Cover All the Angles

Yesterday morning I went off in search of a deer. It's been quite awhile since I have done any deer photography. I hit all my usual spots and didn't see a single buck. As a last resort I hit an old ranch house that sometimes works but parking along the road is pretty iffy. Sure enough there was a nice little three point buck lying out in a field near the ranch house. I made a a couple of U turns and managed to barely squeeze my car off the road into a wide spot on the shoulder. Then I walked about fifty feet down the road and up to the fence lining the field. I was surprised to see the buck wasn't very concerned at all that I was there. He kept his eyes on me but at least he didn't get up and bolt off into the forest. With such an agreeable model I photographed him from a variety of different spots and angles with different backgrounds. Deer look bigger if you photograph them from a low spot looking uphill so I got down low to my knees. I photographed him up close and full bodied in scenic format. I made sure to get some tight portraits as well for those cover shots. You never know when you need a vertical for a cover. So whenever you are out photographing if you find something great to photograph be sure to take the time if possible to look at your subject from a different angle or point of view. You might be surprised at what you find. Go out there and enjoy your day and God's blessings to you, chris

Revisiting an Old Scene

I spent a great time yesterday photographing Acorn Woodpeckers. I also revisited two old images that I have photographed in the past. One of the ways that you can improve your photography is to reshoot old scenes that you have photographed before. You can try another angle, photograph from either a higher or lower position. Try visualizing it from a different location. If you photographed it at sunrise try shooting it at sunset instead. In my particular situation I have photographed this one oak tree before. The last time I photographed it was about a year ago when I photographed it at sunrise in beautiful pink light. Yesterday the fog was thick as I drove past it on my way to my photoblind. Hmmnn.. I thought to myself. "That looks pretty interesting in the fog. I photographed from a couple different angles and then chose the best one for today's photoblog. The farm implement too has been photographed before. I think it was it was just last week. This time I noticed the silhouettes of the horses behind it added an added dimension that was really cool. As the horses grazed I kept moving my tripod trying to get a good angle of them. I was also shooting through a deer fence. This was done by putting the camera lens right up against the fence and not stopping don too far to allow the fence pattern to show through. So when you are out photographing a landscape or a scene again in the future look for ways that it can be photographed in a new and different way. God's love and blessings upon your weekend, chris Both images photographed with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens supported on a Manfrotto 055PROBX tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead.