Photographing Traditional Knives

[Pàdruig]

Pàdruig It's pretty amazing what can be accomplished with a current iPhone. Soft lightboxes are easily made with inexpensive materials. With stationary subjects (i.e. knives) it's seldom the camera. It's all about the light.

I've been thinking about building a lightbox for a little while now. I just need to do it, I think it will be immensely helpful. As of now, I simply take pictures of my knives during the wee hours of the morning or later in the evening when the sun isn't blazing overhead.

Exactly! You don't need an expensive camera, here's a BF post I wrote four and a half years ago about photographing traditional knives.

http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/...-knife-photos-the-answer-lies-within.1047735/

Alan, Since you already let out your secret, I admit to knowing you were a professional sports photographer 20 years before I owned my first SLR. As such I thought you were truly trying to get some discussion going to help the traditional folks photo abilities and took it further than you intended. I apologize to you allowing myself to be dragged into the mud. One thing I have learned is that when you encounter someone who is a legend in their own mind that the "ignore" option is awesome.

Thank you, Chief , for sharing the link to your thread. Very helpful and very encouraging.

I thought it might be a good contribution to this thread by sharing pictures from when I first joined the forums and now just to kind of see the evolution my photography has undertaken. I hope it isn't considered too much of a derailment and I will edit accordingly if needed.

I think this is the very first picture I posted in the Traditionals sub-forum shortly after I joined Bladeforums last year. Indoor florescent lighting (no real concept of lighting in general), a very non neutral surface, etc. I think I even ran it through a filter or two to get the most "pleasing" effect. I shot this picture with an iPhone 6+.

After some months of enjoying everyone else's knife pictures and being inspired to improve my own meager to none skills, I do not use any filters at all and am always trying to take advantage of the best outdoor natural lighting I can. I focus a bit of effort on staging, I like the background to be neutral and any "accessories" to not be too distracting (the bit of artist in me, I suppose). The focus, after all, is the knives. I try several angles and am usually trying to accentuate the blade and shield (if any) and not have any unnecessary reflections. This picture below is indicative of the sort of pictures I take now and it was shot using a Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone.

I am looking forward to playing around with a lightbox and some of the other tips and tricks that have been mentioned as well.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Your taste in knives certainly improved, just kiddin' I couldn't help myself, :snicker:

Dylan these guys force you to step up your game, the quality of pics tends to be better here, everyone's tryin' to show off their favorite knife in the best light possible. Then you get people like Jim (Coop who is always willin' to help a member take a better picture just like a lot of folks who post in threads like this and the Pictures only thread.

There's a lot to be said about the stark feeling form your first pic, I like it myself, it's uncomplicated.

 

[Campbellclanman]

I dont get the time anymore to take real decent shots- Outside.
I used to in my other house I had a great spot under a tree on a rough wood Garden Seat, bright Sunlight is a killer as the blades are too reflective- so if you can have subtle shade outside- that is awesome.
When I take a photo ( and these are not good examples ) I look through my camera and move slightly- as to catch a more reflective light on the Swedges of the Blades to Highlight them- or with different grinds of Blades etc..

Take for instance this shot= where I ddint get the light on the Swedge- leaving the Blade- be it a nice Blade looking relatively dull and lifeless compared to the next shot.....

This one here catches the light on the Swedge- lifting the Blade and making it ( imo ) more aesthetically pleasing..although now there is a wee bit too much glare on the Bolster and it takes some of the richness of the Stag away - to fix that I should have simply lifted my free hand over to give that problem area relief from too- brighter light.

 

[Chief]

I've been thinking about building a lightbox for a little while now. I just need to do it, I think it will be immensely helpful.

Thank you, Chief , for sharing the link to your thread. Very helpful and very encouraging.

Pàdruig You are welcome sir. Here's how I built a free lightbox and some tips on using it. Probably put this in a thread previously but since you are interested. Start with a cardboard box and cut some holes in three sides to let light in from different directions.

Used old curtain shears to allow control / diffuse of the amount of light. Note the difference in the amount of light on the left and to the right.

On the left there is no shadow cast by my finger, this is "flat" and generally too soft.

On the right, there is too much direct sunlight, creating harsh shadows. Dramatic, but can easily exceed the dynamic range of your camera.

In the center, you see some shadow, like goldilocks, just right. Gives depth and dimension to your photos while capturing as much detail as possible.

Here's the props, used a grey reference card for a neutral background and color reference.

Results. Mirror polished blades by themselves can be boring so I positioned some of my desk flags in a reflective manner on one blade and green backyard fauna for the other. Note the amount of shadow, enough to bring out details without being harsh.

Pics are probably six years old, but still relevant and still visible!

 

[somber]

For shooting outside I actually prefer a scrim as opposed to a lightbox:

For a lightbox I like to have the inside completely white since it makes tracking down runaway reflections easier. I'm always amazed at how much detail can be reflected back on the bolsters, guards, or pommels. Here's a self-portrait off the back of a Hess Whitetail:

You can even see the creases in the lightbox sheet and even the tripod I'm using (these could easily be fixed in post, but often times for production there is no benefit)

Chief Nice Sinn, John

 

[5K Qs]

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.

View attachment 745134

Going back to the OP and the issue of upside-down writing on shields, here's a knife that I just noticed is an exception to the rule about "shield orientation":

- GT

 

[joeradza]

Thanks Gary. I have a MAM and didn't notice it.

 

[btb01]

Going back to the OP and the issue of upside-down writing on shields, here's a knife that I just noticed is an exception to the rule about "shield orientation":

- GT

Opinels are the same way.

Of course, if you carry 'em long enough, you won't be able to see what's written on the handle anyways.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

John, glad to see I'm not the only one to make a Lightbox the same way. Only difference is I use tissue paper from Xmas boxes, the kind shirts come in to cover the openings. I can get colored paper from any party store to change the feeling. Usually white paper with indoor incandescent lighting on stands so I can move them around.

 

[Pàdruig]

Your taste in knives certainly improved, just kiddin' I couldn't help myself, :snicker:

Dylan these guys force you to step up your game, the quality of pics tends to be better here, everyone's tryin' to show off their favorite knife in the best light possible. Then you get people like Jim (Coop who is always willin' to help a member take a better picture just like a lot of folks who post in threads like this and the Pictures only thread.

There's a lot to be said about the stark feeling form your first pic, I like it myself, it's uncomplicated.

Thanks, T. Erdelyi . That little Imperial is something I carry from my Dad. He had it in his knife drawer and I found it with a number of others shortly after he passed. So the pic does convey something rather meaningful despite the amateurish shot.

And I would most certainly agree, folks here have certainly inspired and motivated me to better myself. After all, we all love to look at great pictures. Especially if they are of knives.

I dont get the time anymore to take real decent shots- Outside.
I used to in my other house I had a great spot under a tree on a rough wood Garden Seat, bright Sunlight is a killer as the blades are too reflective- so if you can have subtle shade outside- that is awesome.
When I take a photo ( and these are not good examples ) I look through my camera and move slightly- as to catch a more reflective light on the Swedges of the Blades to Highlight them- or with different grinds of Blades etc..

Take for instance this shot= where I ddint get the light on the Swedge- leaving the Blade- be it a nice Blade looking relatively dull and lifeless compared to the next shot.....

This one here catches the light on the Swedge- lifting the Blade and making it ( imo ) more aesthetically pleasing..although now there is a wee bit too much glare on the Bolster and it takes some of the richness of the Stag away - to fix that I should have simply lifted my free hand over to give that problem area relief from too- brighter light.

I know this thread is about photography but that is some killer stag!

Pàdruig You are welcome sir. Here's how I built a free lightbox and some tips on using it. Probably put this in a thread previously but since you are interested. Start with a cardboard box and cut some holes in three sides to let light in from different directions.

Used old curtain shears to allow control / diffuse of the amount of light. Note the difference in the amount of light on the left and to the right.

On the left there is no shadow cast by my finger, this is "flat" and generally too soft.

On the right, there is too much direct sunlight, creating harsh shadows. Dramatic, but can easily exceed the dynamic range of your camera.

In the center, you see some shadow, like goldilocks, just right. Gives depth and dimension to your photos while capturing as much detail as possible.

Here's the props, used a grey reference card for a neutral background and color reference.

Results. Mirror polished blades by themselves can be boring so I positioned some of my desk flags in a reflective manner on one blade and green backyard fauna for the other. Note the amount of shadow, enough to bring out details without being harsh.

Pics are probably six years old, but still relevant and still visible!

Thank you so much, Chief ! Such great info and certainly easy for me to build and start playing with. I might have to convert the appliance box that my boy turned into a fort. He is bored of it anyway.