taking pictures

Gehazi

Gehazi

Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
3,994
I have trouble taking good pictures of my knives, can anyone offer some advice for setting up lighting etc for pictures that show details not obscure them? trying to picture acquisitions that have no pictures from the sellers, but all the pictures look horrible-- so any advice is welcome from anyone ! is a floor better than a table? white backgrounds or other?tell me the sekret
 
Not selling knives, but food on plates, we put down a black cover on the table. Non-reflective black fabric, no shiny crap.

However, since the knife handles are sometimes dark wood, and the sheathes are often stark black leather, maybe someone else has a different color recommendation for the background. Perhaps a light green or blue instead?

I'm no shutterbug either, but keeping the camera steady is very important, and propping the object up from the background surface also helps appearance.
 
Indirect lighting is good, it's more difficult to get a photo without reflections if you are standing directly under the light. I like indirect sunlight a lot. Try taking the same photo a few times from different angles to see what works best. It's a lot of trial and error to see what works best for a specific photo. The macro setting on your camera will do wonders with getting things in focus, and a solid or mostly solid background like brown paper or a table top will help the camera focus on the knife. White paper can sometimes wash the colors out in the photo if the lighting is wrong. A busy background can throw off the focus and have the camera auto-focusing on the wrong thing.
 
Get a tripod for starters, if you don't already have one.

Keep taking pictures A LOT and keep NOTES for each session, you will start to see what works for you and what doesn't. You are the only person that has the exact combination of equipment that you have. What works for someone else might not work for you.

Share you're pics and ASK for corrective criticism.

Read the forum that Karda posted.
 
yeah already been checking the "pictures of knives" thread in that forum, great link karda, and great advice everyone-- I think I will do the quick and dirty method and set up a table outside and take some pictures of my collection, maybe show you guys the dark swamp my manse overhangs as well.
 
Try to get the light source behind you and avoid using flash if you can. If you are using a digital camera its pretty much WYSWYG (what you see is what you get). Most digital cameras will try to focus on objects you may not want so if you can take the shot with the knife parallel to the camera (eg. tip right hilt left) then most of the subject will be in focus. In other words avoid taking angle shots with a cheap camera because most of the subject could be out of focus. For focus problems step back a bit to get everything in the depth of field (in focus). Table shots or floor shots try to take the shot straight down or almost straight down at the subject. If you dont have enough light and have to use the flash then avoid direct shots straight down at the subject or reflections may be a problem. Post a couple of pics and i bet I can help you out. Oh and just like squeezing the trigger on your pistol. Camera is the same way. If you can rest your hand, elbow, lean on a wall, or anything at all it will help.
 
good call, I never even thought of getting in a resting position to take the pictures lol, I just swing the camera around and expect things to look right :D, good advice man thanks! you can kinda tell that from my photobucket pictures as the only good ones are the ones taken by sellers that I just save :D
 
All good advice.

I would recommend something from the Joby line of tripods, there are extremely versatile in almost any situation indoors or out and you can carry them in you back pocket.
http://joby.com/gorillapod

If at any time you can steady the camera enough to use manual focus, DO IT. Always use manual focus on a tripod if shooting non-moving subjects.

Keep light source behind you like ndoghouse said and try to use natural light if possible. Pictures in sunlight will always look more "natural".

If you are somewhat savvy with a computer, I recommend trying out a photo editing software from the following.

Free and easy - http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

Free with a learning curve - http://www.gimp.org/

There's always photoshop, but GIMP will do everything that PS will do with a little patience and effort.
 
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