Taking decent photos is one are where the old Classics have been supplanted with new tech.

Old Classic techniques of composition and light are still spot on, but new digital cameras make the job much easier.

I think many folks could easily bump up their photo skills with five simple tricks...

1) Tripod (or some camera support) used nearly 100% of the time.

2) Study the camera manual...especially for close up work. Most digital cameras have close focus abilites that are super....just have to use them.

3) Light...bright direct light is rarely your friend. Holding a coat, tarp or other screen over your layout to prevent direct glaring light can work wonders. And since your are using your tripod and self-timer you can modify the light.

4) Crop hard...get rid off all the wasted space around the focal point of an image. Support players are fine, but you don't need to see all of them.

5) Watch depth-of-field. Try and keep the stuff of interest sharp...other stuff can go out of sharp focus (even though most people dislike strong out-of-focus elements). This means you have to have a camera with the capability to set f-stops...and cannot shoot on "P" or Auto all the time.

Here is another Savage.....classic droppoint hunter.



Muted indoor side light. Cropped hard. Tripod of course. Closeup mode.




Closer even....cropped even harder, (with distracting waxpaper highlights), tripod and closeup mode.