Week 3 Photo contest -CLOSED for entries

BossDog

KnifeDogs.com & USAknifemaker.com Owner
Staff member
Week 2 contest entry time still has the rest of the week to go but I am opening week 3 up now for submissions..
 
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Rudy Joly

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I'm a genuine amateur. This is a photo of the second knife I've made. Shot outdoors on a slightly overcast day with a Sony N-1 Point & Shoot camera.
 
Two folders by Frank Niro. Again, camera was a Canon PowerShot A3100IS set on auto.
Background is a blue blanket & the branch is from a Sycamore tree dating back to 1785.


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Hi Everyone, I decided to register after reading the news letter. I would like to share this picture of the oyster knife that i recently made. I made it with my Canon EOS 500D. I used a tripod and a long exposure time for the photo. Both shot in JPEG and RAW, the JPEG was really nice i think. The photo is made inside the workshop with autumn sun. My workbench is made from the old shipdecks of our oyster boat and the green paint gives a nice contrast with the paduk wood.
http://youtu.be/f0NbkLhKgN4 for more information. Thank you for watching! Kind regards from the Netherlands
 

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Won't repeat the details of my set-up and intent with this photo which are included with my entries in weeks 1&2 for anyone who's interested. Something I haven't mentioned before (in this forum) is the importance of the angle of the knife on the page. It should be angled to show the important features of the knife, avoid odd unwanted reflections on the shiny parts but most importantly, to show the knife's lines in the most attractive manner. The all-time master of this is the old-school artist whose female nudes were featured in PLAYBOY magazine (?maybe still are) - Vargas. To my way of thinking we should be doing the same with knives, the best of which combine elements of beauty and danger - especially beauty! (To a large extent IMHO, beauty is about curves, not straight lines.)

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I hate to clog up the thread but this entry by Buddy is just stunning!!!
Great knife and the subject and set up compliment each other perfectly.
Thanks for sharing this one.
Regards
Steve Janik
 
Pic I took of my DR. T slippy.

Canon Eos Rebel T3 Camera.
I know some people don't but, but I like using props in my knife photos. I think it can really tell a story, which really helps when trying to sell a knife, or anything for that matter.

 
Curly....

Left over parts of a kit knife...Lumber was picked from
scrap pile at my old shop several years ago....
Picture shot with a Samsung s730 in hand.....Only an
amateur,but do enjoy taking pictures..

Thank you,JD

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A Brusletto kit blade that I did the handle on.
This is one of my go to users.

Shot in the light box, 2 lights and a white board to lighten the shadows.
I slightly opened up the shadow, on the bottom of the handle, in Light Room and added a hint of a vignette to focus attention on the center of the frame.
The cut corrugated board gives the shot some context but also directs the viewers eye around the photo.
Much like Buddy's bushy (twiggy?) fringe above, which, BTW is a great shot.
 
Hello my name is Jeff Haze.
I wanted to share a shot of a knife I made.
Taken with a Canon Elph in a make ready light box.
Here are the details.
Thanks for looking.
80CRV2 Steel.
.180 thick.
Scandi Grind.
3.250 inch blade.
1.250 blade height.
7 inches overall.
58-59 RC.
Black Acid Finish.
Black micarta scales that can be removed.
Chain ring bolts.
Tried a different positioning of knife to highlight the edge.

Number44-5.jpg
 
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I'm a hobby maker aspiring to get better in all aspects of knife making.
I took this shot with a Canon point and shoot in my home made light box. I was lucky enough to sit in on a "how to" given by Caleb Royer. Now if I could just remember half of what he said.

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Thanks for looking,
Chris
 
Hey Everyone! I'm becoming a big knife nut...and have noticed that alot of knife makers like to "pose" their finished pieces. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. To me, "less is more" has always been my mantra. Keep your backgrounds simple, let the knife sell itself! If you are adding in all kinds of fancy background props, it seems to 1. diminish the value of the knife by having to add in "candy" all around it, and 2. it distracts away from the main focus which is the knife itself. NOW...I'm not saying don't pose your blades. I like to show a shot on a clean white background, and then a "real world" in use shot. This real world shot is definitely posed, but I use minimal background distractions and subtle blurs to bring the focus to the knives.

Below you can see my main selling image on a white background.

-1.jpg

This was taken with an iphone 5! In fact 90% of my photography is done with my iphone. It's got a terrific camera, and with a couple of editing apps, you are done in no time.

The white background is a hunk of white poster board from target (3$?) and a I used some fine fishing line to suspend the knives for a cool "floating" look.

Lighting is key, but not difficult at all. This image was taken at night in my basement. I use two clamp lights (silver cone looking things) from home depot. They're like $8 each. One has a "cool white" light bulb and the other has a "warm white" bulb. I place one on one side, and one on the other. This gives you a nice balance of lighting and makes editing a breeze.

Below is my "posed" shot.

-2.jpg

I use blur to bring focus to the center of the image. And with a few FRESH props, I try to make it FEEL like the potential buyer could see this same scenario in his/her kitchen. That's about it...for now!
 
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Hi eanin,
this is the contest entry thread. You will need to pick one picture for entry into this weeks contest. The extra pictures are fine. I just need to know which is your entry.
t


Hey Everyone! I'm becoming a big knife nut...and have noticed that alot of knife makers like to "pose" their finished pieces. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. To me, "less is more" has always been my mantra. Keep your backgrounds simple, let the knife sell itself! If you are adding in all kinds of fancy background props, it seems to 1. diminish the value of the knife by having to add in "candy" all around it, and 2. it distracts away from the main focus which is the knife itself. NOW...I'm not saying don't pose your blades. I like to show a shot on a clean white background, and then a "real world" in use shot. This real world shot is definitely posed, but I use minimal background distractions and subtle blurs to bring the focus to the knives.

Below you can see my main selling image on a white background.

View attachment 52303

This was taken with an iphone 5! In fact 90% of my photography is done with my iphone. It's got a terrific camera, and with a couple of editing apps, you are done in no time.

The white background is a hunk of white poster board from target (3$?) and a I used some fine fishing line to suspend the knives for a cool "floating" look.

Lighting is key, but not difficult at all. This image was taken at night in my basement. I use two clamp lights (silver cone looking things) from home depot. They're like $8 each. One has a "cool white" light bulb and the other has a "warm white" bulb. I place one on one side, and one on the other. This gives you a nice balance of lighting and makes editing a breeze.

Below is my "posed" shot.

View attachment 52304

I use blur to bring focus to the center of the image. And with a few FRESH props, I try to make it FEEL like the potential buyer could see this same scenario in his/her kitchen. That's about it...for now!
 
Oops! Ok I'll go with the second picture on my post then. Thanks!


Hi eanin,
this is the contest entry thread. You will need to pick one picture for entry into this weeks contest. The extra pictures are fine. I just need to know which is your entry.
t
 
***I edited my picture from my previous one***

I've been playing around with some photo editing and I like this one better. If it's not allowed to switch them, I'll change it back.

Here's the one I want to enter for week 3.


 
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for this week I went with the same setup, different knife and little added photoshoping. Meaning everything (blade, handle, edge, etc.) was pieced together from several different shots attempting to arrive at the best aspects of each.

Andy2.jpg
 
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Here's one of mine. After being stuck with iphone pics for 6 months, I finally got a new battery for my point and shoot Kodak. This pic was shot in a park, in the shade of a tree trunk at midday, laid out on the back of my winter coat. Used a tripod, and bracketed the pics at three exposures then chose the best one. A little tweaking in photoshop to get the colors right. Knives are CPM154CM with mesquite and afzelia.
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