Identifier: picturesofbirdli00lodg (find matches)
Title: Pictures of bird life : on woodland meadow, mountain and marsh
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Lodge, R. B
Subjects: Birds -- Pictorial works
Publisher: London : S. H. Bousfield
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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e oldbooks; but a photograph from life of a Flamingo sittingwould be worth some labour, and be more convincing thana drawing. The I^ammergeyer on its natiAC rocks, the GreatBustard, and the Crane woidd be fine prizes to strive for.The photographing these at home would be ten or twentytimes as difficidt and a hundred times more interesting thanthe mere feat of shooting them, and could only be done bythe most enthusiastic perseverance and ingemiity. It would be no work for the ul)i((uitous hand camera.The whole apparatus, from lens to camera and tripod, wouldneed to be carefully designed for its special purpose, anddifficulties, as far as possible, foreseen and guarded against.Some portable form of automatic release, electric or other-wise, might be contri\ed, combined perhaps on occasion bya flash-lighting contrivance. The portability of the hand or folding pocket camerasis imdoubtedly tempting to the tra^eller or s))ortsmanalready loaded witli necessaries, and the facility Avith which
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14 Pictures of Bird Life one can l)e carried about at tlie same time as a iin orrifle, or on horseback or camel-back, often leads to itsbeing included in an outfit, and used for work for Mhichit is absolutely useless. I wonder liow many yards offilm have been exposed on objects completely out of theirrange, and de\eloped after returning home, ichoi it is toolate to rcctifij the inistdkc. It cannot be too stronglyinsisted on tliat serious work, such as Xatural Historywork is. can only be accomplished l^y taking troul^le andby using proper instruments, even though they are liea^yand extremely awkward to cairy. I do not deny for amoment that good subjects luive l)een obtained with apocket camera, but I say unhesitatingly that for everychance of a successful sliot the carrier of a pocket cameraonly misses a lumdred for want of a longer focus lens,and in all probability the one solitary opportunity wouldhave had more justice done to it with another instrument. After ten years experience 1

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