A nice picture of your trophy is a pleasure every time you see it, or share it with someone else, or send it to a magazine, or put it on the Internet. 

The main thing is to make the animal look as good as possible. A little effort makes a big difference.

First, take the picture where there is nothing between the camera and you. Branches, saplings and brush in front of you can create shadows and out of focus areas in the photograph and interfere with the view of your trophy. It will only tak a couple of minutes to trim or move them out of the way.

Our game animals are beautiful creatures and their last remembrance should show this. Little things count. Tuck their tongues back in their mouths. Make sure there is no blood on the game or the ground and never show the arrow in the animal.

Clean Up The Animal:
Remove any dirt, leaves or debris. Leaves do a great job of removing blood from their coat and leaves can always be tossed on any blood that is on the ground. I always carry a small towel in my fanny pack to do clean up the face and nose if it needs it, it helps.

Positioning:
Sometimes the trophy doesn't look so hot if their legs are sticking straight out
in front of them. One trick the pro's use is to tuck the legs up under the body. It shows a broadside view of the animal that really looks good, plus it is easier to support the head. If for some reason you can't do this, and the animal is gutted, then turn it over so the top side is showing, rather than the opened belly and the outstretched legs.

Take Several Pictures:
Heck, go ahead and burn a roll of film. You'll be surprised at the difference from one picture to the next, and you can pick the best for show.

Turn The Camera:
Have some pictures taken with the camera held normally and then closer and with the camera at a right angle.

Get Close: 
Be sure the person with the camera is close enough. A common error in hunting pics is that they are more landscape than hunter and game. You do want to be sure they photograph all of you and all of your animal, but not a lot else is needed.

Get Down: 
A shot angle that is eye to eye with you or between the animals head and yours will look better than one where the photographer is hovering over you.

In The Bed Of A Pick Up: 
One word, don't.

In The Front Yard By The Begonia Bushes: 
Again, don't.

The Sky:
Camera savvy professional photographers can get a great picture with the sky as a background. Chances are, unless you really know cameras, you will get an overexposed, washed out picture. Get some pictures from a different angle just in case.

The Sun:
The sun should be to your front and slightly to the side. Always avoid getting the photographers shadow in the picture.

A Buck's Antlers: 
Notice how the professional writers hold the antlers of a buck by their thumb and fingers, with their hands behind the antler, rather than wrapping their hand around the antlers. It shows more of antlers.

Putting Your Pictures On The Net: 
When you have your pictures developed tell them that you also want your pictures on Disk. This costs from $3.00 to $5.00 and you have the making for a pic that you can have prepared to be on a web page. If the photo place offers you a choice between a .GIF or .JPG format, tell them you want the .JPG. The pic you receive will be too large for a web page and it will have to be resized in a photo working program.

Robert Hoague
Webmaster, Bowhunting Net