Taking Better Trophy Photographs

This season, instead of pictures with the buck in the bed of a pickup, hanging from a tree, laying on the floor of the shop, take the time to capture a photographic memory of that hunt that will be a wall hanger right along with your trophy!
For those of you wanting to improve the quality of your hunting memory photos, here are some simple tips.
 
1) Think Like a Photographer
Find a good location with a background habitat that is similar to that of where you hunt. Better yet, take the photos at the site of the kill (the background alone if taken at the hunt site can create a richer and fuller memory of the hunt) If such conditions are not favorable at the hunt site, no worries, be creative. Such backdrops as lake or stream bank, a small stand of trees, even a fencerow will work.  A photo with your deer stand in the background, the cabin, deer camp etc also serves to preserve the memory of the day. The key is to keep background distractions to a minimum, and take the time to set up the shot.  A quick snap with your cell phone is great for sending out to all of your pals is fun but don’t you also want a good portrait suitable to hang on the wall along side your mount or to tuck into the family Christmas card? The point here is to take the time to set up your shots.

2) Clean things up.
Yes your friends and colleagues will most like want to see exactly the damage done by your brand of broadheads or slugs, and in that case a few snaps of the entrance and exit wounds make sense. After those are captured CLEAN THINGS UP!! Take the time to grab a jug of water and some shop towels and take it to your deer. Or better yet, pack a package of wet wipes along and use them. Either method you choose, wash off the bloody spots, smooth back the hair as best you can and moisten up the eyes and nose. You can dribble some water from your water bottle into the eyes to moisten them up a bit, just wipe off and squirt a bit of water on the nose as well.  (I know some trophy and hunt photographers who go to the extreme of carrying glass eyes with them, just in case the eyes of a deer they are photographing have already sunken).  Position the deer so that a large gaping exit wound is away from the camera, or drape your jacket, bow, gun, a few leaves or small branch with a few leaves over it – (Pine boughs work especially well for this)  over it so that it isn’t quite so obvious Cleaning up isn’t just for the creatures. Give yourself a little once over as well. Ditch the bloody jacket, wipe off your face with one those handy wet wipes – spiff up a little.  Hats… oh the dreaded hat issue – While we all know that sometimes hat hair just can’t be saved… the problem with a baseball hat is that it tends to throw shadows just over your eyes and we want to see the pride and excitement in those eyes – so don a stocking hat if you must!  Alternately position your hat so the brim is a little more upward revealing more of your face and eyes.

3) Find the trophy’s best look or feature.
If you’re the one on camera duty, pose the hunter and the game with different positions and animal angles in an attempt to find the best shots. Actually take the time to look through the camera at different angles before you start clicking the shutter. Even consider moving the trophy several times to take advantage of different angles, placements and locales.  If you can – zoom in and shoot from below a particularly impressive set of antlers, cradle the head if it’s a massive old toad to help show the scale. Even if you are resting your camera on a stump and using the self timer you can achieve some of these things.

4) Take lots of photos
Most of us are shooting with digital these days and memory cards are cheap! Think about the time and money you have spent on gear, licenses, food, leases, in the pursuit of these hunting memories, so don’t skimp on the number of images you shoot!  Keep in mind that these pictures of your trophy are keepsakes, something your children and grandchildren will treasure in the years to come. If only one photo in the large number of exposures you take comes out perfectly, well then, that is all you need for a lifetime of memories.
5) Use a tripod, if you can, to stabilize your shots.
For those who have been with me when I’m shooting , you folks have just fainted at this tip – To say I’m not a fan of tripods is putting it mildly, but they can make a good shot better, and for the casual photographer they are a must, especially since many hunting trophy photos are taken in lower light conditions. Even a stump or something solid can be used to rest your camera. For those of us who spend a great deal of time in the deer woods, on a duck slough or in a spring turkey hardwood ridge a tripod with a self-timing camera should be considered a necessity.  There are plenty of light weight collapsible models out there.

6) Lighting can make or break your photos.
A high, hard sun makes for difficult lighting conditions. The best light is the slanting light of early morning or late afternoon. What we photographers call the golden hours. That’s right, about the time you want to be hunting. Sacrificing a morning or evenings hunt to ensure you are able to take some good quality photos will be worth it when the hunt is over. Taking lots of pictures can help ensure that one or more of your camera angles will work well with your light conditions. In many cases, camera angle can take advantage of the shadows and highlights the light can create. If need be move into a shady area, but watch for odd shadows from branches etc that may fall across your subjects face. If your camera has an option for fill flash - this can be very helpful in insuring that the hunter and trophy are well lit as well. If you use the flash on your camera and it seems that shadows and lighting is harsh a bit of tissue placed over the flash will diffuse and soften the light.

7) The old philosophy of making sure the sun is always at your back does not always apply.
If you are taking your photos early in the morning or later in the day, actually taking photos into or just at an angle to the sun can produce a photo with incredible detail: so be creative. Often times if the sun is at the cameras back it will create harsh shadows and squinty eyes, so remember we want to see eyes full of pride and excitement – not squinting because the mid morning sun is burning out your retinas! And speaking of the eyes – please take off your sunglasses if you are wearing them! I

I like to add a few little extras to the shots I do. A spray of golden rod, acorns, and persimmons scattered about, cattails and rushes, a branch with brightly colored leaves,  any number of natural features are usually close by and can add an extra bit of interest and color to your photo. 
I know what you’re thinking at this point – “yeah but you have all that fancy schmancy camera equipment – I have a point and shoot cheapy.” As far as a camera goes, you really don’t need anything fancy. Any camera can take a photograph that can capture the memory of the hunt worth sharing with friends and family. The key is being serious about your shot and taking your time. Having a camera with a zoom can really help the quality of your shot. If you do have a zoom lens to use,  take your photos between the 70 mm and 90 mm range.  This considered an optimal portrait range, and this is what you are trying to achieve – a trophy portrait. This focal length also helps manage the “big nose syndrome” you see in so many photos. These are shots where the animal and the hunter are so out of balance it looks unrealistic. Get down on the same level as your subject as well rather than standing and shooting when the trophy and the hunter are kneeling.

The first time you go through the routine of staging good quality trophy photos for your hunting party or friends , you may find yourself subjected to lots of moaning, groaning and hurry it up comments, folks are often in hurry to get things moving along after taking a trophy. They tend to be a little impatient, so be sure to reassure them that they will appreciate the 20 - 30 minutes that it might take to get everything done correctly for an outstanding trophy portrait.  Show them a quick preview of the initial images on your camera – they’ll usually slow right down, get in the groove and in many cases even get a little hammy and pose more!

Keep in mind, you are not just taking photos, you are capturing memories!

Fabulous Fall Fungi

Winter may be just around the corner, but now is the time to be foraging for those wonderful autumn mushrooms. The recent rains that had so many hunters vexed brought a smile to my face because after the November rains nearly always come great flushes of fall mushrooms. The last hurrah so to speak for Illinois mushroom foragers. The last few days and week have been no exception.

Each of these bundles of oysters yesterday was roughly the size of a basketball.

Depending on the host tree, age and weather conditions oyster mushrooms can have a varied appearance.

Oyster mushrooms ( Pleurotus ostreatus)
Oyster mushrooms are more than abundant right now. Just yesterday my fellow forager Adam Rutkowski and I gathered an even twenty pounds in a very short time. While oysters are the one wild mushroom I can count on to find year round., the ones that appear in late fall seem to always be bigger, more meaty and have a fuller flavor. Adam and I were finding many that were the size of a dinner plate yesterday, heavy, thick,  just one could be considered a meal. If oyster mushrooms have a downfall, it’s their propensity for hiding lots of little tiny black beetles in the gills. Luckily in the fall and winter these are at a minimum, but one can still find the little devils nestled deep in the grooves of the gills. Check the older willows, especially those with damaged areas. Chances are good you’ll find a bundle or two of the delightful white fan shaped fungi. When harvesting the oysters, just cut them away from the tree or log with a sharp knife, and trim away parts that may have grown around a sliver of bark or leaves, give them a little shake and you are set. Oysters can be prepared in most any fashion you choose. Because the oyster mushrooms have a flavor that is reminiscent of seafood, and any spice /herb mixture that compliments seafood will also compliment the oysters. A quick way to prepare the is to dip them in Italian dressing and grill for about 15 minutes. They make a delightful mushroom sandwich when paired with a good whole wheat roll.

Fellow forager Dave Austin with a great specimen of a hen of the woods.

A group of hen of the woods as they usually found at the base of a large old oak tree. How many do you see?

A close up side view of the stacks of petals that are found on a hen of the woods.

Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa)
Hen of the woods is another delicious late fall mushroom treasured by many.  One large specimen can be large enough to keep you in either frozen or dehydrated mushrooms for quite some time.
This mushroom can resemble a large ruffled chicken or grouse, and is often hard to see despite its size that ranges on the large side up to well over two feet across and 30 -40 pounds per clump or bundle. It grows at the base of living trees and stumps, where often the leaves pile up. Its coloration and layers of caps/petals strongly resemble just that, a pile of dead leaves.  It grows as a bouquet of grayish-brown, fan-shaped or spoon shaped, overlapping caps that resemble petals of a flower at times, with off center white stalks branching from a single thick base. On the underside, the pore surface is white. Like many of the mushrooms we love, hen of the woods often grows in the same locations year after year. Harvest and use only the most tender and outer regions of the bundle. Cut at the base of the stem versus just pulling out the base, if you choose to take the entire bundle. I like to “field cut” hen of the woods, much like you would harvest broccoli flowerets. While it takes a bit more time in the woods to trim away the petals from the central base, it results in a much cleaner product when arriving home and leaves more there to either produce additional petals or produce again the next year.  Use only fresh, tender portions. Simmer in salted water until tender (requires long, slow cooking), and serve as a vegetable with cream sauce; or chill after cooking and use on salads. Hen of the woods is full bodied flavorful mushroom that adds an extra bit of delight to almost any soup, stew, roast or gravy. Nothing can quite compare to fresh backstraps smothered in hen of the woods.  They can be dried or frozen for long term storage.

A small batch of hedge hogs found nestled under a the oak leaves

An underside view of the teeth or spines that are key to identifying the hedgehog mushroom

Hedgehog or Sweet Tooth (Hydnum umbilicatum )
Hedgehogs are some of the most delicious of the edible fungi, prized for their somewhat sweet taste and bug-free existence. They’re also very firm and have a great chewy (but not-too-chewy) texture. The hedgehog is also known as the fool proof mushroom as it is easy to identify and just doesn’t have any poisonous look alikes. As you can see from the photos above the key feature to the hedgehog are the long toothy spines on the underside that somewhat resemble a shag carpet. The colors of the hedgehog can range from very pale cream colored to an orange color. Most often theses are found in mixed forests and after the leaves drop can be quite the trial to initially spot as they grow close to the ground. Hedgehogs taste is considered somewhat sweet by some, and yet somewhat peppery by others. My fellow forager Dave Austin from Team SILO shared with me that he thinks the hedgehogs just might be the his favorite of all the fall mushrooms. Cleaning hedgehogs is a simple task just a few brushes with a soft brush is usually sufficient. One of hedgehogs most redeeming factors is that rarely does one find any bug visitors in hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are best prepared in ways similar to that of the summer Chanterelles - sauteed, baked, incorporated in sauces. Although it is unusual to find large numbers of the delicacies you will be rewarded with quite the tasty meal when you do stumble upon these little beauties.

Take advantage of the recent rains and keep your eyes peeled for these fall treats as you are traveling back and forth from your hunting spots. Whether they are sauteed and used to top fresh venison, roasted with duck or pheasant, or mixed into an earthy dressing for the goose - mother nature has once again provided us with foods that work well together during their respective seasons.

When The Other Shoe Drops

We have a little saying in our family - the other shoe permanently hovers above our heads - waiting to drop. We’ve decided it’s a genetic flaw of some sort. Last week it dropped, and dropped in an earth and nerve shattering free fall.
Mere days before a scheduled shoot for opening day of waterfowl season, my old trusted friend , my back up, my cropped sensor extra reach camera bit the dust. I depend heavily on two cameras with a third for those just in case moments. I don’t like to be swapping lenses in the field - way too much dirt and debris can get in the delicate electronic parts of my digital SLRS. My primary camera is a canon 5D and my back ups were Canon Rebel Xti’s. Yes WERE. Last Wednesday morning I was happily banging off shot after shot of incoming snow geese when there was a bad noise.. a very bad noise..a heart stopping, stomach churning noise - and then nothing. No amount of fiddling, coaxing, battery changing could breathe an ounce of life into the my camera. I like the cropped sensor at times better than the full frame because it gives me that little bit of extra reach with my 400mm lens. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth and many phone calls to Canon and various service partners it was determined that my faithful Xti had died an ugly death. “Lady - you just wore it out plain and simple” said the Canon rep.
Great!!! My stomach was in knots - waterfowl season opener is Saturday morning and I’m down to one “good” camera, and that raggedy old third backup camera! This is not going to work -  so I hurriedly replaced it with the new version of the Canon Rebel the T1i.
Ahhh.. back in business. I mounted up the 400 and aimed back at the sky - once again to capture the snow geese floating down into the field near Baldwin Lake. instead of the gentle soft whir of the auto focus motor on my Sigma EX 400MM there was a terrible grinding shrieking sound.. the auto focus motor on the 400 was shooting craps! More wailing and gnashing of teeth more hysterical phone calls.
” You have to understand ” I wailed to the Sigma service department ” I shoot with this lens DAILY! It’s Waterfowl Season, I have assignments, This cannot be happening right now!”
The Sigma service department was outstanding, assigned me a specific tech, who murmured kind , compassionate reassurances that she would personally expedite the warranty repairs on the lens. It was almost as if she was patting my hand and saying, ” there, there, it will be okay..”
After determining exactly when I absolutely had to have it back we formed a plan and the lens is currently in her capable hands. Sigma’s service and warranty department have always been outstanding and responsive. The four year warranty that comes with the EX series of lenses is a life saver for pro shooters such as myself who tend to really put the lenses through their paces on a daily basis.
I was crushed that I wouldn’t have my good,  dependable, 400 that was fast, gave me great image quality, and really reached out there , but I knew I could limp through with my 300mm lens in the coming days. Nestled in the blinds and pits I would have a ring side seat and hopefully I wouldn’t miss that extra 100mm of reach.
Once my initial horror wore off my spirit was lightened by the poem written by a fellow TEAM SILO member “Big Foot”. It seemed only appropriate to incorporate it into some sort of memorial, like the one above.

RIP Old Friend.

Scenes From Silver Creek Hunt Club

The Central Illinois gang of Shawn and Bryan Lacey, Rudy Knollenberg, and Scott Huschle with their of the morning totals.

Adam Rutkowski, of Team SILO scans the sky in hopes of seeing a good sized flock of incoming ducks.

Saturday morning I had the most enjoyable experience covering Southern Zone opening day at Silver Creek Hunt Club in Freeburg, Illinois. The anticipation over breakfast and during the blind drawing was so thick it was nearly palpable in the air. But it was an anticipation mixed with some cautious optimism.
The temps were warm, the neighborhood had been fighting flood waters, lots of beans and corn still standing. I’ve been scouting for several weeks now in southwestern Illinois and just had not been seeing any good numbers of ducks. Geese were starting to pick up some but the ducks just haven’t been making their presence known to me.
Scott Huschle, club manager shared with me that he too was cautiously optimistic. “Usually we start really getting the ducks in when the hunting pressure on the nearby Kaskaskia River picks up. With it just now coming down from flood stage and things being so rough on it, the pressure over there hasn’t hit. “
It wasn’t long though before we heard frantic calling quickly followed by a volley of shots from a pit behind us on the clubs “big lake”.  The crew that was so gracious to share those first few hours of the morning with me agreed, at least somebody was having some luck.

As the morning wore on, I started to receive some text and a few humorous photo messages on my phone. Every single one was of similar nature – NO DUCKS – NO BIRDS.  Here it is 24 hours later and I’m still waiting to hear from some of my colleagues and companions who had a successful morning. I have suspiciously empty in box both e mail and on the phone.  From that I can only conclude that it was not a stellar opening day in the Southern Zone.

This is not to say that everyone got skunked at Silver Creek. Birds were taken, and one of Silver Creek’s successful hunters, Shawn Lacey of laughed, “I’ve been hunting Central zone too, hadn’t had any luck up there. This is the best morning I’ve had all season. I’m really, really, happy with the way things went this morning!” 
Huge numbers - no but still a good way to start the season. I’m eagerly looking forward to more and more days afield with the members of Silver Creek and keeping myself busy as can be shooting more happy and satisfied waterfowl hunters as the season progresses and conditions improve across the Southern Zone. 

Ready for Waterfowl!

About 4 AM these days the routine at our house goes something like this: “Oh Yeah” my husband grumbles through half closed eyes, “It’s that duck time again isn’t it..” then promptly pulls the blanket over his head and mutters something that I think is supposed to mean “have fun, good luck, hope you see lots of birds” .  Needless to say he doesn’t exactly share my enthusiasm for waterfowl.

It seems that all I’ve been doing for the last several weeks is trolling around the sloughs, the lakes, the rivers trying to find ducks. Without much success – there are a few floating around here and there but not the good numbers I’ve come to enjoy in midwinter. Seems like every conversation I’ve had lately starts out, “so how are the birds at ______just fill in the blank with the duck hunting hole of your choice. Friends are sending me emails and calling with their scouting reports. Southern Zone hunters are antsy and ready to hit the water and the fields Saturday morning.

I wasn’t always such a nut about waterfowl but last year Scott Huschle of Down River Game Calls and Adam Rutkowski of Team SILO rather created a monster. I’ve always enjoyed photographing the waterfowl – but the more I learned from these fellows last year the more I came to love the whole waterfowl hunting process –  listening to the fellows work the calls and bring the birds in, the raucous sound of a big group of snows dropping in, the squeaks and whistles and peeps of the ducks, as they float down into a spread.

And then there are the dogs – watching the dogs work filled me with awe.  Off like a rocket and so proud when they bring in the duck or goose, eyes blazing and running full tilt.
So I’m waiting anxiously for Saturday morning to get here. I’ll be at Silver Creek Hunt Club, hoping with the rest that are there that the birds come in, the shots are true and the dogs wor