Equine Pictures Taking Tips
StableVideos wants your horse and/or livestock photo and video advertisement to be the best they can be; however, not all images in the advertisements are great shots. Here are some suggestions for taking great pictures.
1. The picture must be digitized to put on the net, which means you need to scan the image or use a digital camera. Most drug stores can develop your 35mm film and provide you with a photo CD. You can save the scanned image in many different formats but the web uses specific types. The images on StableVideos.com must be .JPG.
2. When you shoot a picture, make sure the object is the primary focus of the picture; it should fill the frame A cluttered background takes away from the object. Choose the location for the shot carefully. Look through the lens and see the picture. Does it give the object the best look or does it detract from the object? Also avoid shadows in your picture. Shoot from the side with the light and never shoot into the sun. Take several photos, keep the ones that flatter your subject, and delete those that don’t.
3. Take a series of shots of your horse. Try different angles: take a front shot and both sides, take a few shots from the front corners, rear corners, and the rear. When you photograph the front and rear shots, position the horse or livestock so that all four legs are evenly spaced as you view them; your animal will appear more balanced.
4. If your digital photos are of poor quality, they may not attract prospects. We've developed some useful tips for overcoming common digital photography problems.
Are your photos coming out too dark? If one portion of the horse is looking too dark, the problem is most likely underexposure. Often underexposure occurs when the background light in the picture is brighter than the details you are trying to capture. You will often run into this problem outdoors when the sun is directly behind the animal or when you are taking a picture across a snow-covered area. Taking an inside photo toward a strong light or a bright window can have the same effect.
To reduce the amount and impact of background light, try the following suggestions.
* Take an exterior picture at a time of day when the sun is in front of your animal.
* Wait for an overcast day if snow or water glare is a problem
* Turn off bright lights inside
If those options are not feasible, you can also reduce underexposure problems by these methods:
* Zoom in on the animal itself. When the animal takes up more of the overall picture, you reduce the amount of background light that would otherwise cause the photo to be underexposed.
* Set your camera to use spot or center metering, if it has those features. That will instruct your camera to take a light reading based on the light in the center of the frame, which is usually where the horse is.
* Set your camera to forced-flash mode, which causes the flash to fire regardless of the amount of available light. The flash will reduce the effects of a strong light in one area when you're taking pictures inside.
* Use the exposure value setting available on some higher-end digital cameras to override your camera's built-in light meter and compensate for the light.
Out-of-focus images are another common problem. Because a digital camera's auto-focus feature may focus on a nearby object (a screen or tree branch) and not the intended subject matter, the image you want to photograph comes out blurry. Avoid this problem by trying the following suggestions.
* Set your camera's focus on infinity rather than on auto-focus
* Move the center of your photo slightly to shift the auto-focus away from the object that is confusing it.
It is also a good idea to check your camera's settings to be sure that your digital photos are formatted for easy retrieval and electronic viewing by customers. You can accomplish this by the following methods.
* Make sure you have set your camera to save images in the JPG format. This is your best option, whether you intend to e-mail photos to clients or post them on your web site.
* Set your camera to its lowest available resolution (often 1 megapixel, other times expressed as one-quarter size) and lowest quality setting. Higher values will substantially increase the file size and thus the time it takes consumers to download the pictures. Since computer monitors can display images at only 72 dots per inch, a higher resolution won't give viewers a better picture.
By ensuring that your photos are bright, crisp, and fast loading, you make it easier for buyers to properly view your StableVideo.
