Tips for Taking Quality, Ethical Hunting Photos

[Deer Hunter]

Great article. Mossberg has some great articles, especially for Turkey hunting. Great blog for
those that never had a chance to check it out.

http://www.mossberg.com/tips-for-taking-hunting-photos/

[Fisherman]

The ones that always crack me up are the harvested deer with a tongue hanging out.

[gbk]

Awesome,agree with all.

There are more:
If taking photo with the whole animal(not an up close antler picture per say)make sure the"entire"animal is in the picture-no extremities are "cut"off.
Take as many photos as you can ,because the moment will never come back,and anything wrong can not be fixed later(shadow,weed or grass in animal face,corner of a backpack showing ,etc).
Watch the shadow of the photographer to not appear on the photo.
Try if possible to cover the antlers with Your hand as minimal as possible.Especially if it is not"monster"size.
Try different angles and different heights of taking photos-sometimes the most "unusual angle"gives the best picture.
If possible take photos with 2-3 cameras(your buddies will have their's with them I assume).Sometimes some cameras create much better pictures.
If recovering the animal at night and taking photos,watch the flashlight's if using them while taking pictures,and other surrounding man made lights ,not to play with the"true colors" or screw up the photo altogether.
Use solid rest if taking self photos-binocular case,backpack,rock ,stump.(if no one with you) and take them many-many.One of the hardest way of recording Yourself with an animal down if you are all alone. Something will always "stick"into the picture or you will "cut"something off.
Learned these the hard way.....luckily so far i managed to have even in worst cases 1-2 great photos at the end,to "save the day".

[benjhind]

To each their own.

I take photos of my hunts to remember the hunt. I don't take them to please the antis. My photos have tongues hanging out, blood and gaping holes. It is an animal that just got killed, not one I snuck up on while it was sleeping.

[LowbanksArcher]

To each their own.

I take photos of my hunts to remember the hunt. I don't take them to please the antis. My photos have tongues hanging out, blood and gaping holes. It is an animal that just got killed, not one I snuck up on while it was sleeping.

And that's completely fine for yourself and fellow hunters. It's when you share those types of photos with the non-hunting public that it can begin to form a negative image of hunters.

[benjhind]

And that's completely fine for yourself and fellow hunters. It's when you share those types of photos with the non-hunting public that it can begin to form a negative image of hunters.

The image that a bloody dead deer presents is that hunting results in bloody dead deer. If you think that this presents a "negative image" I respectfully disagree. All it presents is the truth: something has to die if you want to eat meat. That process isn't pretty, and I'm not going to pretend it is by wiping up blood and making it look like Bambi is having a nap. If someone finds the truth offensive, I'm willing to offend them.

[Jerryklimczuk]

The image that a bloody dead deer presents is that hunting results in bloody dead deer. If you think that this presents a "negative image" I respectfully disagree. All it presents is the truth: something has to die if you want to eat meat. That process isn't pretty, and I'm not going to pretend it is by wiping up blood and making it look like Bambi is having a nap. If someone finds the truth offensive, I'm willing to offend them.

X2, totally agree.

[Deer Hunter]

When I look at all my hunting pictures, the few that I took the time to clean things up are the ones I enjoy looking at most and sharing with others.

[Fox]

It is as though people want to deny that an animal is dead but rather make it look like they are sleeping.

Take your pictures however you want to and show them to those that makes sense. A butchering picture is not the one you show to your vegetarian neighbour if you want to keep in their good books but the picture showing the exit would when you clipped that tree right in front of the deer may be useful in discussions.

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

The image that a bloody dead deer presents is that hunting results in bloody dead deer. If you think that this presents a "negative image" I respectfully disagree. All it presents is the truth: something has to die if you want to eat meat. That process isn't pretty, and I'm not going to pretend it is by wiping up blood and making it look like Bambi is having a nap. If someone finds the truth offensive, I'm willing to offend them.

Well said. I don't spend much time worrying about what others think. If I did that would be a waste of valuable time...