Voted as the PSNWA 2008 Photographer of the Year, Todd Whetstine is a wildlife and landscape photographer in NWA who spends his time searching the region’s woods and waters for the perfect shot. To read more about Todd and to see some of his photography, visit his website at : http://www.wildwoodsphotography.com.Whether downing your limit of ducks, or finally catching up to that big buck you’ve been after for months, some of the proudest moments for hunters are often captured on film posing with their harvest. Taking these stationary photos seem simple enough. Hunter. Harvest. Shotgun, rifle or bow — all placed neatly within camera-shot. However, there are several points to keep in mind to increase your chances of taking a great photo. Here are four of the most important:
Fill the Frame - If your son shoots a nice buck. Step up! Focus on what is important: your son and his buck, not his shoes, his truck or any thing else. Step close enough or zoom in to fill the frame with your subject. If you’re snapping a shot of your friend sitting on the ground with the head of the fresh kill proudly displayed in his/her lap. I think you should take a knee to get eye to eye with your subject. Keep in mind this will dramatically change the background. Avoid Background Clutter - Keep clutter out of the background. If it doesn't add to the photo then it takes a little away. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid every single background object due to the surrounding environment. Instead of a beautiful sunset, rolling hills, or any other striking backdrop, you could have houses or a highway, etc. The solution? Adjust your depth-of-field. By stopping down your aperture to say, f 5.6, only the subject in the foreground of the image will be in focus. Everything in the background will be blurred, hence, making your main subject the focal point of the image.
Don't Crop! Step a little closer, or zoom in. Fill the frame with your subject! Cropping out a part of the picture throws away pixels. Remaining pixels will become larger, and the photo will not be as sharp.
Focus on the Eyes. When you're taking pictures of you your kids, or pets or wildlife—after you get down to their level—be sure to focus on the eyes. If nothing else is sharp due to a wide aperture setting (small f-stop number i.e. f 4, f5.6, etc.), sharp eyes are the target you’re shooting for.
This week, it’s pretty simple:
1. Fill the frame.
2. Get eye to eye.
3. Watch for background clutter.
4. Most important, focus on the subject’s eyes.
As you can see in this photo, I focused on the eyes of the buck.
I think the photo would be better if I had focused on the eyes of my friend. What do you think?
If you have any question or comments, or would like to send a photo to me to critique contact me:
wildwoodsphotography.com
