Digital Photography - Knife Photos,TOO GOOD?

Jeez, I wish my photos looked that good when I started out. You have paid very close attention. ;)

No criticism, but look how loud the pearl is with reflected light. Here is a firm case for desaturating what came out of the camera to look more natural.

Nice work for a point & shoot pocket camera. :)

Coop
 
I have not yet finished reading this thread, but can already tell that a bit of clarification is appropriate.

Electronically enhanced digital images ARE ACCEPTABLE for this publication as long as the alterations have been made by a professional photographer or a photographer with exceptional photoshop abilities. If you have any doubts about your abilities to correct or enhance an image, especially in silhouetting it, please do not try to do it yourself. Each digital image is vetted through our art department to make sure it conforms to our printing specifications, which are quite different than those used by magazines.

Hope this is helpful. I'm open to questions anytime.

Marthe Le Van
Metals Editor, Lark Books
 
I'm having the entry guidelines for 500 Knives edited to more clearly reflect my previous post.

By the way, I have been very impressed with quality of most of the digital knife images I have seen in print to date. Your standards and execution are much better than object makers in most other fields, and I salute you!

Thanks,

Marthe
 
ddd said:
There are times when I drag pictures in the forum to my desktop, color
and density correct them just for the fun of it, but find no direct way to
send them to the guy who posted them so that he might replace them
on his post.(ddd)
Click to expand...

David - You did just that for me a couple of years ago (sending the image back to me via Coop) and I am thankful, for you pointed me in a direction that has since become very rewarding!

Thanks for the invitation to contact you. I will.
 
Thankyou! I need to get better lights and I will keep practicing. I guess that means I have to buy more knives.:confused:
 
Actually I hate to say this but I have that ugly portable one someone mentioned on a thread a while back (before I was a member). I got it because I found it for $40 on ebay and was in a rush for something. I would like to make one with a slanted background like the pros are using. I dont like the square shape and am alittle fed up with it. I also CANT STAND the lights that came with it and most of the light in that picture is from a flurescent desk/reading lamp. I hardly did anything on photoshop. Just used the level control to make it stand out more. The pearl is how it actually was on the camera. When I have money to spend I wanna do it right and not use garbage bags if I make a new tent.

Coop- I never really played around with the hue/saturation. I pretty much forgot about it and only used the levels. I just messed with it and that is a great tool and could be useful. Thanks. I do like the brightness on the pearl because at the right angle, it is natural. But I know what you mean and sometimes it can seem like too much. In this case I like it though.
 
Light is definitely as important as the optics. Using the same camera, ever since I shoot knives inside (halogen reflected on the ceiling, no lightbox or tent) I have to correct the levels with photoshop. I used to live in an apartment where I had GREAT natural light in the evening on the balcony. It was oriented to the west and the direct sunlight was blocked by a neighbouring building. I used to get decent point-and-shoot pics directly from the camera, like this one (resized with photoshop but that's all):

 
Larkmetals said:
By the way, I have been very impressed with quality of most of the digital knife images I have seen in print to date. Your standards and execution are much better than object makers in most other fields, and I salute you!

Thanks,

Marthe
Click to expand...

The above is a huge complement to the great Knife photography "specialist" we have in Coop, Eric and Chuck and to the determined and talented amateur photographers in the customs community.

IMO, the custom knife industry would not be what it is today without you guys. :thumbup:
 
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