Tony, you shoot the absolute BEST photos I've ever seen anywhere. Have you considered a career in photography? . Attached is the best I could do.... jorge

nice technique,but you gotta get in shape man or those lions will eat you up

And the first person goes on my ignore list.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
nice technique,but you gotta get in shape man or those lions will eat you up

-

quote:

Originally posted by bulldog563:
And the first person goes on my ignore list.

I'm glad we have this feature back.

Outdoor Writer

Thanks for posting your photos. One of your tahr photos from South Island, New Zealand I particularly remembered. With a great scene behind, snow capped mountain and rugged gully.

Unfortunately I didn't use the flash on my trophy photos this last trip to the detriment.

What photo editing software do you use?

Outdoor Writer, your fill-in flash balance is always excellent. What camera and flash combination do you use? Any hints on the settings to get that kind of balance?

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
nice technique,but you gotta get in shape man or those lions will eat you up

Funny, your mother didn't seem to think so...jorge

Replying to several posts here in one.

Jorge,

That is an excellent photo. If anything, I would have maybe used PS to balance some of the highlight and shadow areas a bit. Otherwise, it's very nice.

Nitrox,

I use an older version of Photoshop, but most image editing software offers all the same basic techniques as PS. Paintshop Pro, PS Elements or most of the software that comes bundled with the cameras have all the key functions.

The key is learning how to use them. Just for the heck of it, I took one of the photos of my bushbuck that wasn't very good and spent about 10-12 mins. with it in PS. I would have taken more time and gotten it better if it was the only one I had. Anyway, the original from the camera is first and only resized so it's the same as the the PSed one.





Wink,

This from my earlier reply to Canuck:

It all depends on the camera, i.e. which program modes it has or what level of user settings are available.

All the African and NZ photos I've posted on this site were shot with a measley 2.1 megapixel Olympus 2100 Ultra Zoom. BUT...in addition to a 10X IS lens, it has many setable options, including the ability to limit the flash output for FILL flash.

If your flash is washing out the photo, I'm guessing something is amiss with the settings.

The best place to start is with the camera manual (if you have it, of course ). See if it covers fill-flash. If not, begin by trying it in straight PROGRAM mode with the flash forced to fire if your camera allows such. Some of the lower end P&Ss don't; the flash is usable only if the light level is too low. If that doesn't work, experiment depending on the results. For example, if the flash overpowers the subject, set the exposure at -1 or whatever until you get decent results. Or you can always use straight manual mode, too. Take a reading, and set it to the the proper shutter speed but decrease the f-stop (i.e. a HIGHER number such as f5.6 to f8 to DECREASE the light) by at least 1 stop or more.

And you don't need dead animals to practice with this. Take your kids outside and use them as models. Digital photos are cheap.

Here's another balanced ambient light/flash shot of my PH, Ed Wilson, with my gemsbok. -TONY

Just thought I'd post some other trophy photos to show how fill-flash opens up those nasty dark shadows under hat brims. In this case, the critters have scales rather than hair.

All the fish are out of Mexico's Lake El Salto. I'll be there again in about two weeks. -TONY

ESPN host Mark Zona


My fishing partner Bruce Fritz


Yours truly in the two below.

It truly amazes me what Photoshop can do (I use Elements 3 and a Brilliance/Warmth Filter within an add-on called Nik Color Efx).

I hope you don't mind Tony that I took your bushbuck photo and played around for 10 minutes or so. And I would be very interested in what you think about the result.



I realize that there are probably some websites more suited to photo/image processing feedback, but I really enjoy playing with trophy photos - a hobby in and of itself. And while I certainly strive to get them right "in-camera" (and therefore have really appreciated what's been shared on this thread), being able to save even one important image by post-processing makes it worthwhile to become good at that part as well.

Best,
Jeff

Not too bad, Jeff. I probably would have cut down on the red saturation a bit on my skin to make me look more like the olive-complexioned handsome devil that I am, though.

And I agree with you about being able to do at least some rudimentary post-processing. -TONY

My PH did a great job with angles and setups, but forgot about shadows and the angle of the sun. Here is one of my warthog, and one of my zebra for example.

Here is my Gemsbok and Wildebeest:

I was just thinking how if I could take photos like Tony I could save the cost of taxidermy.

I don't think they'll look better hanging on the wall than what I've seen here.

I don't think this was mentioned yet, but just because you and your trophy are the subject of the picture doesn't mean it's mandatory that you look right into the camera lens. Try moving the camera off to one side or the other from dead center.

This also helps take the glint off eyeglasses.

Frans,

That's a nice shot, and it would be quite easy to lighten the face shadows a bit. Also, I probably would have cleaned up some of the tall grass a bit.

Not sure about your camera, but that pre-flash is normally for red-eye reduction. And if it has that, I bet it also has a fill-flash setting.

nomrcy,

You're right. Your PH did good with the poses. I did a bit of work to two of them, but it was difficult to do a lot because they had already been played with and compressed quite a bit. It's always better to start with all the pixels in place. Anyway, here are the results. -TONY

I definitely need to put some time into figuring this type of software out!

As for grass, you are right Tony. This was actually the moose's second location. I have some shots from the first location where I trimmed the grass, and used some bright foliage to provide contrast around the head and some of the body and to cover up blood.

Frans,

oh, I like that one mucho better. Great color and nice to see a vertical camera orientation for a change. Good job!

Here's a bit of tweaking. -TONY

Tony, I really like your photos. Now we need to have photoshop create a technique to make US look younger.

quote:

Good job!
Here's a bit of tweaking. -TONY

Thanks. I recall running some pics through a five step enhancement process, and especially the colours seem to brighten up quite a bit. Really nice.

Frans

quote:

nomrcy,

You're right. Your PH did good with the poses. I did a bit of work to two of them, but it was difficult to do a lot because they had already been played with and compressed quite a bit. It's always better to start with all the pixels in place. Anyway, here are the results. -TONY

Tony-
thanks-the photos look much better! I have high resolution photos saved, but figured they would be too big to post. Maybe I could e-mail them or something. You do awesome work!
Jason

Hey Chic,

You need to pay more attention to what's available out there. I have two plug-ins for Photoshop. One is a called a grey hair dyer and the other is a wrinkle remover. You can purchase them from CompUSA. Just show them your AARP card and you get a 10% discount. -TONY

These pics are great, what i want to know is how do you get the big animals in these very posed positions. this guy from lat week weighed about 1200 lbs, I shot him the hight before gutted him and then came back, it took foru of us and a quad to get him to here, but the photo doesn't really show the huge size opf the body.

500,

That's certainly a unique giraffe photo. I would have moved in a bit closer to fill the frame, but otherwise it's neat. -TONY