Field & Forage Photo Tips Lighting

Try to take photos in the early morning or late afternoon/evening. Bright sunny days are challenging,

especially when sun is directly overhead. Cloudy days are ideal because the light is diffused and softens

harsh shadows and highlights.

If you are taking close-up photos of plants on a sunny day, try to create some shade or wait for clouds to

pass over. Coats, clipboards or sheets of paper held near enough to a subject work great for this.

Position yourself so that the light is falling on the sides or front of your subject, not behind it.

Quality

Make sure the camera is set to take the highest quality and largest size. You can always downsize later.

If you can, shoot in RAW format. It may require some post-editing later but preserves image data which

can lead to a higher quality photo.

Exposure

The camera can automatically choose the exposure (brightness/darkness) settings for you. There will be

times you will need to adjust it, especially in difficult lighting situations. For example, you may have a

very dark animal and the camera may correctly expose the animal but overexpose the grass, resulting in

loss of detail. Take a shot on auto, then check it in the viewfinder. If something looks to off to you,

manually adjust the exposure to take a darker or lighter shot. Take a couple photos at different settings

till you find one that works best for the scene. It is better to have pictures that are too dark than too

bright. Darker images can be fixed easier than overexposed images.

Composition

When taking photos of animals, the closer you can physically get, without spooking them, the better. Fill

the frame with your subject and the scene. If getting closer is not an option, use a zoom lens. Watch out

for stray objects that will distract from the focus.

Capture a scene from multiple angles and heights. Each angle tells a different story. For example, to

show the height of forage material, take some photos at ground or mid ground level. Try shooting at

ground or eye level with an animal that is eating.

Phone Camera Tips

If auto exposure settings are not taking the shot the way you want, adjust the exposure while keeping

focus on the subject. For example, on the iPhone, choose your focus point by tapping on it. To adjust

brightness, drag up or down on the screen. Some phones may require a dedicated photo app to do this.

ProCamera for the iPhone offers lots of manual controls and allows you to shoot in RAW. Some phone

cameras also have the option to shoot HDR, which can help in high contrast situations. But always shoot

one in the regular mode in case the HDR looks over processed.

Be intentional about what orientation, horizontal or vertical, you choose to shoot in. This is especially

important on phones where it is easy to shoot vertical without thinking about it. Think about where the

photo may be used. Try both orientations and see which best captures the scene.

Don’t use “optical zoom” or pinch zoom on your phone (or low-end digital camera). All this does is crop

the image and reduces the quality. Get closer physically or use an attachment zoom lens for your phone.