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How Bird Photographs Are Made

INDEX 251 262 270 271 271 280 279 284 295 295 297 INTRODUCTION.

Very few persons as they look at pictures in magazines or in books ever give an instant's thought as to the time, the patience or perhaps hardships the photographer might have endured in the making of them. With the general public, the prevalent idea is that anyone with a camera of any kind can take a "snap/shot" of anything and get a good picture. As a matter of fact, very few good pictures of any subject are ever secured by the commonly accepted "snap-shot" method. Some thought and study, even though it be done almost instantly, must be given as to the composition and the probable appearance of the finished picture. I have done nearly all kinds of photography, -landscape, marine, portraiture, pet animals, press photography (which is very exacting), etc. I do not believe that any other class of photography offers the difficulties or has as large a percentage of failures as will be encountered by one who essays photographing living, wild birds.

Some of the pictures that follow were obtained with the greatest of ease but they were of exceptional birds and I am duly thankful to them for the consideration they showed me. Others represent hours and even days of hard work and frequent disappointments. It was only by the very narrowest margin that the taking of one of the series shown did not lead to the printing of my obituary.

In the last chapter I give some details that may be of assistance to those who wish to make pictures of birds. I only speak of the difficulties here so that those who scan the pictures on the succeeding pages may not think one can grab up a camera, rush to the woods and take pictures of birds offhand. Just remember that more than seventy-five per cent. of the adult birds, whose pictures are shown, were between three and four feet from the lens of the camera and figure out how many birds you ever approached as closely as that.