I give up!

[SAK Guy]

Thanks everyone. I will keep trying but I don't have a lot of hope.
Bob

Open shade works best on most of my stuff...most digitals will correct the color balance pretty well. Strong sunlight/shadows requires some experience. I use a $25.00 Vivitar fixed focus digital and have to tweak the color balance and contrast to get an accurate rendering of the subject. Sold all my fancy lighting equipment 15 years ago but have recently resorted to filling some shadows with a piece of notebook paper taped to a Pop Tart box. :thumbup:

 

[Will Power]

I wouldn't pack it in just yet Bob.

If I can manage it, I believe nearly anybody can....true

Can't say I've ever had a big interest in photography, it can get very complicated, very precise and extremely expensive, can be very effective of course. Or it can be kept simple and effective. Long time I shied away from posting pix here, made a couple of horrendous experiments, got very discouraged, peoples' well meaning advice about do this, get that, ensure that, remember this only dug me deeper in my bolt-hole of horror about photos. Too bloody complex, intimidating, too much to remember.:grumpy:

Then, last birthday in March I was wandering around a supermarket saw a Canon Power Shot A 4000 IS point&shoot camera with case,card,battery etc all ready to go at the staggering price of 42 Euro (about 51 USD) Asked the young woman working there, she said most people have lost interest in those small cameras as they already have them in their i-Phones or equivalent, so that's why the model is discontinued. Bought it, experimented with it, put some photos on the mac book which has an excellent editing function, went to photobucket and then started sharing pix.

I certainly don't claim nor do I intend that my pix are stellar, pass professional criteria etc nor am I interested in that, but I think they're sufficient to make my point and help others to speculate about a knife. This is not a photography forum after all but a knife forum. Some people here are very talented at photography and doubtless have formidable experience and camera gear, I enjoy many of their shots but I'm sure their intention is largely the same as mine: to convey what their knives are like&why they are meaningful, not a competition process to outshine others, attract praise or pour scorn on allegedly lesser efforts. I don't think people should be so defensive about their photography as it is nearly always appreciated by the others. The tiresome cliche that a picture tells a thousand words is a burden, we need images but we need language, articulacy and discussion about knives as well. After all, language&writing is what has made all human achievement and 'civilization' possible due to creative speculative thought.

So give it another try, I'm certain your efforts will be appreciated.:thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks, Will

Point&shoot indoors daylight

 

[addylo]

Well said, Will. We're just here to show our knives. You don't need fancy equipment or a degree in photography.

I veered into photography when I was doing woodturning years ago for the sole purpose of showing off my turnings, not my photos. Woodturning is mostly an older man's game and just like here there was a lot of the folks commenting about how much they struggled with photography. They didn't want to learn a bunch of fancy theory, they just wanted to take better pictures. I have no illusions about being an expert but I wrote an article that became very popular on how to take better pictures with any camera using simple techniques that didn't involve an in-depth knowledge of photographic theory.

This is obviously not the forum to go in-depth but it really does boil down to the three things I mentioned above. Good light (a light tent or outdoor daylight setting will do), a steady camera (if you aren't good at hand-holding or have "vibration reduction" on your camera then get a tripod), and proper white balance (most "auto" settings do an adequate job but if not, learn to tweak with software - GIMP is free). Aside from that, little things like a non-cluttered background and the use of diagonals adds visual interest to any image.

These simple images could have been taken with any camera using the elements described above.

 

[cards94]

Thanks everyone. I will keep trying but I don't have a lot of hope.
Bob

You're taking this way too seriously. Point the camera or whatever you're using, snap, and post. You learn as you go along and if it's not perfect nobody is going to give you a failing grade. I certainly don't care if it's a perfect picture or not. You get the jist of the photo and move on. There's bigger fish to fry in this world.

 

[SAK Guy]

You're taking this way too seriously. Point the camera or whatever you're using, snap, and post. You learn as you go along and if it's not perfect nobody is going to give you a failing grade. I certainly don't care if it's a perfect picture or not. You get the jist of the photo and move on. There's bigger fish to fry in this world.

+1 Don't fret it Bob! Doing images seriously for the better part of 42 years (nearly 15 professionally), and I can tell you it's mostly doing it and not giving up. And don't judge your work against others...just shoot what you like and keep doing it till you're happy with it. Been boring folks with knife and cigar pix for over a year and I'm just getting decent at it!

 

[5K Qs]

Thanks for starting this thread, Bob. There are plenty of us whose photography skills leave a lot to be desired. But I appreciate the helpful suggestions people have offered here, and I kind of enjoy trying different stuff to try to get decent pictures. Heck, the first pictures I posted here were taken trying to hold a knife in front of the lens on my MacBook! Now I borrow my wife's Canon pointandshoot, and I think I'm getting better, but still have plenty of room for improvement.

For what it's worth, here's a "developmental sequence" of pics I've taken of the knife I've owned for about 55 years. First, Scotch-taped to a planner held in front of my MacBook. Then an indoor shot on the kitchen table using my wife's iPad. Last, an outdoor shot with her Canon Powershot A-somethingorother.

- GT

 

[thawk]

Good to see more votes of confidence for the Canon Powershot IS Series and for shooting outdoors in the shade with no flash.

Practice, experiment, and show us your stuff. It don't have to be perfect. Some days will be better than others.

 

[tongueriver]

I wouldn't pack it in just yet Bob.

If I can manage it, I believe nearly anybody can....true

Can't say I've ever had a big interest in photography, it can get very complicated, very precise and extremely expensive, can be very effective of course. Or it can be kept simple and effective. Long time I shied away from posting pix here, made a couple of horrendous experiments, got very discouraged, peoples' well meaning advice about do this, get that, ensure that, remember this only dug me deeper in my bolt-hole of horror about photos. Too bloody complex, intimidating, too much to remember.:grumpy:

Then, last birthday in March I was wandering around a supermarket saw a Canon Power Shot A 4000 IS point&shoot camera with case,card,battery etc all ready to go at the staggering price of 42 Euro (about 51 USD) Asked the young woman working there, she said most people have lost interest in those small cameras as they already have them in their i-Phones or equivalent, so that's why the model is discontinued. Bought it, experimented with it, put some photos on the mac book which has an excellent editing function, went to photobucket and then started sharing pix.

I certainly don't claim nor do I intend that my pix are stellar, pass professional criteria etc nor am I interested in that, but I think they're sufficient to make my point and help others to speculate about a knife. This is not a photography forum after all but a knife forum. Some people here are very talented at photography and doubtless have formidable experience and camera gear, I enjoy many of their shots but I'm sure their intention is largely the same as mine: to convey what their knives are like&why they are meaningful, not a competition process to outshine others, attract praise or pour scorn on allegedly lesser efforts. I don't think people should be so defensive about their photography as it is nearly always appreciated by the others. The tiresome cliche that a picture tells a thousand words is a burden, we need images but we need language, articulacy and discussion about knives as well. After all, language&writing is what has made all human achievement and 'civilization' possible due to creative speculative thought.

So give it another try, I'm certain your efforts will be appreciated.:thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks, Will

Point&shoot indoors daylight

Man, those fingers are really looking inflamed. Poison Ivy?

 

[thawk]

Well said, Will. We're just here to show our knives. You don't need fancy equipment or a degree in photography.

Well done Addylo! That Mammoth Ivory jack knife is a tasty one. :thumbup:

Man, those fingers are really looking inflamed. Poison Ivy?

Good one Tongue... I think it's jaundice.