Part 4

Plates.—Among the many excellent brands of plates now offered to photographers there is really very little difference. However, it is advisable to select the one you think the most rapid and use it to the exclusion of all others. Under certain circumstances—in photographing Robins, for instance—isochromatic plates will be found desirable, and where a strong head light can not be avoided nonhalation plates may be employed.

So much industry, skill, and patience are generally required of the bird photographer before he makes an exposure that he should guard against all chances of failure from the photographic side. It is therefore advisable to thoroughly test plates which it is probable may be exposed on a very difficult subject. Under no circumstances should the plate holders be needlessly exposed to the light, and when the camera is to be left for an indefinite period with the slide drawn from the holder and plate ready to expose, it should be carefully wrapped in the dark-cloth.

Blinds.—As the sportsman constructs blinds in which he may conceal himself from his prey, so the bird photographer may employ various means of hiding from his subjects. The Keartons recommend an artificial tree trunk for use in wooded places and an artificial rubbish heap for open fields. The former may be made of light duck, painted to resemble bark, and placed over a frame.

The frame of the Keartons’ is of bamboo, but I find white pine answers very well, the main things to be considered being lightness and portability. The frame should therefore be collapsible in order that it may be easily packed.

The Keartons’ field blind or “rubbish heap” consists of an umbrella, to each of the ribs of which strips of bamboo four feet in length are tied. This is then covered with light brown holland and wisps of straw tied over it in such a way as to “virtually thatch the whole structure.” Doubtless cornstalks properly arranged would make an excellent field blind.

It is difficult to carry one of these blinds in addition to a camera, etc., without assistance, and I fear that the inconvenience attending their use will restrict them to the few enthusiasts who count neither time, labor, nor cost in attaining a desired end.

For my own part, I prefer, when possible, to conceal my camera and make the exposure from a distance rather than to weight myself with a portable blind and to endure the discomforts of being confined within it.

Sundries.—The bird photographer will find that he requires numerous articles not usually to be found in the regulation photographic outfit, as, for example, climbers for ascending trees and stout cords for hauling the camera up after him; a dark-cloth, green in color, to aid in disguising the camera, and a mirror. The latter should be of plate glass, and measure at least twelve by ten inches. A good plan is to buy a piece of glass of desired size and frame it simply in white pine. It may then be attached to a limb, a stick driven in the ground, or other convenient object, by means of the ball-and-socket clamp mentioned under Tripods, which may be screwed into the back or the outer border of the frame. Such a mirror will reflect sunlight many yards to shaded nests, where, in photographing old or young birds, a quick exposure is necessary. A vest-pocket mirror, for use in reflecting the reading of the diaphragms or time on the shutter, will permit one to make the desired changes from the rear, and thus prove helpful when conditions do not permit one to work in front of the camera.

A device which might be arranged on the principle of a trap, the trigger to be sprung and exposure made when the bait is taken, would doubtless capture some interesting pictures. An apparatus connected with an automatically fired flash-light, has been employed by Mr. G. A. Shiras, of Pittsburg, in photographing deer at night, with phenomenal success. The connection with the camera shutter was so made that the deer, in walking, touched a cord which exploded the flash-light, and, at the same moment, made the exposure. The light weight of most birds, however, requires a much more delicate apparatus, while an even greater difficulty is found in the movement caused by the release of the trigger, which startles the bird just as the exposure is made.

Thus far in my experiments I have been unable to overcome these objections, but I trust some other bird photographer will be more successful.

Those who are ambitious in the direction of cliff photography I would refer to the Keartons’ admirable treatise on the subject in their Wild Life at Home, for a description of the paraphernalia needed and the manner in which it should be used. My own experience in this line is limited, and I confess to the utter absence of a desire to increase it!

THE METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER

Claiming no special knowledge of the technique of pure photography, I would refer the beginner to any of the several excellent books designed to explain the rudiments of optical and chemical photography, and to instruct in regard to the matters of exposing, developing, printing, etc. Only such suggestions are given here, therefore, as relate directly to the manner in which birds, their nests, eggs, and haunts may be photographed.

Haunts.—Photographs of the characteristic haunts of birds should show not alone general topography, but should also be made with special reference to the bird’s feeding habits, which, more than anything else, govern the nature of the locality selected. Thus, a photograph of the home of the Woodcock would have added value if, in the immediate foreground, the “borings” made by this bird in probing the earth for food were evident; or a marsh scene, in which wild rice was conspicuous, would tell something of both the haunts and the food habits of the Reedbird and Red-winged Blackbird in August and September. In a similar way, pictures of wild cherry and dogwood trees, of bayberries and red cedar, which show both fruit and surroundings, are of interest in connection with the biographies of many birds.

Seasons.—The camera permits us to make so exact a record of the rise and fall of the year, as it is registered by vegetation, that we can actually compare existing conditions with those which prevailed at any previous time. Compare, for example, the series of four pictures^{8–11} here presented, all made from the same point of view, in order to appreciate how graphically seasonal changes may be shown by the camera. In this instance, photography is of more service to the botanist than to the ornithologist; but every student of migration knows how closely related are the appearance of certain birds and flowers, and will readily appreciate, therefore, the value of a series of photographs of several different subjects, taken at short intervals, and showing the changes in vegetation due to the approach of summer or winter. In connection with such related phenomena as temperature, rainfall, and weather, these pictures form as accurate a record of the seasons as it is possible to make, and if data of this kind could be brought together from many selected localities, we should have an admirable basis for the intelligent study of certain phases of bird migration.

Nests and Eggs.—The photographing of nests is one of the simpler forms of bird photography, but in many instances success is achieved only through the exercise of much patience and ingenuity.

It should constantly be borne in mind, in photographing nests, that what is desired is not so much a picture of the nest alone as one which shows it in relation to its environment—in short, a picture of the nesting site is of more value than one of the nest only. It is advisable, however, to make at least three pictures, two^{12, 13} of which shall show the nature of the locality chosen, the other^{14} the character of the nest and its immediate surroundings. When the nest is not above five feet from the ground, little difficulty will be experienced in securing the desired picture. When on the ground it will sometimes be found helpful to put what naturally would be the rear leg of the tripod forward, between the other two, when it will serve as a brace from in front, and permit the camera to be tilted well downward without danger of its falling.

Nests at an elevation of seven or eight feet, in saplings, may be photographed by lengthening the tripod with short legs, each supplied with two staples or collars into which the ends of the tripod may be slipped; or a ladder or light scaffolding will sometimes be found necessary.

For photographing nests in trees the “Graphic” ball-and-socket clamp is of great assistance. With it the camera may be attached to a limb, or, if the limb is too large, a block may be nailed to it, thus furnishing a grip to which the clamp may be fastened.

Nests should be photographed from the side, but eggs should be photographed from above in order to show their position in the nest as they were arranged by the incubating bird. The nest should therefore never be tipped, nor should the eggs be touched, lest the value of the subject be destroyed. The markings of most birds’ eggs are already well known, but if photographs of them are desired they can be made from the thousands of eggshells with which ill-directed effort has stocked the cabinets of misguided oölogists.

It is not advisable to make photographs of nests in the sunlight, a diffused light giving greater detail. A screen of some thin white material should therefore be used as a shade when photographing nests exposed to the direct rays of the sun. This, however, will not be found necessary if the picture be made within two or three hours after sunrise, when the light is soft and the foliage comparatively motionless, permitting the use of a small diaphragm and a long exposure.

Young Birds.—The ease with which photographs of young birds may often be secured, the fact that with the camera their appearance and development may be more satisfactorily recorded than in any other way, makes their study by the photographer of exceeding importance. Photographs of young birds should of course be accompanied by notes on food, calls, special actions, etc., which the camera can not well portray.

The young bird is a worthy subject from the moment it leaves the shell until, as far as flight is concerned, it deserves to be ranked with its elders. When possible, series of pictures should be made showing the rate of growth of the same brood from the period of hatching to the date when the nest is deserted. Circumstances do not, however, often permit of the forming of these ideal series, and we must therefore photograph the young bird as we find him, either before or after^{15} he has made his initial flight, or as he is preparing for it.^{16}

The suggestions made under the head of Birds’ Nests and Eggs will apply in a general way to photographing young in the nest; but even when at rest in other respects, the rapid respiration of nestlings requires a quick exposure to insure sharpness of outline, and, when in the shadow, sufficient illumination can be secured only with the aid of a reflector.

Adult Birds.—It is in photographing birds in the full possession of the powers of maturity that the bird photographer’s skill and patience are put to the most severe tests. It might be said that, from a strictly ornithological point of view, the results obtained do not in many instances justify the time expended. Success, however, in this field, as in many others, is not to be measured by the attainment of a certain end, but often by the experience gained in what, to one having only the ultimate object in view, may seem to have been fruitless effort.

In matching one’s ability as a hunter against the timidity and cunning of a bird, relations are established between the photographer and his subject which of necessity result in their becoming intimately associated.

Doubtless we shall never know just what birds think of the peculiar antics in which the camera enthusiast sometimes indulges, but certain it is that an attempt to photograph some of the most familiar and presumably best-known birds will open the photographer’s eyes to facts in their life histories of which he was previously in utter ignorance.

As a known and fixed point to which the bird may be expected to return, the nest offers the best opportunity to the bird photographer, and photographs of adult birds on or at their nests are more common than those taken under other conditions.^{17, 18}