I keep seeing pictures of deer that are so well posed for the pictures. By that i mean, they have the legs positioned underneath the body. I have tried this several times and can never seem to get the legs to bend all the way (especially the back legs) and to get the body to lay upright. So what tricks do i need to learn for my next picture?
They're stiff but if you push hard enough, they'll bend. There's really no trick to it. The back legs are definitely the hardest, but they'll give in eventually. The best is if you get to them before they stiffen up too much. Makes things a lot easier!
I usually just take pics of them all sprawled out and blood everywhere, or the classic truck bed pic the exception was last year when I shot my buck
Here's an easy picture pose for anyone. Setting the camera at ground level makes the picture more 3 dimensional. Using the flash, even in daylight, helps eliminate shadows. Fill the frame with the deer and the hunter. Have the hunter pose well behind the deer to keep a good deer from looking like a Jack-a-lope Make sure the hunter's hat is out of his face, head tilted back and he is smiling. This deer had a bullet hole but I paintbrushed the hole and blood away so Zach could show his friends at church and school without being overly offensive and I have the picture in my office. If you want the legs under him, start by spreading the rear legs and flipping him on his belly. That kind of locks him in place. After that, you can get the front legs like you want them; either flat in front, or folded under. Under him makes him stand taller and he will look bigger. It is usually more tactful to wipe/rinse away most of the blood for displaying in a public way. Oh yeah... stuff his tongue in his mouth or crop it out with paintbrush. Of course we all want to see the entry exit holes so we can critique your shooting skills. LOL
This year I was going to be pretty self conscious about the pictures I take. I started reading articles about "hero shots" and paid more attention to how the professionals do it in magazines and tv shows. A couple common themes I have come across: -take a lot of pictures, you can always delete them but you cant take more after the deer is dressed -clean up the blood, whether you do it in the field or using some kind of photoshop -have the body almost looking like the animal is bedded down -try to get the animal on a horizon, this makes for a cleaner background and if it is a buck he will look even bigger The other night I filled my doe tag and here is what I came up with. I probably had my buddy take 50 pictures and ended up only saving a handful. He wasnt the greatest photographer, so I went back and did a fair share of editing. For the editing I cleaned the nose of the deer, cleaned the blood off the ground, eliminated the entry hole, cropped the picture, eliminated some distant lights in the background and got rid of the red eye on me and the deer. Before: After: Before: After: By no means do I think I am a professional or anything like that. But pictures like this look so much better than "back of the truck, blood everywhere, mounting the animal" type ones.
If you can, find something that you can lean the backside of the deer on. If you're lucky, you'll find a small stump, rock, or something similiar to "lean" him against. Then, just "man handle" those legs underneath him. The idea is to pose the deer as if he was bedded down. Another trick, if the legs aren't cooperating, is to just brush some leaves up against the deer, hiding the bottom of the legs some. Oh, if you don't already know, don't guy him until AFTER you're done taking pics. If you want to clean up some of the blood, thats all well and great, but it can be hard. Make sure if you have to move him around to get him posed the way you want, not to let the lay on the ground. Keep it up above the body so that the blood doesn't come rushing out. Easier to clean up this way. Most importantly... TAKE LOTS OF PICS from many different angles. Oh and smile. Nothing I hate more than those "big bad Hunters" with their "stone cold killer" faces posing with their deer.
You really just have to work them. It takes awhile sometimes. The best way to get a deer posed nicely for these pics is to watch him fall. That way you can pick up trail right away and it makes getting the deers body into position for a pic much easier.
Good pic Boof. Well centered and good, even lighting. Camera is low to the ground and the deer and hunter are filling the frame. A great tip is to carry a roll of electrical tape with you to make a camera stand out of virtually any sapling or even an arrow stuck in the ground. It is always better to get a close shot than it is to take a long distant picture and hope to enlarge it later. This will only pixilate the photo.
