Just trying out my new camera

Prop it up on something and take a picture form a slight angle. It doesn't have to be drastic, but 100% sideways takes out a lot of the character.

Also, use 'macro' if your camera has it.

Better yet, use strong available light (sunlight or cloudy sky is basically THE best possible lighting) and don't use flash.

Thats a good point. Sun rise and dusk are the two best times.

Also a flash that isn't at the same level as a lens. So maybe get it under a halogen light and skip the flash.

And IMO there are not many good 'group' shots. You need a lot of thought to positioning for that to work well.

You need light, and plenty of it. One or two of those 500 watt halogen work lights does the trick.

And if you REALLY want to do it right, you'll want to do indirect lighting (bounce the light off of something, rather than have it hit your objects directly). Google "photography indirect lighting" for more info.

I, myself, never do.......

Flash!! Never!!!! AAARRRRGGGHGHGHHH!!!! (at least for THIS kind of photoshooting.....)

The secret is all in the lighting. Good photographers are wizards at using light, be it natural or artificial. Simply using a flash on a camera produces weak, uneven lighting with lots of shadows. You need bright, soft light that fully bathes the area being photographed. The only shadows that should be present are shadows that the photographer *wants* to be present to add depth and texture to the image.

Bop on down to Barnes and Noble and take a look at books on photography. In particular, still life photography and simple lighting techniques. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.

Someone on this board occasionally posts photos of handguns on a beautiful, silky blue background. Those are terrific photos. I suggest you PM him and ask for a few pointers.

I use a cheap and simple lightbox and clamp-on lights from Home Depot. Makes a huge difference, as does using a tripod.

Some random comments/suggestion:

1. Use a tripod to reduce camera shake.

2. To further reduce camera shake, use a remote cable shutter release or the self-timer feature. On my Canon PowerShot A80, I like to use the 2-second self-timer so that I'm not touching the camera when the shutter activates.

3. Natural lighting seems to work best for me; I also use a large, glossy-white poster to bounce some light to fill in the shadows.

4. Use a small aperture setting to increase the depth of field in order to keep as much of the subject as possible in focus. A small aperture setting might require a slower shutter speed, but the tripod should eliminate any camera shake.

5. Have fun!


Some "glamour shots" I've taken in the past, all under natural lighting:










DL

I just keep it simple and take pictures outside in decent natural light when it's less intense, like in the morning.

Bounce your flash or light source off the ceiling and/or wall to provide a broad non-contrasty lighting for max detail. More lighter = better. You can use white cards, (I use foamcore about 3' square) to fill in the front of your composition with a soft bounced light resulting from the original bounce from wall or ceiling. If you're serious, a strobe in a large softbox (Chimera is what I use), 3x5 feet or larger, and fill with white cards.
SatCong

Valkman: Great pic! I've got a black XD9 and it doesn't look half as nice as that one!

mwpslp: Notice how the entire scene has a very natural, even lighting. No glare, no harshness. Also, notice how the background setting is used to highlight the subject of the photo and how the soft shadows under the lower edges of the gun and the knife add a nice feeling of depth to the photo. That's a superbly well done photograph.

Well, the first suggestion I might have would be to use the freaking SEARCH function to find the amazingly helpful thread written by P95Carry and actually STICKY'D at the VERY TOP of the "Technical Support" section: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=57796

But that's just me. YMMV.

mwpslp,

I use a transparent plastic pill bottle (with the lid removed) to prop up the subject. Being transparent, it does not cast a shadow, and being plastic, does not scratch the finish on the guns.

I'll prop the subjects up at whatever angle is "best" for the desired image composition; sometimes, the subject isn't even propped up (as in the CZ 75B image).

The camera is usually about a meter away from the subject in order to reduce "fish eye" distortion (it cannot totally be eliminated), with a 2x or 3x zoom used to pull the subject in and fill up as much of the frame as possible.

If you're using a digicam, max out the resolution in order to use all the available pixels to capture as much detail as possible. You can always resize the images on your PC later.


DL

Well, the first suggestion I might have would be to use the freaking SEARCH function to find the amazingly helpful thread written by P95Carry and actually STICKY'D at the VERY TOP of the "Technical Support" section: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=57796

But that's just me. YMMV.

Click to expand...

Not exactly a very High Roadish comment.

Take some poster board (white) and cut it up and tape it together for a lightbox, leaving the top open. Make it as big or small as you want. Cut up a white garbage bag and tape that over the top and you have a light diffuser. Get some 1 1/4" PVC tubing and make a frame that sits on either side of the box and goes over it, and clamp 3 5" lights to it from Home Depot. Cheap lightbox, it's what I use.

Here's a link to Knifeforums where SharpbyCoop explained how to make this lightbox: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328550&page=1&pp=20

Now you'll have plenty of diffused light. Turn the flash off, go to manual mode and find the settings that give you great pics. It's not easy, and I think the more you spend on a camera the harder it gets because of the millions of features.

I have a Rebel XT and am not that great with it. I take lots of pics and hope for a good one!





All this wasn't in a sticky so it's OK.

Natural light with an interesting background works well (outdoor on the deck works well). Take two shots one with a flash and one without to check how your camera pics up the difference.

That camera will do better. Use more ambient light. If you have a 500 watt work lamp point it at the ceiling. Turn off the flash. Find the control that forces the camera to only pick a certain point for focus that will make whats in the crosshairs be in focus rather than a 'sorta' focused picture.

I get decent shots outside in the shade, no flash, and let the camera do the work.



The flat bed scanner does pretty well also, except in this case it made the Streamlight purple.

The flat bed scanner does pretty well also, except in this case it made the Streamlight purple.

Click to expand...

...and that is where Photoshop comes in.

Thanks, I was too lazy to do that.