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Show SNAPSHOT GUIUk ANIMAL PICTURES SO w Sal IV I m x . , , il V 1 ' X ' - tI Although this snap was made in a zoo, it has all the "feel" of reality, because the taker avoided the showing of bars or barriers. A NIMALS from household pets to jungle giants afford Ideal snapshooting. For animals don't pose; they are always entirely natural nat-ural and, as a result, interesting. Next to babies, they are the finest "actors" in the world for the simple reason that they do not "act." j" To get good pictures of any animal the first essential Is patience. It Is quite possible that the family dog will stand up obligingly for you on command, but In picturing all other animals you'll find it necessary to wait for the picture you want. And this brings us to the question what do you want in an animal picture? Ten or fifteen years ago there was a great fad for picturing kittens in all sorts of outlandish poses. The poor little tykes were dressed up, propped up, and photographed as though they were puppets in a marionette ma-rionette show. To most people, however, how-ever, pictures of animals as they really are have much more appeal. You will probably prefer to snap a ' !tten as it plays with a string or a 'il; wrestling with a big stick. Domestic animals, of course, offer v real camera difficulties, for you i . ! get them to come where the light . right. Open shade, on a bright will be found best. As tor shut ter speed (if your camera has variable vari-able speeds), you'll need l25th of a second or faster, to catch fleeting poses and expressions. Unless the light is exceptional, better work with the lens wide open. To snap less controllable animals squirrels, birds and such you'll need greater patience and cunning. Much depends on background and on your distance from the subject. At more than ten feet, for example, a squirrel becomes almost Invisible unless It Is sharply revealed on a branch, with the sky for background. Obviously, you'll need to use a fast shutter; squirrels move too swiftly for slow snaps. The zoo can be a happy hunting ground, too. In many cases, you'll be able to shoot through or over the bars of cages, obtaining clear, unobstructed unob-structed snaps. In zoos where "natural" "nat-ural" settings for the animals have been built, you can get pictures comparable com-parable to those that Martin Johnson John-son and Frank Buck travel months to find. Use a modern, color sensitive film. You'll need all the detail you can get and the utmost in color value rendering. Otherwise you'll find your picture of a cinnamon bear looking very much like one of a black bear. JOHN VAN GUILDER. |