Photography?

O

Omega Leather Works

Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
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Hi guys! Been a little while since I posted here as I've been working hard on my leather work. I'm at a point though that I need to take macro photography seriously. Usually my pictures will have a knife in them and I'm starting to think about my portfolio.

I've been able to take decent photos outside in natural light, but I'd love to take good pictures at night or whatever I'd like.

In terms of equipment, I have a Canon EOS DSLR with an 18-55mm lens (and some other irrelevant lenses) and a tripod.

What do you guys use to take your pics? I'm thinking of buying a tent/light box, but know nothing about them. What size should I be looking at and what about lighting? I need good results without reflections or background distractions.

Really, anything would be helpful. Camera settings would help too. Right now I just put the dial on macro and let the camera do the rest.

Thanks!
 
I can't speak towards external light boxes and such but if you're going to be shooting knives in a portrait like setting, a prime lens will go a long way. Not ideal because of its focal length but will certainly get the job done without breaking the bank is a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. You mentioned shooting outside in a low lighting scenario, a 1.8 lens is fast enough to accomplish this and still have a clean photo with little to no noise in the shot.

Try experimenting with the manual, aperture, and shutter speed settings, doing so can create some amazing shots.
 
I am a photographer. Though my specialty is horses I know a thing or two about product photography and lighting. This is a good video for getting started taking photos of your knives.

Bob

[video=youtube;i1Mkki1L3V4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Mkki1L3V4[/video]
 
You should check out the discussion I started in the photography forum about lenses. Lot's of good stuff there.

Here is the light box I made out of PVC pipe and vellum. Real cheap, and works pretty good.

070514-50.JPG


Edited to add that the light tent was inspired by one that Coop made and uses.
 
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Lighting is the most important thing. Backgrounds and props are important. Camera and lenses are way down the list. If your lens gives you the angle of view that you want and focuses close enough then no reason to buy a better lens, certainly not for internet use which is very low resolution by comparison to what modern cameras will do. I have photos in my photobucket account that I took with an old iphone and they are good enough for internet use. Having a camera that offers good control over exposure is a big benefit though, and an iphone or cheap point and shoot probably won't do that.

You can find lots of information on homemade light tents and so forth on the internet, and they don't have to be expensive. A tripod is really beneficial. Beyond that it just takes some experimentation.

Get a decent image editing program and learn how to make adjustments using it. If you don't want to buy a commercial program, gimp will do the job.
 
Patrice Lemée;13719045 said:
You should find answers to many of your questions here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/847-Photography-Discussion

Really helpful bunch if you still have unanswered questions. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Patrick, is that a valid link? It's not working for me.

Fletch, that made me want a piece of chocolate. :D I may try that though. This, I'm sure, shows my ignorance but I was under the impression that the lights in the kits are special in some way.

Looks like I'm going to have to buy another tripod too. I have (had) a really fancy one that I bought my wife but we can't find it. I'm going with something cheap that gets good reviews though because I never did see a huge benefit from the expensive one.
 
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