Gun Photography

Let's see if I can recall anything from all of my art classes.

Since you already mentioned that you were getting a new camera we can skip right over that one.

The basics come down to what the focus of the picture is. I assume the focus of the picture was the LCP but there seems to be way too many things on screen at once and distracts from the main subject.

Varying the lights can also do wonders.

Actually, now that I think about it, you should ask Vaarok here on the forums. I have to admit that he probably takes some amazing picture of some gorgeous guns and is kind enough to post them on here from time to time.

Lighting. Composition. Done!

Natural lighting is your friend. Light bulbs can, and will, cast strange light on whatever you're photographing. So, when possible, it's always better to use natural light. Like Cleardiddion said, reduce clutter. Don't distract from the main subject.

I just used MS photo editor to do a little balancing. Dropped the red down a little, too --incandescent lighting?. You might also bring in more main lighting from the upper left.

I'm not generally one for doctoring photos, being of the "get the best pic you can through the lens in the first place" school of thought.

But sometimes...


Also, the camera seemed to prefer focusing on the near objects better. Can you focus on the preferred object, lock the focus, then move the view to encompass the whole scene? (More light would help this situation.)

With the resolutions available today, it sometimes pays to take a long shot to get everything in focus, then "enlarge" and crop it suitably --an old time chemical camera trick. Note in Schmackey's photo that the S&W lettering is sharp as a tack but the near billboard lettering and the far safety lever are starting to get blurred. More lighting, and consequently more lens stopping, would have helped here. (No offense, very nice otherwise.)

Closeups require the most rigid camera platform possible, which is sometimes a problem with a handheld camera unless you prop it against something. I recently got a $100 Casio Camera just for grins, but it is an ergonomic disaster in terms of holding the camera steady while pressing the shutter button. When I finally got things more or less right, I got the undoctored pics in the right thumbnails. (Far right is a barbecue lighter --a "Barbecue Gun," if you prefer. ) Also bear in mind that simple cameras (digital or otherwise) are set up for fixed-focus of, say, two feet to 10-15 feet. Landscapes aren't going to come out too well, nor are closeups. Usually.

Second pic: CFL desk lamp from upper left, about two foot distance. Third pic: four foot distande, just natural light from a window, no fill except from random reflections from general objects in the room (which is why natural lighting is usually so good.) Both cropped.

Do you have or can you jury-rig a light box?

Like was said earlier pay attention to lighting, plan the shot to make the gun the focus. I take several pics with just slightly different settings and use the one I like best. I haven't had any luck at all with indoor lighting, but have stopped short of building a light box. That's my next step.

This one's a little busy, like yours, but I got the camera to focus on the pistol, not the ammo.



Was losing light here. Same day as the 1911, but you can see the difference overcast made.


These were both early on in my trying to take nice pictures. The other key is a lot of practice.

I'm hardly an expert on this type of photography but I think harsh side lighting makes for some interesting shots and creates nice sharp edges and pronounced detail. I used my 4 cell maglight with the picture of the colt and messed around with it using an HDR program. SLR cameras give you a lot more options with camera control and use of lenses. A tripod was used for both shots and is a must-have piece of equipment if you want to get serious about close-up photography.

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Wood is your friend. Makes everything look better.







and a little neutral lighting

dogmush said,

"I take several pics with just slightly different settings and use the one I like best."

My father, who was a very accomplished photog, used to say that what makes a good photographer is taking many shots of the subject... as you noted. In those days (he started to teach me photograhy when I was about eight years old) that was a pretty expensive proposition unless you did your own chemistry. Nowadays, a zillion photos cost nothing in terms of "chemistry." By the way, he also taught me developing and enlarging and simple retouching when I was about nine.

I'll never forget seeing the pix of my first roll of film gradually come up in the safelight as I tray-developed my first roll of film. Like it was yesterday.

He always had a camera with him... Someone asked him how come he always carried a camera around, and his response was, "So I can see better." Took me about a year to "get" that remark. I don't know how long it took the person who asked it, but he had a puzzled look on his face for a while.

Terry, 230RN

Decent Camera, lighting and composition as stated. Depends also on the subject and what you want to do with the foreground or background, known as depth of field. Much easier today since you can take a gazzilion photos and see what works.



I like to do holiday backgrounds once in awhile.











Have fun. When you do your set-up, move things around, try to use different lighting in your location, indoor, outdoor, vary angles. Take 50 shots and get one or two good ones.

Try to get the natural lines to slide the eye towards what you want to be the center of focus. This picture, while completely accidental in nature, shows what I mean as the lines of the range bay cover and pole seem to all point to and merge into the firearm.



PS, I am NOT an expert my any means, took a photo class, ummmm, 27 years ago...I just love playing with things.

Lighting IS a big mover, and my lighting setup is actually an old three lamp floor lamp, with all the lamps on swivels, so I can point them in different directions and turn individual lamps on or off, so a picture taken with the subject behind the single lit lamp, which is blocked, (by a hanging baseball hat, no less), and after editing and rendering black and white looks like this.



Lose the cell phone camera, get a digital, doesn't have to be expensive, and a tripod - that's a must. Then have fun!

I was pretty happy about how this picture turned out.

Wood is your friend. Makes everything look better.

Click to expand...

Says the person posting a picture of a rifle with polymer stocks.

I tried?

set up an area where you will take pictures.

position lighting in diffrent areas for each group of shots to see which casts best shaddos, and avoids glare

avoid surfaces like tile, carpet, bed, and potentialy reflective surfaces (unless you want one)

avoid background distractions, like people, windows, bookcases, tvs etc

create a neutral backdrap that can absorb the light rather than reflect it. and appears natural.

dont use props, setup etc for every gun. Example a handgun your taking pictures is a S&W 629 or what have you. you look at your pool table, do the setup and take pictures....it comes out swell....but dont make the mistake of doing it with another gun, it will just look boring after you did that gun. lets say you have a 1911 stainless or blued with wood grips, place some sand on the backdrop table, add an old school knife and dog tags.

try and be original. copying somone elses idea is good start but be creative.

good luck

I am not very good with photography, but I've found that even I can take decent pictures outside in natural light. Every time I try inside the light is either too harsh or too faint. we have a pistol range in a wooded area and the light filtered through the trees is usually perfect for my pics.

A tripod is your best friend, followed by a cable release or timer. Learn to use depth of field to your advantage. Stop the aperture down as far as you can for the most depth of field, or open it up to make it very shallow and focus on one thing. Don't get hung in the middle with some of the subject a bit blurry but not enough to isolate or look intentional. All or nothing - otherwise it just looks out of focus..

If you are going to use props, I suggest you use enough to make it look normal. Or don't use any at all, but that is my personal preference.

Here are a couple of random pics I took.

Get rid of the clutter on a photo. For example in the Taurus 1911 above, remove the pine needles, leaves and so forth when you set up your shot.

The easiest way to do stills is outdoors under an overcast sky so that there are no harsh shadows unless you have a light box set up with the proper lights available to you. Also as suggested, make more than a couple shots. I would suggest you take a some with the auto focus "on", and then go manual and adjust your point of focus. The auto focus feature of DSLR's is really pretty amazing however. Try it and then take control with manual focus and adjust the depth of field via f-stop. You can always delete them.

Use a tripod, "cable release", wireless trigger, or the timer setting on your camera. Even an inexpensive tripod is better than no tripod.

Keep you backgrounds simple. Include only the stuff you want to inside the photo. Make your shots very tight in terms of composition.

Play around with the things you add with the firearm to add interest. Do you really want the pet cat inside the shot? You don't want a busy photograph as it detracts from the main subject of the shot.

Digital photography makes shots a lot easier than film, but it does not change the basics of photography or capturing an image. The one thing you can not fix with a digital photograph is an over exposed or washed out shot. Shoot at the highest mega pix setting of your camera if you are looking for great. Then you have some room to do some photo shop work if you choose to.

By the way, the OP's shot with his cell phone is really pretty amazing considering there is absolutely no control over the shot in terms of focus, f-stop, ISO setting, shutter speed, etc. I have been pretty impressed with some shots taken with cell phones that have a fairly high mega pix.

You guys are getting better, these photos are awesome. I love the sprawl of ammo on the first post; as the rest, seriously, these are way higher caliber (no pun intended) than what I'm used to seeing.

Same gun, different angles and amount of lightings.

If you want to see photographic perfection there is but one name:

Ichiro Nagata

The man is amazing! Just pick up any gun magazine in which his work is displayed (over the last couple decades) and you'll see what I mean.

(Andy Irons would be most proud of this shot )

Wow, just wow. Some really great pix in this thread.