I thought I'd bump this for more discussion. I find I learn a lot from these kinds of discussions and then going out and trying things.
I'm still working on getting good shots of a whole rifle. Right now what works best is for me to highlight just a particular part of the rifle and maybe "set the scene" a bit.
Here's an example: These are two M-1 Carbines shot in natural light by a point 'n shoot digicam (HP 735 3.2 MP). I think I used the built in flash for a little "fill flash." You can see some glare on the bottom rifle from the flash. The background is an old sleeping bag that works well for it's neutral gray color. I used the ammo boxes to prop up the rifles to get them up and off the sleeping bag a bit. The picture (and all my pics here) has been compressed and resized for uploading and storage on Photobucket.
Here's a shot that I think is a little less succesful. It's a Daweoo AR100 taken with the same Digicam and I think on the same day. I didn't prop the rifle up at all and the result looks kind of "flat" to me. Notice the dark area by the trigger guard.
Here's an attempt at a full length shot. I always want to avoid at all costs the dreaded "guns on the brightly colored bedspread" pics. I can't remember if I had an overcast day at the range or not when I took this. Overcast is best, but the range is quite a distance away and if I'm taking pictures that day I have to take the lighting I can get. I stood on a chair to get this shot.
Here's what I think is a more interesting shot of the same rifle. It's a Brit Martini Henry rechambered in .303 and more rightly renamed a "Martini Enfield." I was playing with shapes and colors a bit. I'm not really happy with the overall exposure. (And yes, the bullet hole is from that rifle. Only 50 yards though. I shot the rifle and then I shot the rifle, if you know what I mean...)
Here's a pic I really like. It's more abstract, but I think it works. It's an UZI SMG resting on a black carrying case. I named it "fun switch" for obvious reasons. This one was taken indoors in my "quickie foto studio". That's when I lay down some neutral background, drag over some floor lamps, and take a bunch of pics with and without flash looking for some keepers.
I know this thread was about photographing rifles, but here's a couple shots I took a few weeks ago of a new revolver purchase. It is SO much easier to shoot handguns (with a camera that is) then rifles!
This was my "quickie outdoor studio." We had a nice overcast day and I had some spare time, so I dragged a folding chair out to the backyard, slapped on an old army blanket (neutral color, remember?) laid out some props and started snapping. It turns out the day was TOO overcast as I only got five minutes of shooting before it started to rain!
And one last picture I'm not as happy about. The glare really bothers me in this shot. Close, but no cigar.
I've found the key to improving as a photographer is to learn to recognize what's wrong with your pictures and figure out why they look the way they look. Even something you are happy with can probably be improved if you look at it more critically. These are better then the shots I was taking a couple years ago, but hopefully not as good as the ones I'll be shooting a year from now.
My personal next step is to work more with reflectors and create my own diffused light to shoot more indoors. I'll probably be building a lightbox soon. What *really* helps is we moved from an apartment to a house so now I have both room to set up and shoot indoors AND a private backyard where I can take gun photos without the neighbors calling the SWAT team! I used to have to drive an hour, one-way, to the range to take outdoor shots.
Oh, one last thought. I did NOT use a tripod for any of these pictures. I've used tripods before and will use them again, but I used to shoot news and got used to shooting almost strictly handhold. If you learn how to find a really stable body position and not move the camera at all when you trigger the shutter (sound familiar?) you can do surprisingly well handheld.
I'll be shooting more with a tripod though as I set up an indoor (tear downable) studio though.