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Taking Trophy Photos of Your Coues Buck

By Doug Koepsel (aka Red Rabbit) 

You have spent months preparing for the hunt. Spend just a few extra minutes to take some quality trophy shots to preserve the moment.  It takes about the same amount of time to take a good field photo as a bad one. 

You want to feature the animal and you the hunter, in a pleasing, respectful manner.   Mostly, you will want to showcase your trophy, regardless of antler size. 

Photo Location: 

Take the time to think about how you can improve the photo by looking at different spots nearby, and then move the deer to where you want to take the photo.  Think about the type of background you may want in the photo.  A nice colorful background like a sunlit, green hill may enhance the photo.  Maybe there is an interesting old oak tree nearby or an attractive rock formation to have show to the side of the background.  Look around you and see what draws your eye.   

If it’s dark, shaded and brushy where the deer is laying, perhaps there is a more open, better lit and less cluttered spot nearby that would make a better location for a photo.  You don’t want a lot of sticks and branches behind the deer since it will make it harder to see the antlers clearly. Putting the deer atop a small rise will allow the deer to be skylined in a photo taken with a slight upward angle; this will showcase the antlers well.   

A deer set against a vibrant sunset makes for an eye-catching photo.  Be sure to meter the exposure on the sky and use a flash, less the deer is underexposed.  Bracket your exposures +/- by a couple of stops. 

Preparing the Deer: 

Wipe off any blood around the mouth, nose and body.  Use water, TP, or carry some Wet Wipes for this purpose.  You may need to put some toweling way up the nose to stop any blood drainage (make sure the toweling doesn’t show).  Wiping any bloody areas with dirt and brushing the dirt off may help.  Cover any visible wound with foliage or rocks, or turn the animal so the wound is on the off-side.  Cover any blood on the ground that will be in the photo with dirt, rocks, grass.  Don’t forget about any blood on your hands. 

Tuck the tongue back in the mouth if it is hanging out; or, if necessary, use your knife to cut it off. 

Fold and tuck the legs under the body and keep the animal upright, not lying on its side. 

Make sure the area is clean and uncluttered.  Don’t leave all your gear from your hunting pack scattered around in the foreground or background.   

Body Positioning: 

Having the antlers show against the sky or clouds will highlight them.  Antlers will also show up well against a grassy hill.  Don’t choose a tree for a background whose branches will camouflage the antlers.  

You can sit behind the deer so only your upper torso is visible, or sit next to the buck’s head.  Sit with your legs folded and tucked also, rather than sprawled. 

To highlight the antlers, have your head below the antler tops.

You can have equal billing with the deer if you have your head even with the antlers.  Make sure the antlers are not in front of your face. 

You can enhance the size of the antlers and head be sitting further back behind the body, and using a closely placed camera with a wide angle and high f-stop setting (ala Chuck Adams). 

Having the head pointed directly at the camera will accentuate the rack’s width, but may hide some points.  A slight quartering turn will show the points better.  Have the head level or tilted down slightly.  Having the head tilted back will hide and diminish the antlers and make one look up the nasal passages. 

Hold the deer’s head up with one, gentle hand.  If possible, hold behind the neck or offside jaw base to hide your hand, or under base of the chin. Try not to hold up by gripping the antlers with two full hands.  Using a stick to prop the head or antlers is not pleasing. 

Smile!  Look at the camera or at the deer in admiration. 

Camera Positioning: 

The camera should be near eye level with the deer.  Have the photographer kneel or lie low, or use a tripod. 

Taking photos from well above the deer and hunter, with the photographer standing, diminishes the stature of you and the deer.  Too much of an upward angle by taking the picture from well below is an undesirable angle also. 

Lighting: 

Morning or evening lighting provides great lighting for warmth, color and detail.  Midday sunlight gives poorer colors and will wash out detail.  Use a fill flash during midday.  A polarizing filter will help eliminate glare that hides color and detail, and put a darker blue in the sky.  If the sun is from behind the deer, be sure to use a flash. 

A fill flash will help illuminate the shadows in the deer’s and your faces.  Tilt your cap back a little to help eliminate shadows on your face.  A fill flash in the middle of the day will also highlight you and the deer by illuminating you.  Take some photos both with and without a flash. 

The flash will make the deer’s eyes glow bluish green.  A set of glass eyes from a taxidermist or pieces of electrical tape on the eyeballs will stop this “demon-possessed” look.   

Be sure the sun is not casting any shadows from the antlers across your face, or your shadow upon the deer’s head.  Be aware of the shadow cast by the photographer or tripod. 

Camera Settings:

Using the aperture priority mode, set the aperture to a low f-stop, like 2.8   Or use the portrait setting which usually chooses a wide aperture.  This will give a shallower depth of field.  The background and foreground will be out of focus, and this will draw the viewer to the focused deer and you. 

Choosing a high f-stop like f-16 will give a greater depth of field and allow both the deer and background to remain in focus. 

Set the digital camera’s picture quality to its highest setting.  If you are still using film, choose a film with a low ASA like 64 or 100 for finer detail, better color saturation, and less grain. 

Spot meter the exposure on the deer, not on the sky. 

Focus the camera on the deer’s eyes, as you would a person’s eyes for a portrait shot. 

Use a partial flash setting, rather than a full flash setting if you can, so detail and color are not washed out.  The flash is to just fill in the shadows.   

Use a polarizing filter to reduce glare and enhance colors. 

Use a tripod to get a steady camera and sharper photos.   

Use a remote shutter to allow you to have the proper position before taking the picture.  A self timer may not give but a few seconds to scurry into place.

 Other Tips: 

Remove blaze orange as it will mess with exposures and will focus the picture viewer’s attention away from the deer. 

Pull or bend over any grass that sticks up in the way between the camera and your and the deer’s heads.   Bend down behind the camera and look for obstructions. 

If you forgot your camera in your pack, or had no time right before nightfall, set the deer up outside of camp the next morning and take some good photos. 

To highlight your rifle, hold it in your hands, cradle it in your arm, or lay it against the deer’s body. Don’t have the muzzle pointing at you, even if it is unloaded (and it should be at this point).  Don’t lay the rifle across the antlers like in a gun rack. 

Field Dress the deer AFTER the photo session.  Nothing like a bloody, slit gut on the deer’s belly and gut pile in the background to make for an attractive photo. 

Please, no tailgates, tree hangings, garage floors, hanging tongues, or blood.  Don’t sit on the animal.  

Take plenty of various photos to capture the best exposure, shot angle and your facial expression.  You may want to photograph from the shooting position to where the deer stood, or form the deer back to the shooting position.  Take photos of the surrounding terrain.  Take enough photos to tell a story of your hunt ( the pack/hike in and out, camp, animals, scenery, distinguishing landmarks, sunsets, flowers, etc.).  Film is cheap in the broad scheme of things 

Look at various hunting magazines that have quality photos, like Eastmans, Muley Crazy, Trophy Hunter, and look at the good and the bad of photos and get some ideas.

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