Taking better knife pics..

[FOG2]

Mine have always sucked mainly because i know nothing about camera,s or photography.With a little help and some experimenting ive gotten better.


Here are some i took of a Knife a built to sell.And a bit about how i got to this point:


It was cloudy outside so there was no direct sun light.My best pics resulted from setting my camera dial to BEACH,MACRO on,FLASH off, NO tripod(yet).The other thing i tried was different backgrounds, i used a white towel (worst),a faded purple towel(a lot better) and a green and white striped cushion (best).These pics are as they came from the camera ,i have NOT done any touch ups.

This is with camera settings the same as above and a few minutes earlier using the white towel as a backdrop.Fairly large difference in quality is seen.IMO

This is from a coupla days ago similar cloudy conditions and the camera set on AUTO,and FLASH off :HUGE difference ! Im stoked !!!

Any and ALL opinions,suggestions,comment,s statement,s are appreciated.

Thanks,Bryce

 

[fujita yuji]

I don't think they are so bad but I'll tell you something I've noticed so far if you wish.
The background is quite important as you said.
When the knife is in relatively dark colour (in this case), the background should not be
in light colour. It will make the main object look even darker and make it inconspicuous in the scene.

I think there are some photo related threads sticky in custom and handmade subforum.
It should help you I believe.

 

[Joezilla]

a little off topic, but It will stay

 

[kgd]

You've got the main elements.

1) Natural light is supreme and flashes have a way of doing unattractive things to tiny scratches on the blade;
2) Cloud cover to keep direct sun out of the way, but provide enough light for the shot
3) Low iso setting if you are capable of setting it on your camera for better resolution;
4) Low F-stop, again if you can control it, for sharpness of both knife and background; If you do photo-edit touch-ups, it is better to under expose the knife. You can always brighten up later. It is hard to correct for too much brightness effectively.
5) A good background - I like the woodsy setting myself the best.

Now you given me the perfect opportunity to whore some pictures with this thread topic --- Here are some of my favorites!

 

[fujita yuji]

These are awesome shots!
As well as the blades, of course.

 

[Ebbtide]

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=455896

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=656503

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328550

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=452121

Start with the link at the bottom and work your way up.

 

[FOG2]

ISO an F stop, ok i,ll check that out.

EB, thanks for the links,I have read through those and there is good info there.

One of the things i,m trying to accomplish is taking good outdoor pics. KGD and others have shown its possible.I just need to figure out how.

Im using a Canon power shot a590is if that helps when giving out advise.


Thanks gents !

 

[Wildewinds]

I'll admit two things. First of all, I've only really tried to take good pics of a knife once. Secondly, they didn't turn out awesome.

However... I took a ton of different shots and I used a variety of settings, lighting, and composition techniques. They were done with a Canon 20d. The lens I used most was the Canon 50mm f1.4.

This is what I've learned:

I like a smaller aperture (e.g. f8 worked better than f1.4). It kept more of the knife in focus. When I was taking a shot of the knife while the knife wasn't "flat" (the blade was closer to me than the handle), I shot a few at f22 and that worked nicely.

All my shots were outdoors without reflectors or diffusers, so I got the best results shooting in shade, when the sun was low on the horizon, with no flash. Direct sunlight didn't work very well at all. The indirect light from the setting sun provided a nice reflection on the blade, which brings me to the final point.

The reflection on the blade is key. I threw out a TON of otherwise good shots because the blade didn't look good. It was easy overexpose the blade or not quite capture the finish. It was a matter of positioning the knife and the camera in order to capture the blade just right. The good ones showed the finish on the blade as well as some type of reflection. Here's an example (this is one of the few that I used a larger aperture):