Photographing Traditional Knives

To my eye, having a shield with writing on it upside down takes away from the knife presentation in the picture. I only photograph knives completely open if they have a shield without writing, or no shield at all. Shields with writing in them, I usually position in a way like the OP's 2nd photo.
 
007hunter said:
Tried your recommendation, I do really enjoy your photos so figured would give it a try...

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Good ideas spread quickly, methinks. Thank you for the tip
 
007hunter said:
Still experimenting with the angles, look ok?

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I've never had any cause to complain about any of your pictures, they are always a pleasure. I do admire your continued drive to improve though. One of my biggest issues is orienting the angles in a manner that doesn't get too much reflection in the blades and bolsters. Being that my main area of staging is covered by trees, it is a wee bit hard to do...
 
Pàdruig Pàdruig
Dylan, Brian and I were just discussing that. I try and remove reflections without the use of a light tent but I don't obsess over the last spot. On the other hand, I know someone who manages to incorporate leaf reflections in all his knife photos. He is so adept at it that sometimes I can't tell if the blade is Damascus or not. I really appreciate the creativity that I don't see too often. Most times we seem to fall into a "follow the leader" mentality.
 
I will say that, though I have a long way to go still, my knife photography, actually my photography in general has greatly improved since becoming a part of these forums. I credit so many here for the positive influence. I recently dug out an old camera that I had as a teenager and am hoping to play around with it a bit. Kind of interesting working with a device that doesn't have any sort of "playback" feature... Just good old fashioned film.

Creative staging is certainly something I do try to work on. Often times it is limited by my environment, though.
 
Floor tile and hardwood floor samples from a flooring store make for interesting backdrops to shoot against. Wallpaper samples also work well.
 
Brian, I like the last one much better! The box provides some nice depth which makes the knives POP.
 
007hunter said:
Still experimenting with the angles, look ok?

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You guys are light years ahead of me in photography. But the box on this photo adds great depth. Fantastic. Plus the knives are spectacular I own a 92 in stag (DLT SFO) and it's a beauty.
 
A Faux Pas? I was taking pictures of some new acquisitions and didn't realize I had done this until I had downloaded the pictures. I was like "why did I place these like this?" They look upside down to me. I tried rotating them 180 deg and it just didn't look right...what say you?
 
Vaporstang said:
A Faux Pas? I was taking pictures of some new acquisitions and didn't realize I had done this until I had downloaded the pictures. I was like "why did I place these like this?" They look upside down to me. I tried rotating them 180 deg and it just didn't look right...what say you?
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If all you did was rotate the photo itself the perspective was off, unless you were perfectly perpendicular to the knives. In order to compare which looks better you have to take two distinctive photos. These are just the two sides photographed the same way.
 
The OCD in me doesn't like seeing things flipped much, but, it is what it is sometimes, like in this example, the first one reads proper, the next two are flipped but the emphasis is on the blade(s) so not as great a concern, for me at least;

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G2
 
I have always struggled with lighting. Direct flash is out of the question, and then it is hard to find the right ambient lighting that properly illuminates and accents the subject without producing a bright glare, or casting shadows from the camera.

I recently bought a pretty inexpensive umbrella style softbox light that works great to turn on and aim at the ceiling. The bright white ambient light bounces back and fills the space well and evenly.
 
Gary W. Graley said:
The OCD in me doesn't like seeing things flipped much, but, it is what it is sometimes, like in this example, the first one reads proper, the next two are flipped but the emphasis is on the blade(s) so not as great a concern, for me at least;

Eureka_closed.jpg~original


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G2
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It's impossible to photograph that knife open without either the shield or the etch being upside down.
 
jprime84 said:
I have always struggled with lighting. Direct flash is out of the question, and then it is hard to find the right ambient lighting that properly illuminates and accents the subject without producing a bright glare, or casting shadows from the camera.

I recently bought a pretty inexpensive umbrella style softbox light that works great to turn on and aim at the ceiling. The bright white ambient light bounces back and fills the space well and evenly.
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I made a light box and think it greatly improved my knife photos. It is just a cardboard box and some paper towels with a couple led lights, but it definitely makes a difference.
 
joeradza said:
I recently received this knife and sent the top photo to a friend. I got an email back that it was upset down. My first reaction was I must have flipped the photo. What he obviously meant was the writing on the shield made the knife look to be upside down. He thought the second photo looked much better.

Now, this only occurs if there is writing on the shield. What do all my fine feathered friends here on the porch think? Which photo looks proper, top or bottom? All opinions and castigations welcome.

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I like both of these presentations. Unlikely (never say 'never') to shoot one on it's back spring.
 
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