Need photography tutorial

Sean Cochran

Sean Cochran

Well-Known Member
Im posting in shop talk, but I wonder if someone could do a "how to take knife pics for dummies" tutorial. Thanks


Sean
 
we need to recruit a pro... I've already talked to Coop but he is covered up busy...

If we can find a pro photographer to hang their shingle here and give an occasional lesson or answer a question now and then, I'll buy them a forum. I haven't bought any pic's in awhile. If you know of a pro taking knife pic's, let them know about my offer.
 
I talked to a photographer and his biggest comments was to build a box and keep it as simple as possible. Not to much with the knife. You want people to focus on the knife and not everything else. Keep it uncluttered. The whole idea of pics of your knives is the knives. If we could find a tutorial for a box to take pics in would be nice. Oh and keep the colors simple for back ground. As in make the knife visible but not popping.
 
I'm no pro, but ocasionally take a good pic. I do have a decent setup, and will take a few pics of my setup and get them up in a day or so.
 
Thanks guys. Im wanting to start selling more online but Ive been hesitant because I cant get good pics. I have seen several photo tutorials but they all seem to assume the reader has a basic knowledge of photography, which I dont. I need someone to get the crayons out and draw me a picture.:)

Sean
 
BossDog said:
we need to recruit a pro... I've already talked to Coop but he is covered up busy...

If we can find a pro photographer to hang their shingle here and give an occasional lesson or answer a question now and then, I'll buy them a forum. I haven't bought any pic's in awhile. If you know of a pro taking knife pic's, let them know about my offer.
Click to expand...

Hey Tracy, I sent you a PM of a possibility.
 
I haven't made it yet, (mostly because I'm still making my first knife so not a lot to photograph). But anyway here is a little tutorial on how to make a cheap and seemingly fairly decent light box
 
Im going to build one of the setups from these tutorials. Both look good!

Some things I have discovered taking my pics without a box is
1. Take the pics outside.
In the shade but not dark. An overcast day offers the best lighting. Its all about the lighting.
2. Use a camera with a lot of pixels.
3.Dont use a flash.
4.Take pics until you are bored. With digital cameras you can shoot away for free.

I use editing software called Picassa. Its free fom google.
After I load the pics I look at them and click the "im feeling lucky" tab which adjusts the lighting.
This is not the professional way but it works pretty good without a great set up.

Heres a pic of a knife I was lucky enough to get in a kith. Its from Joe Mandt of JM Forge. The better the subject the better the pic also!
 

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I am not a pro but I can make a good tutorial on camera uses and setting,
along with a decent write up for a light box and lights!!
I will see what I can come up with.
 
The biggest thing I have learned about shooting decent pics is start with GREAT lighting and lean on post processing software as little as possible. I see a few pro's putting out some pictures now that are so pushed by photoshop (or what ever) they don't even look real. Great lighting up front takes care of a lot of quality later. Simple flat light isn't that great but it is better than strong, over powering single source lighting. Out door pictures aren't automatically better. They usually look better because the light is often stronger.

If you are going to take a picture outside. Stage the knife on something other than a stump, a deck rail, the front concrete step, etc.
 
Lighting is one of the main things that sets the pros photos apart from the rest. Most use 3-point lighting (main light, fill light and back light) and use professional photo strobe lights (flashes) that are syncronized to all fire at once.

For knives, the trick is controlling reflections in the blade while still showing the grind lines. The use of photographic diffusion material helps here. This white translucent material diffuses the light and spreads it evenly without harsh shadows. Surrounding the knife white white material keeps unwanted reflections off of the blade.

Here is Jim Cooper's (Coop) setup at knife shows

Blade07%20025.jpg


This is Eric Eggley's (Point Seven) setup

Blade07%20161.jpg


At home I made a special rig just for shooting knives. It is made from PVC and has a large sheet of diffusion material going at an agle from the back over the top. I draped the sides with white sheets. I use 3 photo strobes and two of them have "soft boxes" which futher diffuse, soften and spread the light.

DSC01106.JPG


I also have a portable rig similar to what Coop uses. I'll shoot some pictures of that setup the next time I use it.

The are also light tents that work pretty good and I have used them but find that are somewhat limited in room and angles that you can shoot.

MikePhoto.JPG
 
I have a large box that our 52" tv came in. I have a piece of gray paper 4' wide and about 6' long. I use the large paper clamps to hold the paper to the top of the box and spread out in front of the box and across the deck. I use this on the east side of the house. The deck is about 3' high at this point so I stand on the ground and use a tripod. I generaly try to take the pictures in the afternoon.

This seems to work pretty well for me. See my etsy site for some samples.
 
Thanks for all the input guys.
Mike, the pics help alot. Coop's setup is very simple. I could build something like that easy.

Ern, I like the idea of a box, what size would be best.

Tracy, I see most guys talking about photoshop, I always wondered why they couldnt just take a good pic to start with. Is the software work nesccesary? I dont know that I want to take the time to learn a new program.:)
Also my camera is not that great, I think. I just get whatever the guy at the counter says is good.:) It is a HP 5MP. It has settings like white balance etc. but I dont know anything about them.

Thanks for the help guys

Sean
 
Sean Cochran said:
Thanks for all the input guys.
Mike, the pics help alot. Coop's setup is very simple. I could build something like that easy.

Ern, I like the idea of a box, what size would be best.

Tracy, I see most guys talking about photoshop, I always wondered why they couldnt just take a good pic to start with. Is the software work nesccesary? I dont know that I want to take the time to learn a new program.:)
Also my camera is not that great, I think. I just get whatever the guy at the counter says is good.:) It is a HP 5MP. It has settings like white balance etc. but I dont know anything about them.

Thanks for the help guys

Sean
Click to expand...

Sean,
As far as your camera they are really good point and shoots, I would say to keep the white balance on auto and try that first.
For the box I say a pretty large one cause you want your light holes around a foot square. so I would say about a box thats close to 3 foot by 3 foot or a little smaller.
Coops setup is a good one and thats a perfect alternative to a fully enclosed box. I didnt want to do a write up using a box close to his in fear of plagiarizing his tutorial.
 
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