'No Frills' $75.00 home studio tent/lightbox

OFF TOPIC

I have not been keeping up with the progresses of photo equipment recently, but I just received an email by B&H that shows some stunningly interesting products, e.g.,

- Canon tilt / shift 17mm wide angle: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/CanonTS-E17mm.jsp
- LED pads: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Rosco-LitePads.jsp
- Canon EOS 7D: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Canon-EOS-7D.jsp Wow, 19 AF points, all cross types. My 20D is starting to show its age.

The perfect (expensive, hence the OT tag above) kit for knife photo.
 
Those LitePads look interesting, but I wonder what their CRI is. LEDs tend to have less than full spectrum output, and tend to render color less accurately. Some Bins are better than others. Any idea what type and bin are used in this product?
Regarding the 17mm tilt-shift lens. I'd love one for architectural photography, but I think its too wide for most knife photography.
 
I agree DT, it certainly merits becoming a sticky for sure,
Lots of great tips on these pages!
G2
 
Coop,
just made the light box and only spent around $55.00 at walmart,i only have a 1.3 mp olympus camera i paid $30.00 dollars for its ancient,simply flipped on the lights a snapped 3 pics,these are not edited by any pic program,these are straight from the camera to you all! Thanks coop great light box,inexspensive aswell
 

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^^^^ Well, look at that. :thumbup:

I have to agree. They look good. Now you need to work on positioning the lights so the highly reflective blades don't overwhelm the display and yet the darks are bright enough.

You can do it. Although I'm still working on that one..... ;) :p

Less than $100, including the POS camera. ;) He he he! You're schooling us here.

Coop
 
yup, Coop, and the last one is better than a goodly number of images on website still today. just need more folks to check out the thread and give it a try.
 
^^^^ well, look at that. :thumbup:

I have to agree. They look good. Now you need to work on positioning the lights so the highly reflective blades don't overwhelm the display and yet the darks are bright enough.

You can do it. Although i'm still working on that one..... ;) :p

less than $100, including the pos camera. ;) he he he! You're schooling us here.

Coop


a little more time today to fool with it,im goona get a back drop or something but heres a few more pics by that p.o.s olympus,lmao,u folks need to try this,i told my self long ago i would never take pics indoors,outdoor is the best but looks like this is the gig!for the rookie or the pro
 

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I moved my lights more directly overhead as you show Coop. It helped ! :thumbup:

IMG_6081.jpg


image is shown as the photo was taken, no editing
 
^^ A very clear shot. I'm pleased your are proud of yourself. Nice.

My critical eye now looks the the next biggest improvement: Reflecting light back into the dark areas. The lower RH corner needs more light.

I surround my knives with reflectors. I use 5"x16" mirrors with an adjustable angle (I made them up myself from a plexiglass store provided stock.)

You can do the same with tin foil and cardboard. And, it needs it.

Please keep going. You are turning closer to Knife Photo Pro with every shot. :D

Coop
 
i moved my lights more directly overhead as you show coop. It helped ! :thumbup:

img_6081.jpg


image is shown as the photo was taken, no editing
very nice photo,aswell a beautiful knife who is the maker
 
My critical eye now looks the the next biggest improvement: Reflecting light back into the dark areas. The lower RH corner needs more light.


Please keep going. You are turning closer to Knife Photo Pro with every shot. :D

Coop

Thank you Coop, I see what your talking about, I will use them on the next one. I may make Photo Pro some day, but theres only one Photomagician and his name is Coop :D

very nice photo,aswell a beautiful knife who is the maker

Thank you, I made it and the sheath.
 
Hi guys -

Wow. This thread is EPIC.

Great information here.

I have enjoyed collecting knives and photography for years, but had never thought to combine the two!

I am humbled by the great photography here, and then someone like 4ever3 posts his own knife and a pro-quality picture.

I restate. WOW.

Here is a shot I took just with my camera on the kitchen table with ambient light. I know - composition - reflections etc. At least it is in focus on the knife.

stagtrapper1.jpg


I have read this entire thread with great interest, and now am going to the photoshop thread to read it.

A sincere thanks to all of you - this is very enlightening, and I will enjoy becoming better in many ways by leveraging your excellent tips and advice.

best regards -

mqqn
 
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I moved my lights more directly overhead as you show Coop. It helped ! :thumbup:

IMG_6081.jpg


image is shown as the photo was taken, no editing

Thank you, I made it and the sheath.

4ever3,
That is one good looking knife and the sheath is "spot on" for the right match. Excellent work! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Looks like you got the photography down pat as well.

Larry
 
Thank you Larry, but the corners need light which I will fix in the next pic.
 
I was asking about the materials used to lay the knives on for the various photos.

Milt

WOW, it's been awhile since I've checked in here.

I go to Home Depot or Lowe's flooring department and pick out different 12"x12" vinyl tiles. They have a lot of natural stone and wood textured tiles.

You can also go to a good crafts store like Michael's and pick out some artist papers with all kinds of designs and some with textures.
 
I'd recommend the 18" x 18" vinyl tile ones
sometimes dem der knives are big un's ;)

IMG_3989.jpg


G2
 
I have a variety of backgrounds but generally I use only one. It was one I did not sell when I retired and there are enough pieces to do images with a backdrop as well as background.

Backdrop sample

standard.jpg


background sample

standard.jpg


by using a simple background without distractions, the emphasis is on the knife and not other parts of the image. Too often folks put too much "stuff" into the image and lose the knife.
 
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Murray: Links not showing?

Although it's quick and available, I really dislike photos taken on either a rug or a towel. They add a lot of small detail, and subsequent filesize is larger. For me, for whatever reason, it's like fingernails on a blackboard. It just gives me the shivers....:eek: :barf:

Talk about cringing, whenever I see a really nice new knife photographed outside on stones, gravel, or cement, I KNOW this knife has some minute scars. DON'T ever do that, please. :)

Gary, your image is thrifty. It's fairly large and is only 84kb. I opened it on Bridge. It claims to have a resolution of (1) ppi. (pixel per inch) How is that???? :confused: :p

Tiles are good. So are art papers and wallpapers. Those are what I use.

Coop
 
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