Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Photo Tips

BugleMIn

New Member
I have seen many good trophy photos and many that would be good if things were different. I have taken many bad photos.

I learned from a guide in Canada the importance of paying attention to a few details when photographing your trophy. He learned the hard way by messing up photos of the largest animals harvested by his hunters and not being able to use their photos in his advertising due to blood and body positioing.

The photos of your trophy are all you will have for several months (assuming you are mounting it).

1. Position the animal in front of you. It will make it appear bigger.

2. Try to hold it by the hide on the scruff of the neck. Don't grab the antlers and cover parts of it up.

3. Wipe all blood and other internals off the animal. Wives, children and anti's don't want to see a bloody tongue hanging out of a mouth. Cut the tongue off if need be to get it out of the way.

4. Take pictures in the field or in natural setting. They look much nicer than sitting in the back of a truck. Or in your garage.

5. The hardest one, smile, you know you want to, how many of you try to hold that serious look.....you know that look that says I do this all the time...

There are many more, I am not a pro and if this helps you with your next trophy, great.
 
Good tips, thanks for your comments!

Here is our 2000 favorite...

schrantz.jpg
 
Here is a field photograph of my 1999 whitetail, taken in north-eastern Alberta.

My good friend Terry Street actually laid down on his stomach in 6 inches of snow to capture this outstanding image. My favorite part of this picture is the cobalt-blue Alberta sky.

mikes_1999_whitetail_thumbnail.jpg


Here are a few tips that I have picked up over the years, thanks in the most part to the boys at Big Buck Magazine. You will notice that many of them are the same as the originator of this topic. I guess great minds think alike!

(1) Get the camera as at the level of the deer's head or lower.

(2) Use nothing but blue sky for a background. Bush, grass, camo, or other clutter just hide the buck's antlers.

(3) Don't sit on the deer.

(4) Don't take the picture in the back of your pickup or in your garage.

(5) Put the animal's tongue back in it's mouth.

(6) Clean or hide blood.

(7) Re-read steps 3, 4, 5, and 6!

(7) Use a decent tripod and 100 speed or slower film in a quality 35mm camera for the sharpest images.

(8) Smile! If you are hard-core you should be happier than you've been in at least 12 months! There's nothing that looks more rediculous than a guy holding a monster whitetail with a big frown on his face!

Good luck!




[This message has been edited by Northern Whitetails (edited 01-15-2001).]
 
After looking at the photo gallery a month or so, I had the same thought. Alot of nice deer in some nasty pictures. A pic of a deer hanging from the rafters or in the muck of a truck bed is more than wasted film. Its just poor taste. All the effort spent in bagging a nice buck and almost none spent on photographing it. The saying picture perfect needs to be in mind.
 
All good advice guys. I'm no professional photographer by any means, but I've found that throwing one of those $12 disposable cameras in my backpack is a good way to insure that there is always a camera handy for the occasion. When pheasant hunting,turkey hunting, or whatever, I throw it in my vest and have used it to take some ameteur "action photos" in the field, such as my dog on point or a buddy pulling a nice walleye into the boat. I think the 3 main rules for field photos are the same as the 3 main rules for real estate: location,location ,location!!

Now...what I really need help with is my effort to get quality video footage of my outings. Seems like I can shoot a tape full of film to get 5 minutes of decent footage http://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubb/icons/icon6.gif Good Hunting everyone!
 
I have a question. These tips are all great don't get me wrong, but what is a guy supposed to do if he is by hymself and doesn't have a tripod to hold his camera? What if he doesn't have a camera with a delay to take the picture of him and his trophy? I do realize a good photo is something to cherish.
 
Bundy,

Been thinking about your question/comment on "what to do if your hunting alone" or don't have the equipment to take a good field photo, etc...

It's part of the reason I like hunting in the morning. I like to recover animals in the daylight, plus I want a good field photo during daylight hours. As we all know things don't always workout like we want, especially bowhunting whitetails so you make do.

I can only share my experience's and I would give anything to have "slowed down" after a harvest to get good photo's or I should say to even get a photo when I was young and dumb.

Now I do things different, I am usually alone when I hunt and you'll find me recovering my animal by myself also. This year was a good example...

I hit my buck in the evening with not so great of hit, I looked for him until I kicked him up and then I went home. I came back the next day, found him and proceeded to set-up my tripod and camera. I took a 1/2 a roll and loaded the heavy buck up on a low bumper hitch I have rigged up. When I got to town I found a friend that runs the newspaper and we drove to the edge of town for more photo's. This time it was with his digital camera and my Nikon again just for good measure.

To sum it up I prefer Field Photo's right where I found him and I have figured out how to get them by myself. But if worse comes to worse, grab a friend ( most hunters do ) and have him/her help with the pics. Of coarse at night flash camera's are the only way to get a photo and the more lighting you can find the better.

I am really glad this topic came up, I love to see a good picture especially a well thought out one with a big smile on the hunters face.

Good Luck,

TLH
 
I just revisited the photo galley and critiqued my 2000 photo.
I seem to stick my deer late in the day. The last three years were dark recoverys. All three times I returned home and brought a friend. This year I found my teenage daughter had shot off all the film and recovered the buck as my wife went for film. I intended the large evergreen to be the entire background. The building would have been blocked by a slightly different angle.
The deer was washed down with a bucket of water and the tounge tucked in. I hide the shot hole with my bow. The deer is field dressed,but you would'nt know it. I'm not saying it's a great photo (forgot to smile) but some thought was put into it anyway. The image hunters present form the opinions of non-hunters. We need them on our side! And a picture speaks 1000 words.
I recall a deer photo that made our local paper. It was a "hanging from the rafters" photo. I noticed a Bush Light can in the photo and pointed it out to the hunter. He now puts some thought into his photos. This is a very important topic and I hope it is remembered after the kill.

[This message has been edited by scout (edited 01-28-2001).]

[This message has been edited by scout (edited 01-28-2001).]
 
Good Stuff!

Here is a great pic too, what a beautiful blue sky!

mosnikmuzzleloader.jpg
 
Top Bottom