Suggestions for great trophy photos

[Pete E]

JJ,

Thanks for that...I have seen those about but never tried one; I always thought they would be too short..having looked at your pics , I can see thats obviously not the case!

Seeing as my Nikon Coolpic 3700 only weighs a few ounces, that tripod should be plenty stable enough..

thanks again,

Pete

 

[jjhack]

Because the legs are made like angle iron when left folded up and using the velcro strap you can wrap this to a tree or branch which has supported my canon AE1 with a 200mm lens. It's as strong as the tree it's attached to.

 

[tmoniz]

This is a little too much science and scrutiny for photos being taken of dead animals. I don't much care for the photo of the smallish cat with pointy ears either.
Not much sport in that. Nor do I consider that a trophy either. I've never been impressed with photos and footage of people taking African game. Every time I see film footage of some one stalking and shooting an African animal I wonder.
Where's the challenge. Other than the shear fact that there is something out there that may be stalking you, and could in fact eat you as well.

To each his own, I guess.

 

[Pete E]

tmoniz,

I am not sure why you consider them "just pictures of dead animals"? If you took a really good elk or mule deer, wouldn't you want to have some decent photos? What would you think of a taxidermist who did a crap job on your muledeer shoulder mount and then told you it was "just a dead animal"?

As you say, each to there own I guess...

Regards,

Pete

 

[EL CAZADOR]

Originally posted by Pete E@Jan 21 2005, 11:33 AM
What would you think of a taxidermist who did a crap job on your muledeer shoulder mount and then told you it was "just a dead animal"?

But isn't that exactly what it is?

 

[tmoniz]

Check out the picture in my bio. Some people like it. And some feel it's in poor taste. Pictures of the latest kill are reserved for the hunting audience only. The average person is often repulsed by them. I just think it's a bit odd to put so much effort into the right pose up against a certain backdrop when the work at hand is taking care of the animal after the dirty deed.

 

[Pete E]

tmoniz,

The elk looks a beauty, but the pic is not my cup of tea...Having said that if your happy with it, thats what counts..

Out of curiousity, did you have the elk mounted?

With regards the amount of work involved, I can see your point if you have something as big as an elk to sort out, but in most cases whats an extra half hour for a few pictures?

I suppose at the end of the day pictures are either important to a person or they are not..

As far as the flash pictures go where the background is all dark, I agree with you..I have pretty much given up taking pictures right at last light as I simply don't like them..

Regards,

Pete

 

[jjhack]

tmoniz, just out of curiosity what was it that lured you into a thread about taking qualtiy photos when you have no time or interest in photographing your trophies?

As an outfitter I deal with an unbelievable range of personalities. Humans make up one hella big diverse group of thoughts and ideas. However I jut can't imagine what would have drawn you to a thread on a topic that you have no interest in.

Then to top it off you have nothing at all to add. Well except for the critisizm of things you clearly know nothing about. You posted this:

"I don't much care for the photo of the smallish cat with pointy ears either.
Not much sport in that."

As a hunter and sportsman could you explain where the line on "sport" is at? Are elk and deer the only "sport in your eyes? How is it that there was no sport in killing the African Lynx? tell me how it was not sporting. How what it that it was killed? what weapon was used? what distance was it shot? What method of harvest? How many hours involved in the persuit?

Let me go out on a limb and take a wild stab at this. You don't know! Yet you claim it was not much sport. If ever there was a devisive one among the ranks of sportsman and hunters you would clearly rank right near the top. It seems that if its not your style/ species/ method/ etc etc. then it must not be "any sport" No wonder so many sportsman fight among themselves over various types of hunting methods and equipment. You could be their spokesmen!

 

[bzzboyz]

Very well said jjhack. I was wanting to say something, but figured you would before long. And as I figured you said it better than I could have anyway. Thanks


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

It seems that if its not your style/ species/ method/ etc etc. then it must not be "any sport"[/b]

Don't worry yourself about that. There's a lot of that going on around this site lately. A lot of criticism of hunting methods that people have no idea what it's even about. They have never tried it, but they can dam sure tell you everything that's wrong about it.

Great topic by the way. Will come in handy on the next hunt.

Now question back to the topic. What is your opinion on the placement of the horns? I have noticed that on some of my own pictures that when I have the horns right in front of me they tend to not show up as well. They almost blend in with my shirt. I try now to make sure that I am to one side or another so the horns can be better seen.

Also, this was with the sun at my back, like you say. What went wrong? Was it because it was directly behind me? Should I have been at more of an angle? It was in the morning.

This was from this year. I guess after reading your topic, I should have sat on the ground behind the goat, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t behind the horns.

I guess this is as close as I’ve gotten to what you are saying. I could be sitting instead of kneeling. Also I had the camera on the wrong setting for the late evening setting sun. It came out real orange colored.

Like someone above said. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of screwed up pictures along the way. The sad part is you loose a lot of good memories as well. The pronghorn was my second and it’s the only pic I have of it. At least I’ll have the mount.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks

 

[tmoniz]

I'm just voicing my opinion. That's partly what this place is for. So now you know some other side of the issue. I'm a very accomplished hunter and photographer by the way.

So did you eat that cat. Was it necessary to pursue it and then take it's life.
That's my point.

I just think that suggesting that there is a proper way to position your self and your kill is a bit out there. That's why I responded to your post. It's nothing personal. Just an opinion.


Every hunt I have been on for over 40 years is burned in my memory. I can recall with great detail every encounter from the Arctic Circle to the Mexican Border with a Big Game animal.
Pictures done correctly as you call it are one thing.
Memories are another.

 

[bzzboyz]

I forgot one. Is there another way to photograph a cat other than holding it up, and other than this? I never was really pleased with this picture. You really can’t see much of the cat or get a good idea of it’s size since it almost blends in with the ground, and I’m not real fond of holding them up because it doesn’t look real natural to me.

As you can see, It doesn’t even look like the same cat.

 

[bzzboyz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

So did you eat that cat. Was it necessary to pursue it and then take it's life.
That's my point.[/b]

tmoniz. It's called "preditor" hunting. Theres a whole section on this web site about it. Check it out sometime.

But I guess since you are such an experienced big game hunter with over 40 years of experience all over the continent then your probably above ever doing any preditor hunting.

 

[jjhack]

THe dark lope photo was done right, just weird that the light was not enough to illuminate the lope too? FOr that I would have forced the flash. I suppose with the digital photo you have a bit better way of judging the photos before the knife comes out. Had it been a digital you could have forced the flash and it would have been perfect. The others photos are really good too.

As far as the world hunter is concerned, yep your right Memories are one thing and photo's another. The memories are burned in my mind as well. But when My 3 year old son is older the only thing he will be able to see of his papa's adventures are the photos I have to show him. Same with my mother and father who will never be able to travel to Africa with me yet they live through the experience with the Photos I share with them. Photos important? Yeah to me they are. And so are they to most logical thinking sportsman.

I have no need to justify what I kill or whether I eat it. But to set the record straight we have a population of big game that is managed very closely. When the impalas are born each spring the the Lynx are there to chase and kill them one after another only eating one, or part one,....... of every several dozen they kill or wound. It's a game to them, they chase anything that runs, tackle it,... shake it and run down another and another. For days and weeks at a time. Until the babies are mature enough to escape at least some of the time. Something needs to be done with these excessivly greedy cats. Remember this is not the opinion of some wanna be game manager. I am a game manager for 37,500 acres of prime habitat in South Africa and I was for 15 years the game manager of the weyerhaeuser tree farm in Snoqualmie Washington. That little chunk was a mere 375,000 acres. Game management is my business and professional hunting helps me to manage it. The 90,000 arce Josini game reserve in Kwa Zulu Natal provides about 150 plains game animals of various species each year to the local hospital. I do the culling for that property. So I think I know a thing or two about the way game and predators are managed.

Your move chief!

 

[Big Moose]

jjhack
These are great photo tips, many of which I have found out the hard way. You are right on the money!
Tmoniz
The cat photos were only an example of how to (or not) take a great field photo. The photos had nothing to with hunting cats.

 

[Pete E]

Originally posted by bzzboyz@Jan 21 2005, 05:53 PM
Also, this was with the sun at my back, like you say. What went wrong? Was it because it was directly behind me? Should I have been at more of an angle? It was in the morning.

bzzboyz,

You hit the nail on the head with regards the problem with your dark 'lope picture. Because the sun was behind the subject, the camera exposure meter has been "fooled" into trying expose the picture to that the bright sky appears correct in the photo...this automatically means that the true subject is going to be too dark.

The root cause of this is that neither film or nor digital sensors can capature the huge range of brightness levels that the human eye/brain can...they are simply not good enough...

There are several solutions depending upon the type of camera used and your expirience as a photographer.

The first is that where there is strongish direct sun, get the subject to face the sun rather than have it behind you as in your case..actually if there was someone holding the camera, one of the better set ups is to have the sun at a 45 degree angle over their shoulder...That means the sun will be slightly scross the subject rather than direct on it...

The second way is as JJ suggests and use "fill in" flash...Asssuming your using some sort of "point n shoot" camera it will have a function called something like "fill in", "day time flash" ,"back light" or "portait" . The only problem is that too much flash was swamp the picture and make it look flat, but it will be better than too dark. If you have an SLR with a dedicated flash you can take more control again, but thats probably a bit indepth for here.

Bottom line is take *all* your trophy pics with and without "fill in" flash and then you get to choose after wards.

BTW..That dark pic could probably be rescused by someone good at Photoshop; certainly greatly improved anyway. If its on 35mm & you have the negative it, would mean getting somebody to scan it first though..

Regards,

Pete

 

[Pete E]

bzzboyz,

Just another thought...Your camera may have another function/mode which is useful when the light is getting poor in the evening...

This is called "night portait" or "slow sync flash" mode or something similar. Don't worry about the fancy name, its just another mode. Basically once the light starts failing and you resort to stanadrd flash, you get the same results as JJ's cat pics...ie the subject is brightly lit and the background is black.

However by switching to "night portait" or "slow sync flash" mode the camara will try to slow down the shutter speed to increase the amount of light reaching the film/sensor..

It makes little difference to the subject which is lit by the flash, but it maximizes/ makes the most of light falling on the background.

The result is that the background is no longer black but shows quite a bit of detail. Its not perfect and it won't work in complete darkness, but once the light starts to go in the evening its worth using...

Remeber that even if it appears light enough to you, your camera is probably already struggling...The down side is that as it relies on a slow shutter speed to work, you can't hand-hold the camera as you will get camera shake and the image will be blurred...use a small tripod or sit the camera on a fence post or what have you...

Regards,

Pete

 

[upperEA]

Thanks for the tips I have been getting into the picture/video aspect of hunting the last couple of years. Do you or anyone for that matter have any tips on live subjects? I have seen some great photos in here of various game on the hoof/paw so to speak but when I attempt it something is always in diarray, are there any rule of photography a guy can start with. Thanks

Just one more thing we as HUNTERS are the stewards of the game we pursue AND that which we don't. The greatest hunter of all is the one who knows his responsibilities to the game in his charge. JJ keep up the good work

 

[Reuben]

Thanks guys. I enjoyed all the tips.

One point, i am an amatuer at best, but i have always had problems when i stick the sun directly behind me. This can only shadow your face and silouhette the rack. I always like to take many many shots from all kinds of angles and then when i get home i sift through them and i usually have a couple of excellent shots.

Great topic!

 

[Outdoor Writer]

JJ & Pete,

Some good tips. -TONY