Okay, good subject. I'll start with the photos you posted.

1) Too much unattractive background, get closer to the subject. Get camera lower. The photo has two subjects, the hunter and the deer. Your placement of them is right on the money. Hunters face above center, deer below center.

2) Subject is centered, big no no. There's trees and blue sky in the background, they should dominate the top two thirds of the photo.

 

Use portrait mode, get level with the critter. Take a bunch of pictures, you can edit them and adjust colors very easily on your phone. The newest generations of iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones have amazing cameras on them.

My buddy in this picture was stunned at how well it turned out. I literally just put my phone in portrait mode and crouched when I took it.

Prop the head up, close the critters mouth.

And…… freaking smile! Nothing looks more cringe than a scary looking tough guy with a dead animal


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Geez, DZ...I didn't mean jump right into tearing me apart...I already know those pics are crap! That's why I posted them! Appreciate the critique, though.

 

BDnB: Sorry, wasn't tearing you apart, no such thing intended. I thought your thread was about helping people be better photographers. Nothing personal. The fact you said they were crap is what makes them good photos for your thread, I'm in full agreement with you on that. We're both looking through the same lens.

 

I'm just flicking you crap. All appreciated.

 

I cleaned up my post on the other thread to applicable subject matter only; reposting the hijack info here:

• Tip your hat back or use the flash to infill.
• Sun quartering into the subject - not into the camera! [I say quartering into because if a low angle sun and fully into the subject, the shadow from the photographer will be in your photo!]
• Shoot with the horizon level [unless you going for artsy...]!
• It seems odd but take an 'as they lie' photo but then spend some time posing if possible; close the mouth [unless it is a predator then it might be cool...], move it away from the blood pool/gut pile, flip that off-side shot hole to the other side, smooth out some hairs, or clear some brush out of the way - a little can go a long way.
• Try to clean the blood off your hands and off the critter.
• Try with and without the gun/bow; with and without your partner; with and without your dog etc.
• I carry a small palm-sized tripod that stands on its own or can be strapped to a tree/fence post and use the auto-timer.
• Photographer should take a burst of photos before everyone is 'posed' and 'smiling' - I am a horrible subject if given the opportunity to 'smile'...
• Speaking of backgrounds: police the area and get unnecessary packs, gloves, game bags, clothes etc. cleaned up and out of view. Sometimes they can be nice acessories but sometimes they look like commercial product placements or like you were hunting in a dump!

Some of the above can be adjusted with some simple post-processing effort but don't rely on it and go overboard. I'd like to add photos these days are getting much better than the days of old holding severed heads at waist level and bloody tongues hanging out - - cameras[phones] and techniques are improving as far as I am concerned. And the settings on even phones [portrait mode as mentioned] make shots easier to get above average.

I like the stories, pictures and tips for good photos; good photos can be almost as good as horns/shoulder mounts on the walls.

EDIT: I'll possibly continue to edit to add things....

• Macro setting can work out well for more detailed shots on smaller game for quality images; after other attempts, I went detailed on this grouse because it seemed more appropriate than the 'whole views' [even so, I missed the big shadow I was casting while crouched to frame it]:

 

We always put tongue back into mouth. Clean up as much blood as possible. Try to
Tuck legs up under body to stabilize and give better visualization as then you can typically pose in different spots. Terrain and background shots are nice depending on the area. Sometimes you can’t move an animal so we try to make the most of it if it’s in a hard spot or by yourself. Also we find that taking numerous photos during the process of picture taking that you will be surprised with what you end up with. Even photos with just the animal can be very tasteful. Here are a few various photos from our picture taking abilities.

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One of the local guides is also a professional photographer. His shots of clients are always top notch. He said always use flash. Sunny day, cloudy day, use flash. Removes the bad shadows.

 

Ha ha..... It worked, I was worried. Y'all have an ordinary day.

 

I need a photographer, it’s the only time I get a pic ,also would like one of those huge fans so my hair is blowing just right 👍🏻.

 

Lucky you have hair!

 

If I’m by myself I take a 4k video so I can pose and smile and move the animal around in various positions and then just pull stills off it. Works great.

 

What BuxnDux82 said about taking a lot of pictures is money. Back in the 35mm film days (Google it kids) I would tell people to take a BUNCH of pictures. Maybe an entire roll and hope for a couple good images. With digital cameras there's no excuse. Shoot, pose, repeat.

I know, I know, I'm old.

And absolutely put the tongue back in the critters mouth!

 

And absolutely put the tongue back in the critters mouth!

Or take it out permanently!👍🏻

 

Keep the antlers or horns skylined, they tend blend in if the person is behind them.

Don't man handle the antlers or horns, behind the ear is the best place to hold up a buck or Antelope.

Good picture

Not so good picture.. To be fair he was in a terrible hole.

 

My biggest advice is to take the time and take some good pictures. The meat will be fine for another 10-15 minutes to set up a good shot.

Things to consider;

The direction of the sun, don't shoot with the sun behind the subject.
Background not too little but not too much (don't give away secret spots)
The weapon, one of my biggest mistakes is never including my bow or gun in the pictures.
Try to get the entire subject in the picture, it is easy to crop a picture but impossible to add to it.
Focus is the number 1 factor, exposure can be adjusted later.
Take a picture you will be happy with forever.
If your taking pics in the dark light the subject with a headlamp or something before the pic.
Try to be respectful to the animal whose life you just took.
Don't long arm every picture, ya they are fun to have but, I've regretted not getting good quality regular pics.
Stage the area, knock down branches, move brush, clean up the animal, push the tongue back in, and adjust the animal's body position.

Here are a few I've taken over the years, I will comment on what I wish I'd have done better on each.

Obviously, this is an oldie, my first buck and it was #8 in OR at the time. This is the best picture I have of this buck and a good reminder of why quality pictures are important!

My oldest son's first deer, he was 9 and super excited, I really failed on field pictures though and this is the best picture I have for him of his first deer.

My youngest son's first deer, was better than the first picture but I should have staged the photo, moved the buck around and made it more visible. At least you can see his excitement and goose egg from the scope

This is a great memory but I could have done a better job staging the animal.

This is one of my favorite pics, it's my father sitting looking at his largest bull, he didn't know I was there until after I took the picture. I really like photos that capture raw emotion but rarely have the opportunity for one.

 

Here are a few more

My goat from this year, not only am I long arming him but I missed an opportunity at a beautiful Nevada backdrop for a nicely staged picture of the goat. This is also the first antelope I killed and did it with my bow which I failed to get in the picture.

Here's another horrible long arm picture, I really wish I could go back and take these over. This was a beautiful backdrop and a nice bull, all I notice about the picture is me standing a mile behind him trying to make him look bigger.

Here are a couple pictures I'm really happy with but pictures that I forgot the weapons in.

Youngest 2021 Buck forgot the gun.

Oldest 2022 Antelope but we forgot the gun again, one of the biggest things I overlook.

Yet another where we forgot the rifle!

Oldest 2020 Bull, one of my favorites but would have been nice to have the rifle in the picture.

 

Here are a few that I'm pretty happy with but I'm still missing a weapon with several but these were taken on the recovery later on and we didn't want to pack a weapon in just for a picture.

Oldest 2022 Buck, overall I really like how this picture turned out, we probably should have done a better job with the deers head but overall I really like the picture.

Great old turkey pic, minus it's beak!


Family Elk 2020, my boys called this bull in, we shot him just before dark and walked out to meet help before tracking the bull in the middle of the night, the pics were taken around 10 or 11 after hiking back in so we didn't have the bow.

Family Buck 2020, my son shot this buck from the ridge top and we didn't want to pack the rifle into the canyon, normally I would have cropped this one down but I really liked the creek and green grass along the river.

Deer 2020, not much I would change about this picture.

This bull last year was killed right before dark, I do have some pictures of the bulls entire body but with so much black in the back ground, I'm not sure if I like the close-up or further pictures better.

This is probably the better picture of the two.

Don't have a good field photo of my 2019 bull but sometimes pack out pictures are good as well, especially if the critters are in a nasty hole!

 

Great tips and advice! I would say another one of my most common mistakes is too wide of a frame. Either taking the picture from too far back or not zooming in enough. I know the pics can be cropped, and I've done that on some (along with some other editing). But it seems like all too often it's a landscape picture and not a picture of me and the animal.

 

Here is an example of what I feel we did right on taking pictures for this hunt: We took a lot, took them from different angles, took the time to stage the deer, and after I got home I took the time to edit what I thought was the best picture to lighten everything up a bit instead of looking so gloomy and overcast (which it was...a blizzard hit about an hour later) and cropped the picture to make me and the deer the focal point...and a rare picture of me smiling. You can kind of follow along with the series of pictures in the camera roll and see how we adjusted things as far as staging and position and angle, and then I finished it with editing. The one thing I would change is the final edited picture the antlers are in front of the sage, I should have had a better position with just grass behind the head, or should have turned the head to show the antlers better on the picture before when I had grass behind. But we had actually drug this buck 30 yards or so to get to a better photo op from where he went down, and I though the location was great for a picture. Just a couple different choices and it could have been better. It really helped on this one that I had someone with me that really takes pride and time in the pictures.