Some Knife Pics

Rat Finkenstein

Rat Finkenstein

Joined
May 18, 2005
Messages
23,114
Everyone loves pics, so here are some I just took.
Sissipuukko
sissipuukko2.jpg

sissipuukko1.jpg

Urban Camo SAR Rat
sar-rat-2.jpg

sar-rat-1.jpg

sar-rat-blade.jpg
 
Very nice pics. Can you tell us more about your equipment set up?

I like the paper towel background. That seems to work surprisingly well. :eek: :D

Thanks for sharing.
 
Terry Newton said:
Very nice pics. Can you tell us more about your equipment set up?

I like the paper towel background. That seems to work surprisingly well. :eek: :D

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
The Background is actually a piece of coarse light grey felt.
I haven't gotten around to building a decent lightbox, So I taped a cut open white kitchen bag to the window to diffuse the direct sunlight, and used a Canon Powershot g2 on automatic with "close up" selected. The pics all ended up with a very slight color cast, but I fixed that with photoshop.

I had tried taking some pics with a smooth black felt backdrop, but it screwed up all the pics using the auto setting, made the black knives look gray, and the backdrop purple:barf: . A light neutral color worked better.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
You've got some nice knives ther. I particularly like the Busse and the Swamp Rat folder.
Click to expand...

Thanks:) I feel the same way about those two, they are my current EDC.:thumbup:
bff7ae69.jpg
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
Thanks,
The Background is actually a piece of coarse light grey felt.
I haven't gotten around to building a decent lightbox, So I taped a cut open white kitchen bag to the window to diffuse the direct sunlight, and used a Canon Powershot g2 on automatic with "close up" selected. The pics all ended up with a very slight color cast, but I fixed that with photoshop.

I had tried taking some pics with a smooth black felt backdrop, but it screwed up all the pics using the auto setting, made the black knives look gray, and the backdrop purple:barf: . A light neutral color worked better.
Click to expand...


I have a LOT to learn about taking pics of my knives. Are there any threads posted about building a light box, ext...? Nice collection:cool:
 
RF, Nice knives (from one Busse/Rat fan to another ;) ) and better than average photos. You got sufficient light into the frame and got it evened out enough to eliminate the shadows that so often hide detail. Turning your whole window into a diffused light with the plastic bag was an innovative way to address that particular problem. Way to think outside the lightbox!

While your light-colored felt background helps spread the light around, IMHO it doesn't help highlight the knives. Just too consistent a background to help drive the viewer's eye to one or another area of the frame. Note how much the bit of color from your Buck or tan Busse stands out among the black, silver, and grey areas of the frames.

Different colored backgrounds that others have used successfully are scrapbooking papers, floor tiles (either polished or pavers, but be aware of the glare possible from polished tiles), fabrics, woods, etc. Also, sometimes props can go a long way toward highlighting your knife photos. Check out the work of Terrill Hoffman for good examples.

tarmix101 said:
Are there any threads posted about building a light box, ext...?
Click to expand...

Follow the link below for a compilation of many threads and tutorials covering knife photography, including the one Rat Finkenstein pointed out. It is the thread that is linked from my sig.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330909
 
RokJok said:
RF, Nice knives (from one Busse/Rat fan to another ;) ) and better than average photos. You got sufficient light into the frame and got it evened out enough to eliminate the shadows that so often hide detail. Turning your whole window into a diffused light with the plastic bag was an innovative way to address that particular problem. Way to think outside the lightbox!

While your light-colored felt background helps spread the light around, IMHO it doesn't help highlight the knives. Just too consistent a background to help drive the viewer's eye to one or another area of the frame. Note how much the bit of color from your Buck or tan Busse stands out among the black, silver, and grey areas of the frames.

Different colored backgrounds that others have used successfully are scrapbooking papers, floor tiles (either polished or pavers, but be aware of the glare possible from polished tiles), fabrics, woods, etc. Also, sometimes props can go a long way toward highlighting your knife photos. Check out the work of Terrill Hoffman for good examples.



Follow the link below for a compilation of many threads and tutorials covering knife photography, including the one Rat Finkenstein pointed out. It is the thread that is linked from my sig.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330909
Click to expand...


Thanks, I will have to try some things next time I shoot, I really need to scrape together a lightbox.:thumbup:
 
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