Taking pictures, photo tips

1. Beware of your back ground. Look behind your subject. Make sure you have nothing unwanted in the photo. Anything that will take away from your subject usually makes a sub par photo.

2. Fill the view finder of the camera. Zoom in,Zoom out. Try to fit as much of the subject into the picture as possible.

3. Tuck your elbows into your body. Don’t have your arms sticking out. This will result in a blurry photo. By keeping your elbows on your body tucked in, you create more stability. Of course a tri pod if you have one is best.

4.Check the speed of your film and make sure its fit for your conditions. Also use quality name brand film and keep it out of direct heat.

5. Take shots from different angles. Kneel down on your knees, stand on a chair, different angles create atmosphere.

6. Take more than one photo. If your taking a fish picture for example, have your person in the photo look at the fish. Or maybe the deer they shot. The fish or deer is the main object, by having the sub-subject look at the primary subject, the audience will focus more on the subject. People looking into the camera tend to take away from the primary subject. This will give your fish or deer a more admirable look.

7. And last but not least, teach your friend or fishing and hunting partner these few tricks. After all, you’d like to be in the photos as well. And remember, its not how big the fish is or how many points the buck has, it’s the quality of the photo that counts.

Good Luck

These are the notes I took at a seminar given by Tim Lesmeister photographer and writer for the Outdoor News, Thought i’d share a few of his suggestions for taking good photos. I had these posted for our media staff last year and will add them to Derek’s post here.
Some are repeated but thats how we remember.
1. Always use the flash- Helps fill shadows.
2. Get close enough to fill the screen- Flashes have range, take pictures from 6 ft. and under.
3. Shoot down, up or even at a slight angle- gives depth. Never straight on.
4. Watch position of the sun, sun on one side use flash on other. You can always turn the camera upside down to get flash on other side…. Push button with thumb.
5. focus/center on the fish not the person holding it.
6. Take off your sun glasses.
And most important
7. Tell the person to look at the nose of the fish, not the camera!

He had some excellent examples (photos) of common mistakes us amateurs make and these things can help us improve on them.

Great tips hooks, thanks.

Wow… good pointers . Thanks!
Dave Hoggard

Thanks for the great pointers, wow

…and hold the fish as close as you can to the camera lens while the fisherman is about 4-feet away

…and I bring a pair of kid’s gloves to paste on the fish, it makes my hands look smaller

Great posts, Hooks and Derek. I never knew that one about holding the camera upside down!

Something else to think about if you’re not using a flash, is make sure you can clearly see they eyes of the fisherman. A number of the pics I’ve taken have the eyes of my co-horts shadowed under the brim of their cap. Usually, just having them lift the cap brim up, or lift their chin up, helps a lot.

Smile!

Thanks Guys, Bill

If I may add one more tip, NEVER take a photo of a muskie with the lure in it’s mouth, or you will eventualy pay the price….ouch!!

Ouch, Terry good tip.

Sounds like experience talking with that lure!
Thumper the idea of using the flash at closer distance even on bright sunny days is to fill the shadows. That then ties into the mention of shooting the shot off center to enhance that effect and give depth.
The suggestion of holding the fish out in front of you to make it look bigger is great for the photo album, but when trying to get good cover quality photo’s this is not prefered, although I have some really good photo’s that have fooled a few doing this it gotten to be somewhat taboo to do.
The idea I want to impress upon you all is taking pictures, some of the coolest photo’s you can share here are not alway the biggest or the most. If you look at most publication covers now it’s a nice medium sized fish on them, something anyone could catch not just those run of the mill 10 Lbers. LOL
It’s the practice that makes a better photographer and with digitals today your not out anything but a little battery charge.
The other thing to try to avoid that hasn’t been discussed was what Mister Lesmiester refered to as the Infamous crotch shot, you’ll know this when you see it! Something to try and avoid!!!
Anything else guys???

Always carry a camera and have it ready to be used. You never know what you will see at any given time

I hear ya, Hooks!

I agree that you should use a flash if you have one on your camera.

I’ve always held the opinion that you don’t bring anything in the boat that you don’t mind getting wet. Even with dry-storage areas on some of the nicer boats (not mine, of course) things get wet in boats. Rain showers, spray from the bow on a run, spilled beers , minnow muckets, pike slime, even the mist coming off of the line from a casting reel.

With that in mind, I’d cringe at seeing a decent digital camera in a boat. Maybe other pockets are deeper than mine, but I wouldn’t risk it. You can probably get a marine-use digital camera, but I’m sure that’d be really expensive. For me, even the average consumer model is still a bit too spendy for me… soon.

I don’t live to even take standard 35mm cameras into the boat. I prefer the waterproof disposables available from Fuji and I believe Kodak has one too. These are great – I’ve always got one with several available shots left on it in my tackle box. Always. And with the waterproof models, you know that the picture only 14lb walleye you’ll land (and release) in your lifetime won’t be ruined by having Bobber dumping the celebratory Miller High Life over you and drenching the camera at the same time!

Only problem with these model are that they aren’t available with flashes. They’re outdoor only, typically with 400 speed film. I’d really like to find these waterproof, disposable cameras with a flash.

And do you mean it’s taboo to hold the fish sooooo close to the camera that you can see the reflection of the photographer in the fish’s eye?!?

…and what’s the Infamous Crotch Shot, and does it hurt?!?

Thanks for all the good tips!