Page 25 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

kELLy ADAmS/ODWC QUICK PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

• Pay attention to the sun. Bright sunlight from directly
overhead creates bad shadows, so photos at noon are
usually not as good. If you must, use the flash to cast
light into the dark shadows. Some of the best sun-
light occurs during the “golden hours” around sunrise
and sunset. Don’t take a picture looking directly into
the sun or in a backlighted situation; best results are
when the sun is placed at a 45-degree angle in front
of the subject. Finally, make sure the lighting is even,
either all sunlit or all shade. Photos taken under a tree
on a sunny day often produce blobs of light and dark
across the subjects.

• Pay attention to the focus. If you have to choose, make
sure the sharpest focus is on the animal. If the sports-
man is sharp but the animal is blurry, the photo is much
less effective. Of course, having both the sportsman
and the animal in focus is best. When the camera is
too close to the subject, focus problems are more likely.
Original Back up a little (not too far), and the focus in the overall
image should improve.

• Pay attention to the shooting angle and image orien-
tation. The photographer should consider lowering
himself to be at eye-level with the sportsman or get
on the same level as the animal. This usually means
getting close to the ground, but the results are much
more pleasing to the eye. Also, don’t allow yourself
to be trapped into horizontal-only photos; be sure to
take some photos that are vertically composed. Finally,
don’t be afraid to fill the frame with your subjects; you
won’t want to be using a magnifying glass on the photo
to tell what type of fish was caught.

• Pay attention to the background. A thicket of brush,
leaves or trees can often overwhelm the subjects in
outdoor photos. Choose backgrounds that are distant,
or shoot against the sky to minimize visual competition.

• Pay attention to the sportsman. Be aware of shadows
under the cap of a hat, or sunglasses that obscure most
Cropped of the face. Are safety rules being observed, such as life
jackets and hunter orange clothing? Smiles always look
In the moment, sometimes photographers do not have time to think
about the rule of thirds. Luckily, there are several options for edit- better than frowns.
ing photographs later. The crop function is one of the most utilized
post-production tools used by photographers.

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