Dirks: Shooting photos right also an outdoors skill

During the course of each season, readers send me photos and videos of their latest outdoor events. The majority of photos and videos are of fish and game caught during the year, which is great because I like to see them. Unfortunately, a majority of them are of low quality.

Even with today's sophisticated digital camera, you still have to know how to set up a photo or video shot. The automatic settings on these digital wonders cannot make up for a shot taken directly into the sun or during low-light conditions.

The most common problem is poor lighting and sound (video). If you can get good lighting and have reasonable sound for video, that's half the battle. Here are a few tips:

* Often you have no control over what time of the day your photo opportunity will arrive, but early mornings and late afternoons are ideal light times. Use flash if your subject has shadows on it.

* Take a few moments to think through where you want to shoot the subject, whether it's a fishing shot or game shot.

* Shoot with the sun behind you. Shadows and glare are the number one reason for a bad photo.

* When shooting photos or video, fill the frame with your subject. Most people have a tendency to shoot from too far away and the frame ends up with more focus on the background than the subject.

* Take different shots from a variety of angles and poses. Digital cameras allow you to take lots of photos quickly.

* Take off the sunglasses. Hiding the eyes of your human subject distracts from the viewing experience.

* Watch the background. I can't tell you how many times I've seen great outdoor shots ruined by a really bad background. If you have a game shot, for example, photographing it inside your messy garage takes away from the photo value.

* For video, sound is everything. Bad sound can ruin a great video clip.


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