General discussion > Miscellaneous Tutorials
Gun photography for idiots
B Shipman:
I'm the idiot, so this has to be simple.
There are many ways to do gun photogrphy. Positioning banks of lights, light painting,light tents, etc. The simplest way is diffuse light.
Photograph on a overcast day when you can't see your shadow. Diffuse light is the key. I have an old 5 mp digital. Expensive at the time but better ones today are half the price.
Set for standard pictures with the exception of distance. Set for the proper distance. No flash.
Steady the camera. I use a tripod and rotate the camera on two legs. You could probaby use a stick.
Run your eye along the line of sight of the camera. What you see in terms of highlighting carving, glare or shadows on brass, etc. is what you'll get.
The background. You can't use a white background. What appears white in publications is actually "photo grey". Any medium color will do, and even black, but not white. Solid color will make the work more distinct for pure photos which is what I like. Something like barnwood or a pile of leaves will work fine in terms of light but may confuse the camera. What does it focus on? The leaf or the rifle. Background paper can be obtained from www.freestylephoto.biz. Just lay it on the porch or driveway. I use hidden plastic bottlecaps to tilt the rifle a bit if I want to.
A three star quality setting is fine. A TIFF setting is not necessary. Use the quality setting just below it. If you're posting to a website, determine the maximum width of photo the site accepts. Edit to this width exactly and your photos will be as clear as possible. You or a website cannot resize an already resized digital photo without "impalations"; that jagged, fuzzy border.
Can't wait for an overcast day? Taking the picture in a shadow will work; though not as well. Also, strong light sources nearby will wreck things. Example: Perfect overcast day, snow on the ground, driveway clear. Terrible photos because of the glare from the snow.
ironwolf:
Thanks for sharing those techniques Bill. You always did take the nicest pictures. Gotta' go out and practice more with the camera.
Thanks again, Kevin
B Shipman:
About 20 years ago, I flew to Tenna. to have a pro take pictures of some of my rifles. He'd done covers on Muzzleblasts and other gun mags. Cost 800 bucks plus planefare back then. I think my shots on the driveway, as far as pure gun pictures go, are as good or better. There are fancy background papers that are shaded and other things you can think u[p to be artistic if you like. Remember - what you see along the axis of the camera, is what you get. Be fussy and move the camera around.
John A. Stein:
For a nice neutral background spray paint a large piece of cardboard or plywood with gray auto body primer. It has a soft, flat surface. John Stein
Jim Filipski:
Here is one done in Photoshop from a straight shot
Here is the straight original simple shot
The set up was placed 4 feet from a glass patio door that had a thin sheet of white muslin hung
on it to difuuse the sunlight coming in the window. This was on the left side. you can see the direction
of the main light is coming from the window on the left ( note the highlight on the flintlock cock)
A white posterboard card was held over the set up to evenly illuminate the steel parts by reflecting some light back ito the top of the shot.
A silver piece of mylar packing material ( usually used to ship refrigerated materials ) was held at an angle by the cameras right side
to bounce light into the shadow area.
This was taken with an old point & shoot digital camera (3 megapix 2001 vintage) Shot on the Manual setting so I had control
of my shutter speed & f stop. built in flash was turned off and camera was on a steady tripod. Exposure was about 1sec at f5.6
I will try to post a line drawing diagram of the shot when I draw it up.
Jim
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