Photographing Traditional Knives

[joeradza]

Bugdoc
I guess the reason they look 'correct' on their back spring Tom is that's how they were displayed in cases.

 

[black mamba]

GG, most people outside the knife world don't even know what UN-X-LD is, so the shield being upside down isn't a big deal:
they can't read it either way!

 

[Bugdoc]

Bugdoc
I guess the reason they look 'correct' on their back spring Tom is that's how they were displayed in cases.

Joe, I should clarify. I meant 'open and on the back spring' just doesn't look right. On the other hand, closed and on the back spring is classic. And, that's why I believe makers orient shields with writing to read 'correctly' when on the back spring and closed, as that's how one might view them 'at rest'.


On the other hand, knives being meant to be held, the shield becomes irrelevant when a knife is open and in hand, ready for action.

 

[joeradza]

Very true. It's when I want to show them open that I got caught. Never really bothered me.

 

[007hunter]

How much do you all like to have the knife "breathe" in the picture?....in others words, how much free space do you like to leave around the edge of knife/knives? -or- do you like to fill/crop the whole frame with the knife/knives as close to edge as possible? It seems like some other the better pictures allow for some "breathing" as I call it...I know there are no hard/fast rules here but would like to get your opinion...thoughts?

 

[supratentorial]

How much do you all like to have the knife "breathe" in the picture?....in others words, how much free space do you like to leave around the edge of knife/knives? -or- do you like to fill/crop the whole frame with the knife/knives as close to edge as possible? It seems like some other the better pictures allow for some "breathing" as I call it...I know there are no hard/fast rules here but would like to get your opinion...thoughts?

For artistic photos, I don't know. To show the knife, it is best that it takes up the entire frame. I guess about 10% breathing room is fine. But zoomed out photos usually don't show sufficient detail of the surface to know the condition of the knife, especially if resized for posting. That's probably why zoomed out photos are popular on Ebay. If the knife doesn't take up around 90 percent of the frame, it isn't taking full advantage of the frame.

I would take it a bit further and say that it is most helpful to get the photo framed as close as possible. In the first photo shown, I want to see all of the blades open so that I can get a quick overall look at the knife and the condition. This photo is zoomed in but it doesn't make maximum use of the frame. Since one of the blade's is fully extended, it is actually a bit zoomed out.

This photo makes better use of the frame. None of the blades are fully extended so it's a bit more zoomed in.

 

[007hunter]

For artistic photos, I don't know. To show the knife, it is best that it takes up the entire frame. I guess about 10% breathing room is fine. But zoomed out photos usually don't show sufficient detail of the surface to know the condition of the knife, especially if resized for posting. That's probably why zoomed out photos are popular on Ebay. If the knife doesn't take up around 90 percent of the frame, it isn't taking full advantage of the frame.

I would take it a bit further and say that it is most helpful to get the photo framed as close as possible. In the first photo shown, I want to see all of the blades open so that I can get a quick overall look at the knife and the condition. This photo is zoomed in but it doesn't make maximum use of the frame. Since one of the blade's is fully extended, it is actually a bit zoomed out.

This photo makes better use of the frame. None of the blades are fully extended so it's a bit more zoomed in.

Excellent information and great post!! I would love to hear other folks chime in and give their opinions as well...

 

[Bugdoc]

Usually closely cropped, to having some space as in my Case canoe photo above. It would be very unusual to be further out than that one.

I would have to agree with an earlier post in that I've taken a new interest in photography since joining our forum. I don't know if I'd go so far as to buy a new camera, but I'm certainly interested in composition, as well as making the camera quality a priority in my next phone (it's been just incidental up to this point).

 

[joeradza]

Excellent information and great post!! I would love to hear other folks chime in and give their opinions as well...

If you want to generalize Brian you could break it up into three perspectives, almost comparing them to portraiture. A tightly cropped photo similar to a head shot, a still life with the knife and a few objects included with the emphasis on the knife similar to a photo of you sitting in a chair, and an environmental shot which shows the knife with a large background such as when stuck in a tree for example, similar to you leaning against the chair while showing the whole room. They all work, depends on what you want to accomplish.

 

[Zombie411]

I like the blades to be lower than the handles when photographed fully open like that, and much more horizontal.
Think landscape instead of portrait.

AHHHHHH MY EYES!!!!!
More upside down scripts!!!!

You fellas are a joy to me. It's that one darn post that killed me.
The images are BEAUTIFUL! Your creative edge (darn puns) is amazing BUT the upside down images HAVE to STOP!

My Eyessssss....

 

[Zombie411]

For artistic photos, I don't know. To show the knife, it is best that it takes up the entire frame. I guess about 10% breathing room is fine. But zoomed out photos usually don't show sufficient detail of the surface to know the condition of the knife, especially if resized for posting. That's probably why zoomed out photos are popular on Ebay. If the knife doesn't take up around 90 percent of the frame, it isn't taking full advantage of the frame.

I would take it a bit further and say that it is most helpful to get the photo framed as close as possible. In the first photo shown, I want to see all of the blades open so that I can get a quick overall look at the knife and the condition. This photo is zoomed in but it doesn't make maximum use of the frame. Since one of the blade's is fully extended, it is actually a bit zoomed out.

This photo makes better use of the frame. None of the blades are fully extended so it's a bit more zoomed in.

Bottom image... If you are looking at a knife?

PERFECT!

 

[Jolipapa]

Last (flat) peaches of the season

 

[waynorth]

Most (not all) folding knives in old cutlery catalogs, are displayed "sitting" on their backsprings, with the mark side showing, and blades partially open. It was something of an industry standard; to display the features of a knife pattern in a comparative manner.
I am so used to this, I tend to scan my knives in that position, with variations of course.
My goal is usually to make the pattern understandable. I give little thought to creative photography. As nice as a well arranged photograph can be, my pet peeve is when a knife is not ninety degrees to the camera or scanner. Any angle of the "face" puts the parts out of proportion. "Perspective" should not be an issue in knife imagery IMO.
Artistry has its place, but correct information is more important.

 

[jprime84]

I spent time yesterday setting up for a proper shoot.

• I have two 32" umbrella soft boxes that I placed to the left and right aiming up at the smooth ceiling at an angle to bounce bright but soft light.
• I setup my Canon T1i onto a sturdy tripod pointing not quite straight down at my old barn wood plank that I propped up about 15% to make the "top down" look at bit easier to achieve.
• I used my sharpest lens - my Canon EF24-105mm f/4 L
• I had stabilization turned off, and manually focused with a set zoom of 47mm (I tried my fixed 50mm lens, but it was not as sharp as the Canon L glass)
• I shot at f/10 with ISO at minimum (100), and most exposures were around 0.5s (no flash, obviously)
• Edited all photos for white balance, ideal crop, and lighting in Adobe Lightroom 4.4

Whew! Sorry for the jargon. What I liked about this setup was it was very consistent. Once fine tuned, I could swap a knife and take a picture without looking at settings at all. I got every traditional in my collection in about 45 minutes! Here is a link to the album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprime84/albums/72157651403144110
Here are some of my favorites:

 

[Peregrin]

I spent time yesterday setting up for a proper shoot.

• I have two 32" umbrella soft boxes that I placed to the left and right aiming up at the smooth ceiling at an angle to bounce bright but soft light.
• I setup my Canon T1i onto a sturdy tripod pointing not quite straight down at my old barn wood plank that I propped up about 15% to make the "top down" look at bit easier to achieve.
• I used my sharpest lens - my Canon EF24-105mm f/4 L
• I had stabilization turned off, and manually focused with a set zoom of 47mm (I tried my fixed 50mm lens, but it was not as sharp as the Canon L glass)
• I shot at f/10 with ISO at minimum (100), and most exposures were around 0.5s (no flash, obviously)
• Edited all photos for white balance, ideal crop, and lighting in Adobe Lightroom 4.4

Whew! Sorry for the jargon. What I liked about this setup was it was very consistent. Once fine tuned, I could swap a knife and take a picture without looking at settings at all. I got every traditional in my collection in about 45 minutes! Here is a link to the album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprime84/albums/72157651403144110
Here are some of my favorites:

Great images, Jeff! I'd say you have it down to a science.

 

[Whetstone39]

I spent time yesterday setting up for a proper shoot.

• I have two 32" umbrella soft boxes that I placed to the left and right aiming up at the smooth ceiling at an angle to bounce bright but soft light.
• I setup my Canon T1i onto a sturdy tripod pointing not quite straight down at my old barn wood plank that I propped up about 15% to make the "top down" look at bit easier to achieve.
• I used my sharpest lens - my Canon EF24-105mm f/4 L
• I had stabilization turned off, and manually focused with a set zoom of 47mm (I tried my fixed 50mm lens, but it was not as sharp as the Canon L glass)
• I shot at f/10 with ISO at minimum (100), and most exposures were around 0.5s (no flash, obviously)
• Edited all photos for white balance, ideal crop, and lighting in Adobe Lightroom 4.4

Whew! Sorry for the jargon. What I liked about this setup was it was very consistent. Once fine tuned, I could swap a knife and take a picture without looking at settings at all. I got every traditional in my collection in about 45 minutes! Here is a link to the album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprime84/albums/72157651403144110
Here are some of my favorites:

They look really good Jeff, great detail.

 

[Vaporstang]

I spent time yesterday setting up for a proper shoot.

• I have two 32" umbrella soft boxes that I placed to the left and right aiming up at the smooth ceiling at an angle to bounce bright but soft light.
• I setup my Canon T1i onto a sturdy tripod pointing not quite straight down at my old barn wood plank that I propped up about 15% to make the "top down" look at bit easier to achieve.
• I used my sharpest lens - my Canon EF24-105mm f/4 L
• I had stabilization turned off, and manually focused with a set zoom of 47mm (I tried my fixed 50mm lens, but it was not as sharp as the Canon L glass)
• I shot at f/10 with ISO at minimum (100), and most exposures were around 0.5s (no flash, obviously)
• Edited all photos for white balance, ideal crop, and lighting in Adobe Lightroom 4.4

Whew! Sorry for the jargon. What I liked about this setup was it was very consistent. Once fine tuned, I could swap a knife and take a picture without looking at settings at all. I got every traditional in my collection in about 45 minutes! Here is a link to the album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprime84/albums/72157651403144110
Here are some of my favorites:

Beautiful pictures Jeff! Thanks for the set-up information. I know I could do better with my pictures, but never seem to have time to get out my tripod and do a proper set-up. I don't have the soft boxes/umbrellas, but I do have two external flashes I can control with my Canon. I like the idea of the plaform being at 15deg's. I usually use my 85mm prime lens.

 

[Chief]

Jeff,

Great images.

I crop a bit tighter, same amount of breathing room on each side, top, and bottom. When the focus of the photo is entirely on the knife, the extra wood just takes up unnecessary bandwidth. If taking a photo with other items of interest, it's okay to let them run off the edge. My mother taught college art, she called that effect "grounded".

Artistry has its place, but correct information is more important.

Here Here!!! Which brings me to emphasize the importance of something Jeff said, edited his photos for correct white balance. 99% of photographers don't know how to do this and many over embellish the actual color. If I threw down a piece of 550 cord and asked you how long it was, you could only guess. If I put that same piece of 550 cord along a yardstick, you now have something to measure it against and will come up with a much more accurate answer. The same thing exists with light. Even expensive cameras like my 5D MK III only guesses, and misses 99 percent of the time. You have to have a reference somewhere in your photo to measure the colors of the light in order to get the color of your final photo accurate. I have spent hundreds of dollars on white balance measuring products, and none are better than a small whibal (spelled correctly, google it or search the bay).

Each pixel of a jpg is represented by three numbers, range 0 - 255, first number red, next number green, last number blue. 0 is the darkest, black, 255 represents the brightest. For example, 0,0,0 is black as possible, 255, 0,0 is bright red as possible, 0,255,0 is as bright green as possible, and 0,0,255, as bright blue as possible. 255,255,255 would be as bright white as possible, and 125,125,125 a medium grey. Place your whibal in the lower corner of your image, pull your file into your photo editor, use your white balance tool and click on the whibal. Done, you now have accurate color. The three colors on pixels of the whibal should be the same number, 100,100,100, or 130, 131, 130, or very close. It is an accurate grey standard, so you now are one photographer in 100 who has accurate colors. Don't go crazy with additional saturation, personally I never bump saturation at all. Don't go crazy with the burn tool making dark areas look blacker, inaccurate representation that is widely used by semi-unscrupulous sellers.

Scanners know the color of their tubes so they don't need to have white balance adjusted, but their results always look, well, scanned rather than a photo.

To keep this knife related, here is a recent shot that uses the necklace to ground the photo to the top. Minimizing reflections off so many shiny surfaces is tough!

 

[jprime84]

I don't have anything that precise, but I do try to adjust to as close to a known color as possible.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

If I'm takin' a pic to sell or for catalogin' so I know What's in my collection than I like close up, fine detail over exposed a little so all the detail shows. If it's for me it tends to be more eye appealin' to me so if that's artistic so be it. Since I rarely sell my knives and never sell a knife gifted to me (I still have the $10 truck stop karambit folder my daughter bought me for fathers's day. ) So yea, I'd say the majority of my pictures are of the artistic slant.