Kill Photos

NeverStopHuntin · Oct 1, 2008

I was just wondering what your favorite set up is for kill photos and any advice you might have. I will be tagging along on a few hunts this year and i am getting close to drawing some good tags. I think that the kill photos are important. What lens/MM, Shutter speed, apeture, ISO, camera settings etc. I would really appreciate if anyone could post your favorite kill photos.
Thanks
Ryan

wfm · Oct 1, 2008

Make sure you use digital so you can check each photo after you shoot each frame. Try to use a camera with atleast 6 megapixels or better for blowing up purposes. Make sure to shoot vertical pictures along with horizontal and shoot with the flash on and off 200 ISO F8 or above to get all In focus try and set up on tripod and use remote control unless you have VR. Try to get blue sky In background so you dont loose the horns In the trees and foreground. If you can use a polarizer so your blue background will pop!
What the heck do I know just my 2 cents.

lve2143 · Oct 1, 2008

Great post Ryan.
Cant wait to see some
good examples.

Larry

Bambistew · Oct 2, 2008

I'm not much of a photographer... but IMO the position of the animal and the hunter are the biggest things to worry about.

I make sure to tuck all the legs under if you can and prop the animal up so it looks like its laying down, put the tounge back in its mouth, and wash off any blood.

Sit the hunter behind the animal on his butt, or kneeling if its a big animal. Sun in face if possible, if the sun is high in the sky... it will make for tough field photos.

Blue sky for a backdrop is great if you can get it... also make sure you clear away any underbursh, or rubbish in the foreground.

Here's a few good ones and a few 'OK' ones. I seem to have got better as I've progressed. Shooting pictures by your slef is pretty tough IMO, but I do the best I can. A small tripod makes all the diffrence in the world.

This was around noon... not much we could do for better pictures, minus hauling him to a new location... that wasn't going to happen.

http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/1/2/4/8/Kudu.jpg[img]

flash would have helped on this one.

[img]http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/1/2/4/8/impala.jpg

washing the blood and tusks off really made this photo.

This is one of my favorite pictures... this is an old scan of the original, which is much better. Wish I would have tucked the legs under however.

would have been better if I was sitting, with the mountains as the backdrop, and the cow not in the picture.

Less ground clutter would have REALLY made this a sweet picture. The sky was changing by the second, but I love this picture. The buck isn't to bad either.

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

Howdy Ryan, where you been? Hopefully it won't be too long before we can go photograph a few critters together.

I've been busy bowhunting almost everyday since the season opened. Let's get together soon. I plan to go photograph some sheep next month sometime. Any interest?

Now back to your thread----I'm an old dude and I've been around the block when it comes to taking photos of dead critters, and for many years they were terrible and I realize now its because I did not understand the basics. Now it hurts me bad to see guys or gals with a once in a lifetime critter making the same mistakes I made. Each critter we get gives us only one single chance to make it good. There are a few secrets to doing this and hopefully this thread will bring many of those out.

I don't intend to cover each and every issue, but I will hit on a few major ones by showing you some stuff from last Sunday. Hopefully some of you will pick up some suggestions.

Let me set the background a bit. My son and I both had Wyoming antelpe tags this fall and we are both die hard bowhunters. We both tried hard and long to get dandy bucks, but that didn't happen. But on the last day we could hunt, we both killed bucks. My son killed his about 11 in the morning, and I got mine about 2 hours later. Both were taken with an arrow and both could not have more bloody. It just so happened that I took a few photos just so I could do a thread like this on the Bowsite.com.

So I will post some photos and then explain a litte with each photo.

But before I do that, there are a few very basic rules everyone needs to know----and here they are!

Always carry a camera with you no natter what---that way you can take field photos. It didn't live or die in the back of your truck or on your front lawn, or in your garage or draped over your four wheeler. Do the critter justice and take them where they lived and died!

Here's the photo of my sons buck and how it looked where it died. I took a few photos just to show the example of what we had to work with and some of the things on should never do.

Cean up the blood and don't cut off the head of the critter and/ or the hunter!

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

Make sure you pick up the packs, move trucks, four wheelers, and the other things that should not be in the photo. Make sure other people who are not in the photo are not there like in this photo.

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

Make sure the tongue is cut off or placed back in the mouth. Notice all the clutter in this photo. It would be better not taken that to look like this, and yet many hunters make these mistakes, just like I USED to.

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

Like mentioned above, I took my buck several hours later. Here's how it looked and what I had to work with. Not many people like to veiw photos like this. They simply just don't look good! And they don't have to look that way with a little thought, and you will see waht I mean in the next few posts.

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

That's the difference a small amount of thought, time and a little effort to clean them up, can do.

Which photos would you prefer in you album and to show your friends?

Here's what we did in a nutshell. We washed off he blood, put paper towels in their nose and mouth to keep them clean and to keep it from running down as we photographed our bucks. We dried them with paper towels, but could have used and old pair of underwear or an old T-shirt. A littel water is a must on critters like antelope as they are about as hard to clean up as any critter.

We made sure the tongue was not hanging out, and folded the critter up like someone abovoe mentioned. It took all of 10 minutes on each critter but now we have some appealing photos to remember that fun day for the rest of our lives.

The dividends are great for the small time and effort afforded.

Have a good one. BB

P. S. Ryan, give me a call sometime so we can plan something.

buglinbilly · Oct 2, 2008

Sorry, I didn't proof read it, but hopefully most of you can understand what I am trying to say. I intended to give you this link. It's the story of our 08 antelope hunt. It has lots of photos and way more detail about cleaning the critters up if any of you have any interest.

http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=356910&messages=113&forum=8

I wish you all a safe and fun fall. Let's all tread lightly and take care of this great earth the good Lord is allowing us to use. BB

littlejoe · Oct 2, 2008

Blue sky, blue sky, blue sky if at all possible. I also agree with tucking the legs. I always cut off the tongue as well so there are no chances it will show. I always take 4 of the exact same everything. 2 with flash forced on and 2 with it off. I will take the time to clear the area of leaves, twigs, anything sticking up in front of the animal. 75% of my photos are taken while lying down and the other 25% kneeling. Seldom if ever do I shoot downward. I will take photos at the kill sight as well as if at all possible haul the animal to a ridge top for blue sky. Sounds like a pain but well worth it in the long run. For moose pics, I love to dig the nose in the ground and push the horns forward. I am also very picky about the position of the hunters hands on the head/neck. I don't want them to show if at all possible. The camera is a big deal as well. From what I am reading 8 megapixel is becoming the standard bottom end for quality enlargement. You can never take to many pictures. I recently snapped 93 of my friends Idaho moose and honestly there is only about a half dozen that I think are quality. Another key for me is making sure the hunter is not anywhere near the head/horns. I want the horns to have the background behind them, not any part of the hunter. These are just a few things that I do. I know without a doubt that the more you take the better you become.

NeverStopHuntin · Oct 2, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Oct-02-08 AT 10:10PM (MST)[p]Bill,
Its good to hear from ya. Congrats on some nice goats. The color and clarity in those photos are very impressive. I have emailed you a few times with no response i was wondering if they ended up in the junk folder or something. I just sent you an email let me know if you get it. I would really like to go photograph sheep. Where are you headed? I am leaving for a new mexico elk hunt saturday and when i get back i have to go to california for a helicopter safety course but when all that is done i've got nothin but time.

NeverStopHuntin · Oct 2, 2008

I really appreciate the comments that everyone has made. I love to learn and try to improve. I shoot a nikon d80 so i think i am okay on megapixels. Blood and tongue hanging out has always bothered me so i take care to clean up those things. I know that every situation is going to be different but do you have a certain lens MM and apeture that you like to use?

OutdoorWriter · Oct 3, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Oct-03-08 AT 09:12AM (MST)[p]Use fill flash, use a WA lens to get better depth of field, use fill flash, use a small f-stop (higher number such as f-8) to get better depth of field, use fill flash, shoot tight from a low angle, use fill flash, get rid of clutter in front of the critter and use fill flash. Lastly, be sure to use fill flash no matter how bright or sunny it is. ;-) -TONY

NeverStopHuntin · Oct 3, 2008

Thanks Tony, the picture of the tur is beautiful. Atleast i think it is a tur. I'm not sure.

OutdoorWriter · Oct 3, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Oct-03-08 AT 10:14AM (MST)[p]Yep, it's a tahr from New Zealand. -TONY

TONY MANDILE

How To Hunt Coues Deer

littlejoe · Oct 3, 2008

Tony, Who did you hunt your Tahr with? I have been looking at going with Gary Herbert or Shane Johnston? Any info you can provide would be great.

CUTTHROAT · Oct 3, 2008

What about a fill flash?

Another tip...take lots of pictures with at least several different angles. Take dozens if you can...sort em out later.

OutdoorWriter · Oct 3, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Oct-03-08 AT 01:29PM (MST)[p]>Tony, Who did you hunt your
>Tahr with? I have been
>looking at going with Gary
>Herbert or Shane Johnston? Any
>info you can provide would
>be great.

His name is Tim Buma (in the last photo). He's an excellent hunter/guide. Really knows his stuff.

At the time, he was running his own guiding service/lodge. He now manages this opertaion:

www.newzealandtrophyhunting.com

TONY MANDILE

How To Hunt Coues Deer

wyohikeit · Oct 5, 2008

Excellent post men!!!
I wish all hunters could see this!
Those old blood and guts pics no one wants to see.

Time in the hills is always worth more than money

vichris · Nov 1, 2008

Wow great post and excellent tips by BB.

Here's a couple more tips you all might find handy.

So lets say you do take some crappy pics with blood and guts. Sometimes it's tough to get it all done. Well theres no reason you can't clean up those pics by cropping or just use a little forthought and get some pics at better angles.

Heres a couple of examples.

Some blood and guts

Cropped and cleaned up

Here's a better angle