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Stratton-Porter, Gene, 1863-1924

"Moths of the Limberlost"


The light was full and strong, the lens the best money could buy,
the plate seven by nine inches. By this time long practice had
made me rather expert in using my cameras. When the advancing
pair were fully inside my circle of focus, I made the first
exposure. Then I told Molly-Cotton to keep them as nearly as
possible where they were, while I took one breathless peep at the
ground glass.
Talk about exciting work! No better focus could be had on them,
so I shoved in another plate with all speed, and made a second
exposure, which was no better than the first. Had there been time,
I would have made a third to be sure, for plates are no object when
a study is at all worth while. As a rule each succeeding effort
enables you to make some small change for the better, and you must
figure on always having enough to lose one through a defective
plate or ill luck in development, and yet end with a picture that
will serve your purpose.
Then we closed the ventilators and released the moths in the
conservatory.


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