Braggin' Rights: New Web sites soliciting photos from young hunters, anglers
By MATT WILLIAMS
Outdoors Writer
Sunday, October 26, 2008
?It?s all about the kids.?
That?s the spin legendary East Texas bass pro and lure maker Lonnie Stanley of Huntington and Capt. Garrett Gill of Zavalla are putting on a couple of new Internet web sites launched this fall.
 Photo by Matt Williams Composition and good lighting are key elements in a good outdoors photo. It helps to have a cute subject, too.  Contributed Photo Photos of successful young hunters and anglers like Landon Cole Lowery of Colmesneil can find a good home on a couple of newly launched Web sites, www.spikebuck.com and www.bluegilling.com. All posted photos are entered in a randm drawing for some neat prizes. |
The Web sites — www.spikebuck.com and www.bluegilling.com — are designed to give parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc... an outlet to post pictures on the Internet of their young ones posing with the fruits of a successful outdoor experience.
?It?s wide open and its free,? said Stanley. ?You can post pictures of kids with everything from a deer to a bluegill. The whole idea is to give the kids some recognition for a job well done. Plus, it gives the maw maws and papaws out there a chance to show how proud they are and to brag a little bit.?
Gill said the spikebuck.com site is primarily for hunting-related photos. Photos can include kids with any legal game such as deer, hogs, ducks, squirrels, turkeys, etc. The bluegilling.com site is dedicated for fishing-related photos. Contributors are encouraged to write a short story to support their photos.
The neat part about the whole deal is the posted photos will be automatically entered in a random computer drawing for some cool prizes. The first-place youth from the spikebuck.com site wins a free hunt. The hunt will be filmed for the Skeeter Boats Secrets of the Outdoors an Internet TV program during 2009. The second place winner gets a youth hunting package valued at $300; third, a $150 youth hunting package.
?The winners won?t be chosen because they killed the biggest bucks, either,? Gill said. ?The selections will be made by a random computer draw. We want to make it fair for everyone. Anyone who puts a photo on the Web site will be eligible to win one of the prizes.?
The same judging criteria applies for the blugilling.com website. There will be four winners chosen. Each winner will travel to a nearby lake for a full day of fishing with Stanley and Gill.
The trips will be filmed for airing on the Secrets of the Outdoors program. Additionally, each winner will receive an autographed cap, T-shirt, patch, rod and reel combo and fishing lures.
Posting photos is simple. Log on to either Web site and register. Once registered, you can upload photos by following the appropriate links. For more information, check out www.secretsoftheoutdoors.com.
Tips for getting good shots
Kodak moments don?t roll around that often. Don?t botch a good opportunity to preserve a golden memory. You will more than likely regret it later on.
There was a time when getting high quality photographs required a considerable amount of technical know how on the photographer?s part. Thanks to the digital evolution, that is not necessarily the case anymore.
Anyone who can read and follow the directions of an instruction manual can take a digital unit into the field and come away with some images worthy of the wall or mantel.
It helps to understand the basics of composition and lighting. Once you have that down, getting good quality pictures with a point-and-shoot can be as simple as 1-2-3.
Here are some helpful tips for capturing good images of hunters and fishermen with a prize kill or catch:
Equipment: Digital cameras are gauged by megapixels. Megapixel is a measurement of resolution. More megapixels allows the camera to capture more detail and sharpness in photos, and allows for better quality enlargements. A four or five megapixel camera made by name manufacturer is plenty sufficient for consumer-grade use.
Image Quality and File Size: Most point-and-shoots have a image quality setting under the main menu. The settings usually range low, medium, high and raw.
The lower the setting, the more images you can fit on your memory card. The higher the setting, the fewer images the memory card will hold. High settings provide better quality on enlargements, especially if you like to go big. Adjust the image file size to ?large.?
Composition: How the subjects are arranged in the viewfinder can make a good photo or ruin one.
When photographing a hunter with game, try to position the subjects so they don?t detract from one another. Avoid set-ups with the hunter sitting on a deer?s back or those that depict the animal hanging from a meat hook or rope.
Tailgate shots are alright so long as they are clean. Remove any blood and make sure the animal?s tongue is not dangling out of its mouth.
In deer photos, try to position the subjects so that nothing takes away from the primary element in the photo — the antlers.
I prefer to position the subject to the side of the deer with only one or two fingers touching the antlers.
A pleasing background such as a lake, river, open field or blue sky will really help the antlers jump out in the photo.
Fish pictures are no different. Making sure a fish is wet will add some serious appeal to the photo.
Take multiple shots: The more photos you take from different angles the better the chance of coming away with an image you will cherish for life. One or two photos will always stand out from the rest.
The Right Light: Early morning and late afternoon are ideal times for taking outdoor photos. The sun produces soft, golden light during these periods. Cloudy or overcast skies are good, too. It is a good idea to use a fill flash to give the photo some ?pop.?
During midday, when the sun is directly overhead, place the subject in the shade. This will eliminate harsh shadows. Plus, it will prevent the subject from squinting. Use a fill flash.
Use Props: The use of props such a rifle, bow or fishing rod will add a personal touch to the photo. Be sure the prop is positioned in a manner that it is not distracting.
Get Tight: One of the cardinal rules of photography is to get close. Compose the shot so that the subject pretty much fills the viewfinder.
