122 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. It may be advisable to reiterate one or two principles which in the writer's judgment appear of supreme importance. It is impossible to lay too great stress on the necessity of securing series of pictures of various species. Let the naturalist select a single living form, which is common in his particular locality, and determine to record satisfactorily every stage of its development which is photographically possible. Let him then turn his attention to its habits, to its characteristic positions of rest or movement, to its similarity or dissimilarity with closely allied species. Let him supply photo- graphic deficiencies by a written record of coloration, measurements and so forth, and the result can hardly fail to be valuable. It is not to be supposed that such a result can be obtained without much hard work and many dis- appointments. Dozens of plates will often be expended over a single picture. All the ills which the photo- grapher is heir to will be experienced fogged plates (pictures which might have been), windy weather, accidents in the dark room, accidents to the camera (the writer's well-worn friend is at present held together with string, seccotine, and screws which formed no part of the original) but all will be taken as part of the day's work. To one possessed of a definite ambition and of a definite subject to handle, photography, like art, is a stern mistress. As each fresh difficulty arises, and is overcome, the fascination becomes stronger, and with it arises the conviction COXCLUSIOX. 123 that, in this method of illustration the possibilities are unlimited, that failures are due more to one's self than to one's apparatus, and that they should be regarded as a warning to avoid contingencies which had other- wise appeared to be insignificant. The branch of our subject which deals with methods of securing sitters has been lightly touched on in Chapters IV. and VI. There are, however, many more photographers than naturalists, so that a few further hints to those photographers who love the life of the fields but have not had the advantage of a country training may be acceptable. Most of the British mammalia are to be met with within twenty miles of London. The writer has within these limits seen living in the wild state, or recently killed, the whole of the mammalia mentioned in Chapter III., and nine out of the thirteen reptiles mentioned in Chapter IV. There is evidently then no dearth of material at hand, even for the Londoner. The necessity for silent movement in those who desire to see the life of the fields they walk across has already been noticed. There is an equally real advantage to be derived from the wearing of dull coloured clothes, and the power of remaining motionless. These points being borne in mind, there remains to be considered the question of a likely locality for a particular species. Undoubtedly the best place in which to seek information is the taproom in the neighbourhood of preserves, or large landed estates. In the course of an evening a fund of information will be forthcoming, if the conversation is 124 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. gently directed into the proper channels. The big otter of such and such year will be once more summoned from oblivion by Gaffer So-and-so. Not to be outdone, his grandson will expatiate on the size and ferocity of the otter of a year back, and shortly the reminiscences, not necessarily of otters, but of other strange and fearsome beasts, will come as near in point of time as the preceding week. The stranger in search of information must not allow himself to be nonplussed by unfamiliar names of animals, expressed in an unfamiliar dialect. Above all he must beware of endeavouring to correct his com- pany. If a weasel is known as a kane, kine, or koine, that is its name, and that the stranger should call it a weasel merely shows the stranger's ignorance, for a weasel is something which is longer, or shorter, or darker, or lighter, as the case may be. Recently, the writer's curiosity was considerably aroused by the dis- cussion turning on " deaf" adders, whose bite, it was asserted, was of a peculiarly deadly nature. The common adder had already been mentioned, and a fund of information from those u as used to ketch 'em boy- like " had been forthcoming. All of it had been interesting, most of it plausible, and but little of it text- book. Red adders and black adders had been con- sidered, and the vexed question of the adders swallow- ing their young had fairly divided the house. The deaf adder, though obviously familiar to the audience, was something new to the writer. It turned out to be the common slow-worm. The writer refrained from 126 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. explaining that the slow-worm was a lizard, and the stream of reminiscence flowed uninterruptedly on until closing time. It would be hard to leave a symposium, such as the foregoing, without a fairly good notion of the fauna of the immediate neighbourhood, of the best way of trapping them, and of the best people to whom to apply. Ready and gratuitous assistance will always be freely offered, but it is not a bad plan to put matters on a business footing by offering a small sum for good living specimens. If the payment is accompanied by the photographic result of the capture, the photographer will find his fame spread into the adjoining parish and his task thereby lightened. The whole secret of securing live specimens of the wild mammalia lies in enlisting the sympathies of those whose lives have been spent among them, and whose casual observations form the best possible reference book. The experience thereby gained will, as a rule, enable the learner to turn his individual attention to stalking or trapping with a reasonable expectation of success. A hand-camera should be habitually carried, for in natural history work, as in shooting, it is impossible to foretell what may turn up next. The camera-case is useful for carrying things other than the camera, and should not be left behind. One has only a single handkerchief as a rule, and that will not contain more than a single mole or hedgehog. For carrying really small creatures nothing is better than tobacco-tins, preferably of the flattened kind which hold about two ounces. CONCLUSION. 127 It may be well to remind the reader once more of the necessity of securing characteristic pictures of his sitters. Movements or attitudes characteristic of different animals have become so familiar in many cases as to have passed into proverbs. To " creep like a mouse," to " stare like an owl," to "grin like a dog," are a few of the expressions which immediately occur to one, and the list is a much longer one than might be supposed. A slight consideration will suffice to show that such expressions are originally the result of close observation. All animals, including man, adopt certain definite postures and expressions more frequently than others. These, from constant repetition, gradually come to be regarded as characteristic. They are more lasting in point of time than other postures and expressions, and create a more lasting impression. When we speak of a portrait being characteristic, we mean that the artist has portrayed a particular posture or expression, which is so familiar to us as to have become part and parcel of our mental connotation of the sitter. This familiarity springs from two distinct causes in the first place, constant repetition ; in the second place, appre- ciable duration. A characteristic expression is necessarily one which the facial muscles are constantly called upon to adopt. The mere fact of constant repetition ensures the possibility, and even the likelihood, of duration in point of time. That con- stant repetition is the secret of all muscle control can be seen in the case of an infant learning to walk. In 128 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. the case of facial expression the muscles, through long practice, tend to adapt themselves to certain positions, not necessarily of repose, but certainly of equilibrium, in which they will remain for an appreciable time, without any conscious effort on the part of the owner. The artist, or photographer, who succeeds in portray- ing such an expression will have secured a characteristic, though perhaps not a flattering, likeness. To say that a man takes badly is to imply either that his features are exceptionally mobile, or that he is dissatisfied with his own characteristic expression and declines to adopt it before the camera. Fortunately, the element of vanity in the character of wild animals is generally small. The fact that their whole aim in life is to live them- selves and reproduce their kind ensures that their characteristic expressions and attitudes shall be of a less complicated and confusing character than those of the human race. In all animals two characteristic positions may be looked for the position of action, and the posi- tion of repose. Both admit of sub-divisions : action, for example, may comprise defence and attack. The attitude of the cat stalking, and that of the cat with arched back, are equally characteristic of the cat in action : the "curled" attitude and the "stretched" attitude, equally characteristic of repose. Action is, ot course, the most difficult to deal with photographically. Not only are the exposures necessarily shorter, but the exact moment at which a picture will most successfully convey the sense of past and future is a most difficult one to determine. CONCLUSION. 129 If the reader will study the photographs of moving animals in the advertisements which display the excellences of various shutters on the market, he will realise the difficulty of securing, even with the perfection of apparatus and technical skill, a result which shall be in any degree convincing. As far as the writer's experience goes, the idea of motion is better conveyed by the picture of an animal in a stationary but suggestive position than by any possible photograph of it in actual movement. If we propose to analyse animal movement, to study, for instance, the various positions of the quill feathers in the flight of a bird, instantaneous exposures are essential, but the resulting pictures will not represent what we see with our eyes. The picture of a " hovering " bird would, if photographically obtainable, convey the notion of flight much better than one of a flying bird. The case of four-legged creatures is on a similar footing. If we examine a kinematograph record of a moving animal we shall find that very few pictures, when isolated from those which immediately precede and follow, suggest at all adequately the idea of move- n\ent. If this be the case with a number of pictures which, in point of time, follow hard upon each other, it is obvious that the chance of doing better by a single snapshot is a very remote one. The quicker the exposure the more remote the chance, for, when there is a deliberate attempt to suggest movement, a slightly blurred outline is not to be despised. The " distinct " rendering of some quick moving objects the wings of a 130 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. dragonfly in flight, for instance would, even if it were possible, be ridiculous. As examples of pictures to which an exposure of some seconds was given, and which nevertheless suggest movement in the subject, those on pages 27 and 109 may be cited. The general conclusion would appear to be that, even in the case where we would suggest " movement," time exposures have a certain value, and instantaneous exposures an uncertain one. The natural perversity of things has arranged that the former shall be the more difficult of execution. The question of a printing process which shall be adapted to all kinds of natural history illustration fur, scale, and feather has already been dealt with at some length. It is general practice with amateur carbon printers to have a supply of easily worked print-out paper at hand with which to obtain some notion of the printing qualities of their negatives. The employment of silver P.O. P. results, in the writer's experience, in an accumulation of essays which have not been worth the trouble of toning and fixing separately. As the evil day is deferred, the quality of these prints, some of which might have been worth preserving as Christmas cards, naturally deteriorates. The need is indicated of a process which will give a permanent result with a minimum of trouble. The nearest approach to this, in the writer's judgment, is effected by the use of print-out platinum paper. That supplied by Hardcastle, of East Street, Brighton, deserves to be better known. The print merely requires fixation in water slightly acidulated CONCLUSION. 131 with hydrochloric acid. The writer keeps, as a rule, two acid baths going. If they are used always in the same order, the first will have the bulk of the work, and the two together will fix an almost indefinite number of scrap-photographs. As regards storage, nothing is better than one of the platona tins, which the enter- prise of the Ilford Company has rendered almost as universal as empty plate boxes. In conclusion, the writer would add that such experience as he has gained in the photographic study of natural history, during a fair number of years, is freely at the service of any who are interested in the subject. Is it too much to hope that, with the aid of the microscope, the present century may see a complete photographic record established of every form of life that is to be met with within these islands ? Newt's skin. INDEX. [ILLUSTRATIONS ARE PRINTED IN ITALICS.] Accessories, Importance of, 15. Actinic light, Variation of, 32. Actinometer, it 4. Alum, Disadvantage of, 116. Animals, How to secure, 126. Appliances, Special, for natural history work, 25- Artificial tree-trunk, Kearton's, 25. Bat, 33. Bat, 29. Batrachians, 53. Bees, 83. Beetles, >6. Bicycle, Photography from, 105. Bicycling, Opportunities in, 30. Bird liie, 27. Bird-stalking, 121. Bluebottle, 84. Brandy, stimulant for fish, 75. Butterflies, 80. Cameras, 20. Carbon tissue. Modifying colours of, 108. Carbon transparencies, 108. Coating glass for, 112. ,, ,, Backings for, 109, 116. Caterpillars, 81. Cattle, ico, Cats, 92. Cats, gi, 93, 118. Chameleon, 113, Characteristic attitudes, 15, 127. ,, expressions. 127. Cleaning negative glass, 114. Clothes, Advantage of dull-coloured, 123. Colours of insects, 89. " Control" photography, n. Coronella, 52. Daddy Longlegs, 84. Dead fish, 64 Decorative work, 106. Deer, 105. Deer, 94. Dogs, 92. Dormouse, 41 Dormouse, 32. Dragonflies, 85. Dragonfly, 77. Engraver's error, 9. Exposure, 19. Field vole. Finders. Fish, External characteristics oi, 62. ,, living, Photography of, 65. ,, ,, Management of, 74, 75. Frog, 61. Geometer caterpillar Grasshopper, 84. Grasshopper, 76. \ Grass-snake, 108. Gudgeon, 72 Hedgehog, 27, 39. Horseback, Photography from, 105. Horses, 99. Insects, Collecting and killing, 88. Japanese work, 107. Kearton, 25. Lampern, 66. Lappet moth, 81. Lenses, 21, 24. Lizards, 55, 59. Lizards, 56, 57. Mammals, Common British, 28. Metal backing tor transparencies, 117. Mice, 41. Mimicry, Protective, 89. Mirror, Surround for, 119. Movement, Photography of, 130. Natterjack toad. 14, 54. Natural history illustration, Principles of, 14 Newts, 46, 52. Newts, 42. 44, 46, 47, 106. Packing cases, Utility of, 25, 35. ,. ,, Plaster lining for, 37. Paradise fish, 115. Pipistrelie, 29. Pigs, 102. Plate glass, 38. Plates, 17. Poultry, 103. Poultry, 104. Power of observation, 12. j Printing frames, 115. Privet hawk caterpillar, 78. I Prize hen, 15. Rabbits, 31. Ram, 99. Rat, 38. Rat, 30, Red admiral, 80. Red deer, 94. Red vole, 29. Reflectors in fish photography, 66. Reptiles, 42, 45. Roach, 67. Rubber shoes, Convenience of, 98 Series of pictures, 122. Sheep, 100. Sheep, 96. Shutters, 22. Skin, Reptile's change of, 59. Slow-worm, 59. Snakes, 60. Stagbeetle. 79. Stagbeetle, 87. Stalking cat, 96. Stalking photography, 10. Stands, Vertical, 22, 72. Sticklebacks, 62, 64, in. Swans, 104. Swans. 101. Tadpoles, 50. Tanks, 65, 69, 70. Tanks. Tinkering, 17. Transcripts of nature, Mere, 107. Tree frog, 109. Trout 73. Vicious animals, Photographing, 35, Viper, 61. Viper, 54- Vole, Field, 34. Vole, Red, 29. Wasps, 83. Wasp, 89. Water-rat, 30. Woodmouse, 28. RETURN BIOSCIENCE & NATURAL RESOURSES LIBRARY TO ^-*- 2101 VALLEY LIFE SCIENCES BLDG. 642-2531 LOAN PERIOD 1 2 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS DUE AS STAMPED BELOW K _^______^^^__^^__^^^ 1 =, \ / V u^n DUE nec o 8 1995 SUBJECT TO RECALL REC'D BlUb NOV 08 '95 -122PM UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKElY FORM NO. DDO, 50m, 1 1/94 BERKELEY, CA 94720 U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES