TIPS on Photographing a WIP process

[ddd]

IN PROGRESS series are very educational, enlightening
and can save the need to use many words.

These can be presented in two ways:

1. AS A SERIES OF SEVERAL PICTURES taken from
THE SAME VIEWING ANGLE
These are photographed as the work progresses, again keeping
in mind that a good picture is worth many words.

This was in my mind when I photographed Tim Hancock
making the spacers for his Dogbone Dagger.
What you see here is only the beginning of the process...

2. AS A COMBINED SERIES OF PICTURES MADE INTO
ONE ILLUSTRATION.
There are several ways to do this some easier and some more
complex but the basic demand is that THE ELEMENT SHOWN IN
THE MAKING PROCESS SHOULD BE PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE
SAME ANGLE, SHOWING THE WORK AS IT PROGRESSES, put together
in one composite illustration...


Here below, I combined three different pictures of grinding and finishing
stages of making the blade of the full Integral by Edmund Davidson.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[ddd]

I seriously recommend that the FINISHED KNIFE be photographed
professionally to bring out the quality of the end product.

A very good picture of the finished piece will create a dramatic
visual contrast to the raw materials from which it was born, and
a thing of wonder as to how the chunks of roughly shaped bits
ended up as a thing of great beauty...

Here for example is Tim Hancock's finished Dogbone Dagger
after a 50 page display WIP process in his book...

And here are the last two pages of Edmund's WIP process
from his book.

I really hope that all the above did something to contribute
to the making and displaying of WIP Threads.

I shall gladly answer any questions related to workshop photography!

I shall even enjoy to explain and digitally correct pictures you guys
post here when facing specific or problematic photographic situations...

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[ArtinNC]

Thanks for sharing

 

[ddd]

In 2006 I produced a book "The Art of Modern Custom knifemaking",
where I displayed one hundred WIP processes almost all of them
photographed by the Knifemakers, Knife Carvers, Knife Engravers
and Damascus Makers themselves.

I received more than 2,500 pictures and chose about 1,600 to display,
showing the selected knifemaking and knifemaking-related WIP processes.

I spent an endless amount of time coaching many of the knifemakers
while doing their process dedicated documentation.
More than 40 of them went out and BOUGHT their first digital camera ever,
so they could do it themselves!

Then I sat down and Photoshop enhanced, cropped and corrected all
of nearly 1,600 final pictures...

The end result was worth every hour I put into it - more than 1,200 hours of
coaching, correcting writing and editing from many thousands of miles away!

Here are two facing-page spreads that will give some idea what
I am talking about....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Bruce Bump]

Very interesting David,
Hey you have done one on John Davis? He's a good friend and mosaic mentor of mine.

 

[ddd]

Very interesting David,
Hey you have done one on John Davis? He's a good friend and mosaic mentor of mine.

Hello Bruce,
I do not understand... In the above post I showed John Davis'
WIP process as it appeared on two pages in my third book... It
is a low resolution picture of his two page section - one of my
favorites in the book as it displays beautifully highlights of
creating a complex Mosaic Damascus.

But if you mean a whole book then - I have a plan to make one
book on 4 Damascus makers (2 of them Mosaic makers) in my
series on "Custom Knifemakers of the World".
One 184-page volume on four such world class Damascus makers
dedicating 40 pages to each of them while they create the steel and
finish the blade (or the knife)...

Are you interested?

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Bruce Bump]

I've been to Johns place several times burning up steel and eating beef jerky. His damascus is still way ahead of my own. You are wanting "world class" damascus makers and I dont think your readers deserve less than that. I dont consider myself quite ready to be included in this new book. Maybe you missed the section in my Pinkerton Bowie WIP where I cracked the first billet making a feather pattern? Give me a couple more years of practice and I would love to talk about this most generous (exciting) offer.

Hello Bruce,
I do not understand... In the above post I showed John Davis'
WIP process as it appeared on two pages in my third book... It
is a low resolution picture of his two page section - one of my
favorites in the book as it displays beautifully highlights of
creating a complex Mosaic Damascus.

But if you mean a whole book then - I have a plan to make one
book on 4 Damascus makers (2 of them Mosaic makers) in my
series on "Custom Knifemakers of the World".
One 184-page volume on four such world class Damascus makers
dedicating 40 pages to each of them while they create the steel and
finish the blade (or the knife)...

Are you interested?

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[ddd]

You are wanting "world class" damascus makers and I dont think your readers deserve less than that. I dont consider myself quite ready to be included in this new book. Maybe you missed the section in my Pinkerton Bowie WIP where I cracked the first billet making a feather pattern? Give me a couple more years of practice and I would love to talk about this most generous (exciting) offer.

Now you have a problem, Bruce, as I plan to photograph the
book During June of 2014 and introduce it in 2015....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Bruce Bump]

David, I see what you mean. I didnt plan my retreat very well timewise on that response. You like to plan your books out a couple years in advance so by 2014 my skill/procedure level should be up high enough to be an interesting WIP. Thanks for the confidence in me for the long haul in this venture of ours. You have me thinking now.

 

[ddd]

David, I see what you mean. I didnt plan my retreat very well timewise on that response. You like to plan your books out a couple years in advance so by 2014 my skill/procedure level should be up high enough to be an interesting WIP. Thanks for the confidence in me for the long haul in this venture of ours. You have me thinking now.

Bruce, I am getting more experienced in my pre-planned "attacks"
with every book I make...
But this is a long way off and we can discuss it probably next year
at the 2011 BLADE SHOW?

---------------------------------------

In the mean time here is something more related to this Thread,
A before and after-being-treated picture from one
of the WIP processes in my "Custom Knifemaking" of 2006...
I think it speaks for itself.

And is there any doubt about it being worth the trouble?
It is only a matter of how much time one is prepared to invest in
a small picture and how important the visual quality of the end
product is to him.

I have to admit though, that not all the 1,600 pictures in the book
demanded such a dramatic treatment...

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Bruce Bump]

Ok, I do plan to attend the 2011 Blade Show. We are the cheering section for my best buddy Dana Hackney. He's testing for the JS stamp. We should sit down and talk.

 

[ddd]

I am flattered by some of you sending me (by email) pictures, asking if
they can be improved dramatically and how to do so.
I shall do this gladly, and if you send your phone number I'll even
call to make sure that the process was understood...

BUT it would be even nicer if you post these knife-related pictures here
and let many benefit from the process of correcting them on-line...

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Mark Behnke]

I would appreciate any help with my photos. Here's a link to some...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771534

Not sure what I'm doing right or wrong, I like to present as much detail as possible but wonder if in doing so I'm neglecting other important aspects, as interest or composition etc. I think I need to create some drama , maybe with back ground?

I'm just kinda lost , Please help.

Thanks
Mark Behnke

 

[ddd]

Hello Mark,

Got your call for help....

Actually you are doing relatively well as you are showing
the knife and its details clearly.

There are many ways to enhance the picture of a knife but
to display what you wanted to show, most of these are
really unnecessary!

Here are a few pointers to improve your presentation:

1. Hide the supporting material from the camera's view.

Here in this close up, I am sure that you could have done this...

2. Fill the picture with the chosen background or crop off the
part that goes beyond the edge of the background...

Here I "continued" the background (as you should have) and
fixed the supporting material so it is unseen by the camera...

3. Here is a beautiful picture of yours - an angle not many dare
to shoot - with great depth of sharpness and a nearly full frame
background (notice the top left corner?).
This is a great shot of the tapered tang!

Your photography is very revealing for the good but also
by not hiding small imperfections which a naked eye may
have missed....
Keep at it as your "Loveless Designs" look great!!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Mark Behnke]

David
Thank you for your help, I like photograph only second to knifemaking, and look forward to doing a WIP using your tips and instructions.

Thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge.

Mark Behnke

 

[betzner]

It's always great looking at your pictorials, and this WIP info is super!

Best,

Bob

 

[Melvin-Purvis]

Thanks for this thread David - there are some interesting ideas here! :thumbup:

 

[ddd]

David
Thank you for your help, I like photograph only second to knifemaking, and look forward to doing a WIP using your tips and instructions.

Thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge.

Mark Behnke

Don't forget one important factor, Mark, The Human Factor
SHOW SOME PICTURES OF YOURSELF AT WORK...

Plan these pictures so that you look good and what you are
doing and the surrounding workshop setting will reveal as
much as possible...

Check out Stan Wilson's 2-page WIP from "... Custom Knifemaking"

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)