Photography tips

[boneaddict]

I'm not even going to pretend I have all or even a few of the answers in taking good pictures.  For the most part there is a reason why a professional takes hundreds to even thousands of shots to get a good one, but.....I thought I would start a thread with some tips, or things to watch out for, or mistakes that are common, or mistakes that are just plain easy to make, and I have made.  Feel free to add to it.  I will try to post as many examples as possible as we go along.   I have been at this awhile as an amateur, and that is ALL I am.  I use what equipment I can afford, and just plain have fun. I found it was alot harder to get a good picture of a deer than it was to shoot one.  I also found no one believed me when I said I saw a big one, until I started getting them on film.  Its sort of like a shed antler, you get to study it over and over.   There are many folks on here and on other sites that take great images.  I hope people aren't shy and keep posting them.  I love them and I'm sure the rest of you do as well.
The first topic I would like to breach is focus.  One of the things I have struggled with out in the big woods is getting a clear crisp focus.  I haven't mastered it yet, so this is more of a things to watch out for.  When using AUTO focus, which is often what I use, it becomes difficult to attain sometimes when the animal is in the brush.  Heck, I struggle with it in the wide open.  In the old days of staring through a viewfinder, I found my eyesite wasn't the best, and things I thought were in focus, weren't even close.  This has improved with the digital cameras and their onboard display.  One thing that I found that was also hard was trying to get the whole animal in focus while using a telephoto lens.  When an animal is close, sometimes part of him is in focus and part of him isn't.  One thing I have learned to do is put my camera crosshairs on their eyeball.  The autofocus tends to pick up on that object, and this gets the whole animal is a focal feild of focus.  One of my favorite things to do, is have the tree the animal is standing next to in perfect focus, but the animal blurred.  Here are two examples.

[boneaddict]

This second one is of a buck I nicknamed slick.  He had no eyeguards.  He was in really thick brush chasing after a doe.  She kept moving, but really didn't want to go away.  He didn't really want to be there, but he didn't want to leave her.  I climbed up onto a fallen leaner so that I could get above the brush, and kept trying to get shots.  My autofocus kept wanting to focus on the brush, but not him.  I'd just get him in focus, and he would duck his head and dart forward.  I took thirty images of this buck to get maybe one that turned out to my satisfaction.  It also doesn't help that the sky is usually dark and overcast or its late or early in the day.  Thats a topic later.  Here is slick with nice focused sage brush.Notice how the pine is in perfect focus again.  Subconciously I must have been a logger and enjoy trees more than antlers....NOT

[boneaddict]

Come on slick.....quit moving

[boneaddict]

[boneaddict]

Heres another tip....don't overcrop when your original is slightly grainy from low light conditions, because all it does is over enhance the grain.  That being said, here is Bruiser up close and personal.  You have more lee-way with that now withthe new high megapixel digitals.  This is off of one of those disc they give you when you get the regular pics developed.  The resolution on them stinks.  Thank goodness the originals turned out better.

[boneaddict]

next one......always make sure your critter has their eyes open and mouth shut.  Sometimes they are worse than kids around the Christmas tree, eyes closed mouth yapping 

[billythekidrock]

Looks like a tough guy glare...or he's blowing a kiss.

[boneaddict]

Here is another focus issue.  This HUGE sow came outat about 20 feet from me feeding in the brush.  I set my bow down and was trying to get her on film but I couldn't get my camera to focus.  It turned out that the auto focus got set to manual.  By the time I figured that out, I had two cubs to my left and a pissed of mom to the right.  The cub will appear here shortly in the blackie thread.  He was about as big as most bear in Washington.  She was flat gigantic.  These were on my Alaskan hunt.  There would have been alot of problems if both cubs had went up the tree, but one decided to run off while she was making false charges at me.  Of course at this time the camera had been put away and gun dug out.  She left and guarded the other cub while I proceeded on my way after taking a couple shots of the dude up the tree.
I missed the oppurtunity of a lifetime getting this HUGE bear on film at 20 feet.  Oh well, live and learn.

[jackelope]

here's a tip for you...you always seem to forget GPS coordinates on those pics...they would mean a lot more with those coordinates please
 

[boneaddict]

 I posted this pic elsewhere, but wanted to go ahead and list this as a tip.  Always make sure you have at least 5 pictures on your roll if out taking pics.  I took this one then ran out of film.  I frantically had to re-load, and by the time I did, he was off to the brush.  I spent about 20 minutes playing grab a$$ with him, but never got another goood pic. After that, I always shoot extra pics to finish the roll, if not left with at least 5 shots.  I know life is different digital, but keep track of how many you have left on that memory card.  Its just as important.

[boneaddict]

ps...here is another tree in focus.  It was the first deer I shot with my new camera.  Still trying to get used to the different zoom.  Remember, a picture with 12 power optical, is way better than a picture with a 20 power digital zoom.  You are better off to snap the picture with the 12 then crop and reduce than you are to fill the frame up with the hgiher digital zoom.

[boneaddict]

better, but still having troubles..I just flat needed to have some sort of tripod or monopod with the lowlight, and I needed to be more familiar with my camera.

[boneaddict]

Monopods are cool and handy, but they just don't cut it.  I have 9 pics where I was right on top of this buck, less that 15 yards, and this is what I have......totally upsetting

[boneaddict]

don't over zoom when you are doing an action shot.

[tabynn]

Bone,
Thanks for the insight. As a hunter, roughly two months of the year are locked up, but this gives a whole new perspective on getting out there after the season. Those are actually pretty good pictures and I do appreciate the tips. Most of us should probably be out there doing the same thing.