Took a Good Picture for Once

Very cool!

Those new phone cameras are incredible these days.

Im never happy with my pictures.....but this one is probably my best. I like the contrast between black and silver and how the mixture of brushed and polished finishes on the gun and knife match. Not a drop of wood to be seen.

This one turned out nice too, the props and backround support the old-timeyness of the .32-20 M1905. Not a drop of plastic or stainless.

il bill

Nicely done! I always have a tough time taking photos of nickel or bright chrome plated guns. I had an old flip phone years ago that had a very basic camera in it but took the best photos.

One of my favorite photos, taken with my phone, that turned out fairly well:

Cellphone cameras are amazing. Soderbergh's Unsane (with Claire Foy!) was shot on an iPhone 7, and it looks pretty good.

I thought this was going to be a rant. I like seeing photos where people don't stage the shot at all. Especially with their home and belongings in the background. I learn more about the person taking that kind of photo than one of just the gun.

That is a nice picture!

Good photos are all about proper lighting. I'm no photographer, and these are by no means perfectly done, but I like the way they look.

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Here's my most recent favorite "Day at the Range" image.

chicharrones said:

I thought this was going to be a rant. I like seeing photos where people don't stage the shot at all. Especially with their home and belongings in the background. I learn more about the person taking that kind of photo than one of just the gun.

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Indeed! I just want GunnyUSMC to have to clean his shop again, that was epic!

I have a couple. This one came out okay. The patch is from the first police department I worked for. The recently-acquired 67-1 was to replace the sidearm I was issued way back then.

The camera is on an older Samsung S5.

Plunk test 9mm 125 rn.


Granddaughter firing at 15.


Free bore and rifling iny 5904 Smith &Wesson. All came out pretty well.

Probably my favorite pic and gun. It was just after I installed the grips and was mainly trying to show them off.

Not a great pic but ok for a phone...

A couple of my most cherished firearms.


Barnard Damascus 12 ga SXS Percussion I restored to a shooter in 1954.

The Garand and I go back nearly 65 years. This one was exiled to the safe over 20 years ago due to cataracts making iron sights useless. A bit of tinkering didn't help her girlish figure but brought her back out into light of day with this .665" 100 yd. 5 shot group.

As Paul Harvey used to say, "and now the rest of the story"; fulfilled a bucket list item of taking a called coyote with the Garand.



Regards,
hps

I have not mastered photography skills to the level of this photo from Wilson Combat. I'm intrigued by the composition and techniques the photographer used.

Note the dark smoked effects around the subject matter, the contrast of light in the center-vs-outer edges. The black and white photos that don't clash with the burgundy background and grip colors. It seems to grab the eye to the center of the picture and focusing on what they want you to see. This is what I wish my photos looked like.

Sometimes, the subject of the picture is so overwhelming that one does not care about lighting and backgrounds.

Aim1 said:

Those new phone cameras are incredible these days.

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My guess is phones that take pictures have put a real hurt on the sales of "regular" cameras. I've noticed that way fewer people seem to be toting Nikons or Canons over their shoulders than used to be.

Rembrandt said:

I have not mastered photography skills to the level of this photo from Wilson Combat. I'm intrigued by the composition and techniques the photographer used.

Note the dark smoked effects around the subject matter, the contrast of light in the center-vs-outer edges. The black and white photos that don't clash with the burgundy background and grip colors. It seems to grab the eye to the center of the picture and focusing on what they want you to see. This is what I wish my photos looked like.

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I'm a part time professional photographer (my day job pays me too much to leave it for full time photography). I can tell you right now there has been some postproduction in this image, just like in 99% of all advertising photography. To start with getting that nice even glow on the pistol while still have deep vignetting shadows, pretty much impossible to do with just lighting. The shadow on the photograph in front is anything but natural, the fall of into dark is WAY to fast. Second and for me, the most telling, there isn't smudge, drop of oil, or piece of lint on the pistol. The lighting on the pictures is on the oblique which shows up every surface flaw or dust speck like it has a giant neon light point at it.

Don't beat yourself up if you're trying to achieve an image that is post produced, straight out of the camera. Now that image with smooth even lighting, a natural shadow fall off through an intelligent use of barn doors on a softbox (or lens selection not giving you full frame coverage), and the willingness to accept a few loose pieces of lint, you'll have a very similar looking picture.

I have a few with outdoor lighting, as mentioned. Outdoor always beats indoor non=professional lighting. Showing a high polished blueing is the biggest challenge to catch the depth of the polish.

tark said:

Sometimes, the subject of the picture is so overwhelming that one does not care about lighting and backgrounds.

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And that, sir, is a prime example of such a photo IMHO! Thanks for sharing!

Regards,
hps

I've always felt natural outdoor lighting captures the quality of a nicely blued gun the best … and the quality of the wood ...

I have taken lots of photos of my guns but this one is one of my favorites. I tried to explain why but I kept tripping over my words and gave up. Thank goodness for the “edit” button.

Here’s the photo.