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Pictures in the dark

Thinkin Rut

Thinkin Rut

PMA Member
Any photographers out there? The pictures I take of my evening hunts don't seem to turn out as well as I would like. I have a pretty decent camera-nikon n50 with a detachable flash. Any ideas for a starting point on my settings?
 
That is a good question!

Maybe just some tips in general would be good to hear about.

Over the years I've learned a few things with the night shots. Background really doesn't come into play because it just always ends up black. So, I usually get the deer up on top out of the ravine. If you can get your truck somewhat close put the headlights on you and the deer, this will do 2 things. 1) reduce the size of your pupils and eliminate red eyes 2) Will let the photographer center and focus on the subject (because he can see you now). Always use a flash regardless of day or dark. If you have an automatic flash you may have to switch it to manual because the light from your headlights may make the camera think it doesn't need a flash. Harvested cornfields that still have stalks in them make great areas to get night shots. To me there's just something about a big buck laying in the cornstalks that I personally think makes a great photo.

I'm not sure about the settings which is what your question is, and I'm sure someone else has some tips I'd like to hear about also.
Pupster
 
Thanks pupster.

I'll try to move my deer closer to my headlights instead of relying so much on my flash.

Maybe the ticket is to make sure you have a roll of 36, try different things and take notes.

Sounds like a lot of work after dragging and gutting your deer...I still think a quality buck deserves a quality pic.
 
I now think the real trick is a digital camera! My friends have them and the beauty is you know instantly whether or not you have a keeper photo and if it isn't you just move so it is. No more wasting 24 exposures just for 1 or 2 good shots.
 
It's the speed of the film that you want to change. I believe that 500speed works in low light conditions. 250 is the normal speed. Check with someone that works in the photo development places. That's where I got my info. I learned the hard way. Took some shots of a huge tom I got last year with 250 and they came out very dark. Going to the right speed film is cheaper for me then a digital camera at this point.
 
Hello,

It can be a challenge to get great photos in the evening, after sundown, and especially in the dark! So much depends on so much: background light sources (such as the sky), your film speed, and the power of your flash systems, for example.

I try to avoid taking pictures in the dark when I don't have to. I'll take my deer home, ice down the chest cavity and come back right after sunup to get my photos. I'll still use a flash during the daytime (almost all the time for these types of shots) to fill shadows, just as Pupster talked about.

The best flash pictures melt available light with light from the flash to the point where detecting that a flash was used is difficult. In extremely dark situations, with little available light, subjects can easily appear "washed out" , flat, and backgrounds tend to go dark, even with today's most sophisticated systems -- making it a dead give away that it is a flash shot. Most offten the result is a rather blah photo (of which, I've taken several!)

Many photographers use 100 speed film for sharp photos. If you are using this ASA, for example, though, you will have to be much closer to your subject with your flash than you would with say 400 speed film, which is 4 times more light sensitive. Thus, film speed dictates appropriate shot distance when using flash. Something to keep in mind.

You can learn much about exposures and resulting photos by practicing on something like a brown teddy bear in your backyard under various light conditions. You have an off camera flash as well as an on camera flash (I believe the N50 has a flash?) which is the way to go to keep that 3D appearence of the photo and to make the photo "pop". Hold the flash off to the side and slightly above your subject to experiment with sidelighting, your on camera flash will give you frontlighting.

The Nikon exposure system is pretty "smart"; I'd set your N50 on matrix metering and let it's TTL system figure out the exposures to start. Record the exposure that you use when practicing for each shot. When you get your pictures back you will know just how "smart" your camera is! And, you will find that you will, in some situatins, have to override your camera's exposure selection. It takes lots of practice, in lots of situations, to realize just how your camera "thinks". And just how you need to go about changing it's thinking!

Other things to keep in mind with any photography is to use a solid tripod when possible. A tripod is a must for flash photography.

Use 100 speed or slower film for ultra sharp photos.

Have film processed by a professional lab instead of the local $ discount, if you really want top-notch results.

When photographing a hunter and deer I've found it best to be on the same level or below that of the focus point (the deer's eyes). It just makes the shot more interesting to me.

Use a wide angle lens and get close.

Have the hunter hold the head up while he angles back and down in the photo to make the antlers appear as big as possible. Of course, clean off all blood on the deer and wet the deer's nose and eyes to make the deer look almost alive (you might try a set of taxidermy glass eyes in the deer if it has been sitting overnight as well).

Be aware of background light sources that will trick your camera's metering, the sky, snow, water, etc.! Try to keep them out of most of the photo OR out of the exposure making process. These background light sources mess up a lot of folks' photos and have messed up a lot of mine! What I like to do is to point your camera on something of mid-tone color such as the side of a deer or the grass, hold exposure lock, and then recompose and shoot. This will eliminate the catastrophic effects of background light sources.

When shooting daylight photos, set your camera to aperature priority mode and let the camera do the work. Use a tripod. And use an f stop of 8 or higher if you want sharp corner to corner shots of a hunter and deer, for instance. Larger aperature settings keep the subject sharp but tend to isolate the subject from the background more, which is great for many wildlife shots but is often not what you might want for a hunter/deer type portrait (deer would be in focus, part of hunter would be blurred).

Hey my fingers are falling off here. Good luck and have fun!

Raven
 
Since the question has basically been answered, I'll ask another.

Raven,
I've often considered taking the deer home and coming back out the next morning but I'll tell you what the rigor mortis is so bad that you can't "pose" the deer in a photographic position! How do you deal with rig. I've had rig setting in on me within an hour or two after the kill, then add maybe below freezing temps and I'm working with a pretty stiff subject. Does anyone have this trouble? What do you do?
Pupster
 
...my neighbors think it's odd when I discuss what doe pee I think is best or explain the finer points of deer grunts and bleats...now Raven suggests I start taking pictures of my teddy bear in the backyard!...at night!...wonder when this set of neighbors will be moving?...

...actually some great advice, Raven - we should all learn to take better pictures of our 'take'...I also would like to promote taking more photos of the actual hunt and not just the kill!...some of my favorite hunting photos have nothing dead in them at all...
 
Pupster,

The way I deal with the rigor mortis is to put the deer in the position in which I want to photograph it the next day. That way it is already in the basic position and easier to hold there.

This assumes that the weather is cool enough for the deer to cool in a tucked position. It also needs to be put in a location that cats, dogs etc. can't get to it over night. It may take several boards or sticks to hold the head in the desired position.

Getting good photos is a lot of work but nothing compared to the amount of work I put into each buck I end up shooting.

Maybe I didn't read your initial reply carefully enough. I do the same thing you do with the car or truck but with one additional action. When the photographer has everything properly cropped and focused a third person turns off the car lights just before the photographer triggers the camera/flash. That way I avoid the 'hot spots' I otherwise get from the car lights. We do this with each shot. Also makes an interesting 'light show' for the person being photographed who eventually is seeing lots of spots.

Old Buck
 
Excellent point hershy. I took my 150 incher Nov.2-I felt cheated! I went out 5 days later and got another one with my camcorder. I felt the same buzz w/out the blood.

I've always said "the hunt is always better than the kill".
 
Old Buck,
See, I learned my one thing for today! So basically you get them in a position laying on the garage floor propped up with boards, rope etc...good idea.
Ohh yeahh I hear ya about the guy getting his picture taken seeing lots of blue dots!

I don't remember if I mentioned this before but I believe you and I were fishing the same school of wipers/white bass one day in the early '90's on Saylorville. Kastmaster jigging spoons! I remember it well because I told my wife when I got home that "I fished with Larry Zach today" She just said, "Yeah whatever." I think you were still teaching then. It was a hot June or July day. I remember because I was and still am a big fan of your work! If it wasn't you then it was a real good dream!
Pupster
 
Lots of good points & tips have been traded. I used to do it for a living, just a hobby now but if I were able to tell you one thing to improve photos I'd say use a solid tripod. Lower light situations require a slower shutter speed to maintain an adequate aperture. Even with a flash (except in true darkness) the shutter is open long enough to blur edges if the camera isn't steady.
Ok- one more tip. Get pretty close to your subject then move closer. Really do a good job of composing in the camera, even with a perfectly exposed shot you need every bit of a 35mm negative to make a good 8x10 enlargement- that isn't so critical if you are using larger format cameras but they aren't much fun to lug around.
Ok- one more tip. Don't try to eliminate all the shadows with a flash. In daylight use the flash just to open up the shadows for detail, if you blow them all out you get a flat looking 2 dimensional photo. If you are shooting in the dark, get the flash above the lens a bit above the camera if you can. The shadows added will create "modeling" to create depth. I think one of the guys that paint real well started this in paintings (either Old Buck or Rembrandt I can't remember)
Digitals are fine but unless you have one of the newer big pixel jobs, a well exposed negative will make a better print.
 
OK one more thing- Raven touched on this before. Meters in the cameras are exposing your film to make a perfect 18% grey card (photographic standard). This is very close to the same reflectivity as a green grass field. It is about 1 f-stop darker than white skin. So you can meter the back of your hand at the sunlight angle you have- then just adjust 1 stop to expose your film. Really nasty contrast situtations may defeat this but then nothing works very well except fill-in flash.
 
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