Gun pics & lighting - simple approach (very!)

Someone made reference (again) to pics and lighting etc .. and I thought I'd post the pic below (maybe I'll add it to the ''Image Matters'' site.). It is in no way definitive, remarkable or even perfect - just a quick way to get some sort of ''studio control''.

It serves to illustrate some basics .. plus how simple it is to ''lash up'' something that can work adequately. I have too many computers taking up space and in fact too much clutter in the office ... period.! So a while ago I tried improvization .... pushing some things to rear of table (spare scanner, keyboard etc) and seeing where I could place some lights easily. I then strung some white material across under the lights (''light tent'') .... to give me diffusion.

Light #1 to left is a prime source of sidelighting and light #3 from the right is a secondary near overhead fill. Light #2 which is not always used gives a bit of backlighting if required. The positions are far from ideal ... it's just where I could hook em up! They all have the internal reflector tungsten halogen type units ... anything from 90W to 150W .. and being internally coated do not make the cheapo lamp holder overheat.

There is also flourescent strip lighting above all the time. The only extra source that would help would be a source that was more frontal... but diffused also. That however gets in the way a lot so I cheat and hardly use it!

Camera is on a tripod with remote release .. exposures are manual (usually about .5 sec f11) ... focus is on manual and white balance is adjusted to the sources (this is important) and gamma and saturation slightly altered in custom settings. The set-up in the pic suits handgun pics .. for longarms I add a piece of long board clamped to the front of the table and extend the background cloth to suit, forward and to the side.

So - this is not a ''how to do it'' as much as food for thought .... a suggestion as to how something really quite crude (very crude!), can be utilized. I'd like it made much better.

The benefits of manual control on the camera cannot be over emphasized.


http://www.bedford.net/design/img_matters/images/gun_lights_s.jpg

Very good! Food for thought. There are some threads going on at Snipershide about this very topic. You might find them interesting.

Photography Tip #1 (http://www.snipershide.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003697)

Photography Tip #2 (http://www.snipershide.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003719)

Some good points made in those posts Red .. useful material.

Main thing that is worth remembering is that a ''set-up'' does not need to be all that special to look at, to achieve useful results ... much of what is needed centers around control .... having the means to regulate all aspects of the shooting ... lights, camera settings, subject placement, background etc.

Nothing is by default ''right'' or necessarily ''wrong'' ... providing control is there and the photographer achieves pretty much what he sets out to do ...... ultimately, personal taste being a deciding factor, within any limitations that exist.

Ultimately, personal taste being a deciding factor, within any limitations that exist.


Yep, I agree. BTW, Kostas put in another tip today, if you're interested. This one deals with flash.


Photography Tip #3 (http://www.snipershide.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003777)

That's another very good treatise ... helps explain quite a bit.

I don't think I mentioned earlier ... in case you don't know already ...... I placed a mini site for members here to try and help with things photograpic, and digital imaging generally. It's not to a particularly high level - just a broad overview ... it's THR IMAGE MATTERS (http://www.bedford.net/design/img_matters/) . It too hopefully helps explain a lot of the inter relationships between the various controls available.