Photographing knives

I would say experiment with downsizing your photos to be posted.... something around 600-650 pixels wide on horizontals is good with small file size. I use 650 personally. I don't really want to see the "click to enlarge" notation as the pictures are simply too large and totally unnecessary for a forum in my opinion.

Pay attention to the backgrounds you use. They can make or break a knife photo in terms of making it interesting or extremely busy and distracting. I tend not to go to a lot of trouble in this department and as a result my photos are what I would call "snap shots".

As mentioned, use natural lighting (bright overcast day is best) unless you have a light box to control the lighting and reflections. Take a number of shots, little things matter. Use a tripod. If your tripod is the type that you can extend the camera away from the tripod, they work well to get verticals without shadows.

You can buy some fabric for backgrounds or use things like wood with nice grain or ceramic tiles. If you see a photo of mine with this kind of background, it is not the floor or whatever but rather something portable I can take outdoors for the lighting.

There is a photography sub-forum here, but it is mostly not knives. There are essentially some near pros that dominate those forums. People post things like wildlife shots, flowers, scenics, and so forth frequently.
 
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Sometimes it's just about the fun.

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I took this photo a little while ago. Since my move, I can't locate the front, or the backgrounds of my lightbox. I was using a lens that just doesn't get it for this type of photo. Using manual mode and no flash, I was still able to get a decent photo. I would've run the risk of glare from the blade, or worse, blown highlights. What I did do was use a small LED flashlight on it's lowest setting, and focused the light on the handle .

I plan on getting a new lightbox that should help a lot with knife photos. I was easily able to hand hold the camera at a 1/80 shutter speed. I have a tripod, but didn't use it. A plain background is usually the best to use.

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Cscotttsss said:
Yes, kind of random topic but browsing all these threads I see we have some pretty talented photographers in our presence.

I know cameras on phones and editing programs help tremendously when it comes to taking photos of objects, but seeing if people could maybe chime in on some basic tips/tricks when it comes to getting that good knife shot.

I've been practicing and have gotten a little better but I'm always eager to learn some more tips.
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I think a retouching APP is also very important
 
Knowing how to properly edit a photo is important. I will not however, make a bad photo look good. The photo below is as it came from my camera. I look for a photo that I can blow up and still retain clarity without seeing a lot of noise. This photo would benefit from some minor editing .

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I also prefer a cloudy day to take most of my pictures. This one is one of my best as of late.

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If anyone here peruses the Totin’ thread they’d probably notice I tend to use the same background for some of my pictures. I like something that adds a bit of contrast to the picture. Some knives need something to lighten up the dark scales or blade, or a darker background to accentuate the lighter colored scales blade.

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I do enjoy the photography, but I’ll be the first to admit that pretty much every picture I’ve uploaded here has been taken by my phone’s camera. Since I browse BF on my phone, it’s a lot easier to upload to Imgur straight out of my phone’s photo album.
 
Explore the features of your camera or your phone, and take pics when you think there is an opportunity for a good picture.
I went for a hike last weekend, and took around 5 knife pics at 5 different locations. I had quite a few good shots, but in the end, one one made it on to the web.
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Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but clean your lens. I've seen shots here you can tell were taken with a filthy lens. Wal Mart sells Zeiss lens cleaner and you can get lens papers on Amazon.
 
Dig around in the photo sub forum, there are plenty of setup and knife photo discussions.
There was a sticky in the gallery sub forum as well IIRC.

Tripod, or even a bag of beans will make a world of difference. A still camera allows you to use a longer exposure and make use of less light.
A light tent is nice but a big sheet of white poster board or foam core will manage your reflections.


The Gallery stickies
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/no-frills-75-00-home-studio-tent-lightbox.328550/

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/image-editing-tutorial.455896/
 
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