Newbie Knife (collection?)

G

gcbryan

Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Messages
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I'm new to buying knives. I hesitant to call it a collection as I'm not a collector and there's nothing special about these knives but they do reflect my tastes I suppose or I wouldn't have bought them!

I'm also seeing that it's not easy to take pictures of them indoors without a flash messing everything up. I decided to set the flash to not go off and I used a flashlight as a highlight.

Anyway, my first knife was a Boker Plus Eskellibur and it is my favorite. Then I got a Boker Sod Buster Jr. followed by a Boker Yellow Handle Lockback and my last purchase was an Old Timer series 3 bladed traditional small slipjoint

http://gbpics.shutterfly.com/389

Edit: I tried to use the "insert image" tag and couldn't get it to work so I had to just go with this link. I think it's because I'm not a paying member.
 
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That are nice knives.

For years I have told my self and others that I wasn't a knife collector. Most of my knives are SAK's, that is not very special. I wouldn't be surprised if 99% of the knife nuts have at least one SAK and many of 'the others' are familiair with SAK's or have at least one too. I don't buy knives to build up a collection, I buy knives that I like. But on the other hand, you could say that I am a collector of knives that I like. :-)

For images: I put my images on Photobucket and then insert the links to the images, which Photobucket provides, in my posts.
 
I tried to insert the links to the images that Shutterfly provides and the links work on this site when I do it as URL's but when I use the image tag it doesn't work.
 
I always use Imageshack or photobucket to host my photos. Upload them there and use the forum code they provide. Works great. :thumbup:
 
gc,

Go over in the Gallery forum and dig around for "How To's" in knife photography. Some of it is "high class" but there are some regular guy tips. Make sure your photos are only 800 pixels in width. That will assure you will get them to fit on page. (Yes you pro guys, big ones will fit also but the word was "assure")

If you had search ablility you could find several old threads here on photograpy how tos....but you are on the right track.

300Bucks
 
Hi,

Welcome! You have a nice start of a collection, (if you have more than one, it's a collection :) ). It can take some time to discover the direction a collection might go. But picking out what you like is always best, regardless of the "fit" in a collection.

Those Boker's are nice. And yellar' soddie's are a popular pattern here. Check out some of the German Boker made models in C75 carbon steel if and when you have a chance. You know, to add to your collection.;)

dalee
 
Welcome gc... Don't worry about the collection thing, a lot of us here are more accumulators than collectors. Either title works...

Lots of great folks here. In time, you will see why a lot of us consider this our second home.
 
I hesitant to call it a collection as I'm not a collector and there's nothing special about these knives but they do reflect my tastes I suppose or I wouldn't have bought them!
Click to expand...
Sounds like me, an Accumulator. :)
Although after thirty years of Accumulating I have begun to develop a couple of mini-collections and areas of particular interest.

You're off to a good start. Buy what you like and what you can afford, and later specialize into an area of Collecting if you wish.

Regarding the photography, a couple of hints. First tip is one that you figured out already, turn off the flash. Second, use a camera that really focuses. Third, try a flatbed scanner - cheaper, faster, and easier than a knife-capable camera, and better quality images than most point-and-shoot cameras.

Good luck, and Welcome to BladeForums!
 
Bob W said:
Sounds like me, an Accumulator. :)
Although after thirty years of Accumulating I have begun to develop a couple of mini-collections and areas of particular interest.

You're off to a good start. Buy what you like and what you can afford, and later specialize into an area of Collecting if you wish.

Regarding the photography, a couple of hints. First tip is one that you figured out already, turn off the flash. Second, use a camera that really focuses. Third, try a flatbed scanner - cheaper, faster, and easier than a knife-capable camera, and better quality images than most point-and-shoot cameras.

Good luck, and Welcome to BladeForums!
Click to expand...

I think a fourth tip (to myself :) ) would be to go outside and use natural light if possible. Even with auto focus, with enough light there will be more depth of field.
 
I buy knives and just keep the ones I consider "perfect" for what they are. And of course I don't mind using them hard whenever I can :D
 
gcbryan said:
Alright, I think these next 2 pictures are as good as I'm going to get without going outside or switching to my film camera.
Click to expand...
Still learning digital photography myself. I'm doing well with scenery and family shots, but not having a suitable macro lens for close-ups of small objects is a major hurdle to my digital knife photography. :(
(Note to self, must by macro lens.)

Here's about the best I've done with a film camera, taken outdoors with filtered shade using a Minolta X700 SLR. It looks good enough, but I probably couldn't do it a dozen times in a row with any consistency.

BarkRiverTanto.jpg


By comparison, here's what a scanner can do, and it works this well every single time with very little effort:

Prentice.jpg


Here's a closeup of a Boker shield done on a scanner, impossible on a camera without a proper lens:

Bokershield.jpg


Anyway, I'm not bashing your photos or knives, just wanted to let you know about the scanner option if you hadn't thought of it already. The scanner won't do 'artistic' shots like you see in AG Russell's catalog or like many of the photographers post here at BladeForums; but scanner images are fast, cheap, convenient, and consistent.

Good Luck! :thumbup:
 
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