So it's been almost a couple years now that I've been doing the BOM collages, and I thought it might be a good idea to post a few photography tips that can make the difference between a decent collage, and an excellent collage. I want to make your bows look as good as I can on the pages of the magazine, but sometimes I am very limited as to what I can do, because of the lower quality of the pictures that are posted. I realize that a lot of us have a "primitive" mentality when it comes to technology and photography etc, but most of these tips are pretty basic and can be easily applied. A few minutes on your part will make a big difference in what I can do for you, so
please take the time to read them and take them into consideration. Help me to help you
Hopefully one of the moderators can make this post a sticky. Ok, here we go.
1.
Profiles Try to include the following pictures: unbraced front and side profiles, braced side profile, full draw side profile, close ups of tips, handle, and anything else of interest. Make sure the camera is
90 degrees (perpendicular) to the bow for these profile pictures.
2.
Contrast Make sure that there is some contrast between the subject and the background. A snakeskin-backed bow doesn't show up that well when the pictures are taken out in the woods, and that stained-black backing is not going to "pop" in your dark basement!
3.
Focus Make sure your camera is focused on the subject, and not the background. People want to see those pimped-out bow tips or sweet handle wraps, not what is growing on your lawn at the moment
4.
Padding Keep some extra room (or padding) around the subject. A lot of pictures I seen have the bow's tips cut off, etc. The more extra space I have, the more freedom I have to crop the pictures however they look best in the collage. Don't worry about losing the details by being too far away, that's what your close-ups are for!
5.
Layout To maximize the space available in the magazine, try to keep the subject of the photos either horizontal or vertical. Diagonal pictures look cool, but for the purpose of making a collage, they are harder to work with, and take up a lot more valuable space on the magazine's page.
6.
Resolution The maximum resolution that can be posted on the forum is 640 x 480 pixels. This is fine for viewing on a computer screen, but the requirements for print are much higher. If you can send me the original high-resolution pictures from your camera, I can do a lot more with them. I can "zoom in" on details without having the image become blocky and pixelated. I used to contact the winners to see if high resolution images were available, but that back-and-forth ate up a lot of time. Usually a few days will go by between when the winners are announced and when I start working on the collages. If you have any higher resolution pictures that you would like me to work with, please let me know as soon as you can (send me a PM), and I will give you my email address to send them to. Once I start working on them it's too late!
7.
Lighting Make sure the lighting is decent. I find the best lighting to be outdoors in the morning or evening, when the sunlight is indirect. Midday photographs often have a lot of glare.
