Capturing a Picture of your Trophy

Capturing a Picture of your Trophy

By Aaron Stonehocker

Landing the lunker or blood tracking your biggest deer yet to its final resting point is about as good as it gets for the sportsman. These moments turn your average day fishing or hunting into a day worthy of a chapter in “Chicken Soup for the Sportsman’s Soul”. Of course you will remember this moment in all its glory for a lifetime, but when it comes to sharing the moment with your friends and family, a great picture is an awesome addition to your tall tale.

My biggest buck is more than a trophy set of horns to me. The story that I tell is more centered on the passing of my grandfather and the events that ensued after the kill than the 300 pounds of deer and 160 inches of bone on its head. The picture I took of it hanging in the shed with my old flip phone was less than worthy of the story of what really happened that day. I have since learned a thing or two about outdoor photography and videography, and here are a few insights that will focus your photography skills when it comes time to capture your next trophy.

The vast selection of camera styles and features warrants its own article, so I will focus on the basic needs for taking a quality picture. First off, you will want to bring along a digital camera. While disposable and film cameras work fine, you do not know what you have until you print the photos off. Digital pictures can be viewed and deleted in a second and will allow you to take as many pictures as you need until you get the perfect shot. Digital cameras can be as simple as our modern cell phones to as sophisticated as one could desire with DSLR models that can cost upwards of a thousand dollars. Resolution is the biggest factor here and I would make sure that your camera is packing at least 12 mega pixels in order to ensure the best quality of your photo. Everything else is simply bells and whistles. Once you have decided on a camera, there are a few considerations that will ensure the quality of your picture: lighting, shadows, focal point, and angles.

Lighting is probably the most important factor to consider when taking a picture of your trophy. Not enough light will give you a very dark and not very detailed photo, while too much light will cause glare and blend many of the elements in the picture together. It is not necessary to bring a full photography flash set with you to the woods, but try to keep in mind the lighting you can use that is natural to the scene. The sun is a great tool to get the perfect lighting as you can change its effects based on the angle of the shot. If the sun is not an option due to it getting dark or being overcast, most cameras do have a flash that can illuminate the photo for you. Take a few shots from different angles to find out which one shows off your trophy the best with the light you have available.

Along with lighting, you will want to consider shadows. Shadows bring out the finer details in a picture, but too much shadow will bring down the quality of the shot. To avoid this, make sure that your trophy is facing the lighting source. If the light is too bright, try to take the photo from an angle to either side in order to get the lighting you desire while not having an over shadowed picture. This will allow you to capture the detail of the trophy without causing it to be too bright or too dark.

Focal point is another important factor to consider. I am sure that you have seen photos where the subject is clear while the background is faded or blurred. This is because the camera is focused on the trophy and not the back ground. Most cameras give you the option to choose the focal point. With modern touch screen phone cameras, adjusting focus is as simple as touching the screen where you want the camera to focus. On DSLR style cameras, this option can be manual or automatic. If you are not too familiar with the manual adjustments, most cameras provide an auto focus option. If the focus is not where you want it, try pointing the camera towards another object that is either closer or further away. This will make the camera adjust its focus, and when it does, move the camera back to your trophy and it will readjust to make your trophy the new focus. Focus is probably the most difficult part of the process, so some practice at home may be a good idea. Don’t get discouraged and keep that delete button handy.

Finally, the angle of the shot can tie all of the other elements together. Different angles will give you different perspective on lighting, shadows, focal point, and other factors like the background. I like to pose my trophy in a desired position or in front of a cool background, and then take pictures from all angles. This allows me to get several perspectives and capture the best shot of the trophy. The antlers of a deer are hard to completely capture especially on a monster with loads of points or character. Taking pictures from multiple angles will allow you to really capture the detail of the trophy.

One last thing to keep in mind is that you can never take too many pictures. If you ask any professional photographer they will tell you that they always take way more pictures than they actually use. When I take pictures for my up and coming website and web show, Light The Fire Outdoors, I take about five for every one that I use. Not every shot will be perfect, so take multiple shots from all angles while changing aspects like lighting and focus. This will allow you to find the one that tells your story as good as you do.

All of these elements are things you can control to get you on your way to taking magazine quality photos of your trophy. Getting the picture that is just right is as much fun as the hunt itself. Remember above all to keep your pictures tactful, tasteful, and it doesn’t hurt to clean a little blood off the animal or tuck in that tongue! If you keep and use these simple tips your trophy photo we be worth a thousand words.