Comic Insect Photography
��Bv I.<'liman Wciulcll
��ONF of llu' most iiitcrostiiiK of all IDJiotographic diversions is tiicniak- ingof coniicinsect pictures. Success ill this class of work requires a suitable camera, good taste and judgment in composition, and an unlimited amount of patience and perseverance. The im- portance of the second and third (|ualifi- catfons is too self-evident to need further attention, but a word or two regarding the eciuiiiment may not be out of place.
Any plate camera having a long bellows extension and an anastigmat lens will serve the purpose. A so-called miniature camera is preferable to a large one, because by reason of the short focus of the lens it has a greater depth of field and all parts of the picture can be brought into sharp focus at the same time, giving a weallii ot microscopic detail through- out the picture. Needless to say, pictures of this class are in t cr- esting in propor- tion to the amount of de- tail shown.
Platesare pre- ferable to films. They are coated w i t h a finer emulsion, s'o that en large- men ts can be made to any reasonable size without pre- senting a mot- tled appearance or a loss of de- tail. Further- more, plates can be had in such a variety of emulsions and speeds that by proper ex- posure and de- velopment the desired (luality
����of negative can always be obtained. The pictures accompanying this article were staged and photographed indoors. It would be out of the question to take such pictures out in the open, where the slightest movement of the air would be sulticient to upset the whole scheme of arrangement. The insects themselves were first captured, then anesthetized' and posed. The great variety of poses needed for pictures of this kind would, of course, preclude the use of dry museum specimens.
Chloroform is perhaps the best anes- thetic for this purpose. The simplest method of administration is as follows: Moisten a pellet of cotton with the chloroform aiul place it in the bottom of a small wine glass. Next drop the insect into the glass and cover with a
small sheet of glass. Thiswill prevent the c h 1 o r o f (5 r m from escaping. Complete anes- thetization will lollow in from two to five min- utes. Thestag- ing of the pic- ture should be done immedi- ately, and the exposure made before the in- sect has had time to recover from the effects of the chloro- form.
.\ a I urally, one ol the main dil'ticulties is to get the insects to stand up- right, but a lit- tle ingenuity on the part of the photographer will soon solve each individual
��Above, "At the Photogra- pher's." At left, "The Elon- gated Cigarette Smoker." Below, "An Old Salt." This last was staged in a saucer. The canoe is a pea-pod
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