Gun Photography

[ninong99]

@armoredman - what a great blurb in your b/w pic (which is a great poster in itself). Can you actually give the source of this research? I hear so many anecdotal things like "assailant was subdued by a bystander" when "subdued" meant "good guy held bad guy at gunpoint until police arrived," and newspapers omit this fact because they don't want to appear to be promoting guns. Would love to be able to reference available hard research to spread the knowledge.

@TennJed - great use of shallow depth of field and high contrast b/w in your 2nd pic.

@indooruseonly - another great wheelgun pic! Your last one is so simple but shows all the great texture and color in that fine gun.

Keep 'em coming everyone!


-Ninong99
_____
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[esheato]

Pistols are easy.

Long guns on the other hand...I can never get a good pic.

 

[trickyasafox]

There are three tricks to good gun photography:
1- natural light / adequate light box
2- gun must be neither perpendicular nor parallel to the horizon in the image
3- MACRO LENS

(all in jest- but we do love our closeups in the gun photos)

 

[nwilliams]

I went to college and went as far as getting a BA in the photography however I didn't start photographing guns until several years after finishing school and I started doing it simply to post pics of my guns on forums.

Even with a degree in photography it took me a long time before I started taking decent gun pictures. I look back on my early gun photography and it's downright embarrassing. The truth is I when I was studying photography I never did much in the way of studio or commercial imagery, I had to learn that on my own.

If you want to take good gun pictures it really has nothing to do with the equipment you use it's how you compose your subject matter. Look at any kind of commercial product photography and it will help you understand how to compose better gun photos. It's about proper lighting, placement of the subject matter and not putting anymore in the image than needs to be.

I currently photograph guns as my job which is great, I get to indulge two of my greatest passions in life and I get paid to do it. Really the trick to taking good gun photos is to practice a lot, experiment with composition and lighting and to spend a lot of time looking at gun magazines and other media. When I was studying photography in college a lot of my classes involved simply looking at professional imagery and trying to understand what makes those images work.

Here are some examples of my work to show you some different approaches to composition.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Lighting and backgrounds - about which I have much to learn - are the key to successful photography. Although good equipment helps, it is much more about the photographer than the camera. In fact, with digital cameras, I have noticed that the high-end ones often have less resolution, i.e., fewer megapixels, than little "point-and-shoot" ones. (Mine is one of the latter, a Nikon Coolpix S3200, because it is what I could afford.) I did have fun setting up and taking the pictures.

 

[DAdams]

NWilliams, nice pictures, and excellent composition.

What many miss out on, is the old adage regarding that which is not shown. The things on the edge or periphery don't have to be shown in their entirety.

Also the skill or framing, rule of thirds etc come into play. Depth of field is one of the most interesting concepts and items to master. If you learned with an SLR/film and manually managed F Stop and Shutter Speed you probably need a camera that can manage that today. It is difficult to control that with an automatic point and shoot.

DHART is one of the best photographers that travels the gun forums.

 

[DAdams]

I have been collecting photos that appeal to me for a number of years, here are a few I find interesting and aesthetically appealing.

Here is the only one in this group that is mine. Merry Xmas.

 

[Salty1]

I am in the same situation, bought a Nikon 3100 to take gun pic's and started to play around with it. I built myslf a cheap light box with PVC pipe and put a white sheet around it and directing the light through the sheet. Still have more experimentation to do but I think I may be on the right track. The best thing about the digital cameras is the bad photos can just be deleted.

 

[vidi0t]

I like to use my leather jacket as a background. I have a small lightbox I got off ebay and I use a couple daylight white florescent bulbs with some towels to help diffuse the light. Here's a few of my favorites:

 

[holdencm9]

Wow! Some real great shots here (pun intended).

I am also interested in photography but haven't really dabbled too much with photographing guns. Of course, none of my guns are particularly glamorous, and although I have a decent camera (Nikon D40) I still have a lot to learn! Already a lot of good advice, including natural light, perspective, orientation of the gun in the frame, etc. I also love the leather backdrop.

Another thing you could do for fun is play around with shutter speed and depth of field, as shown in these two shots. DoF helps guide the viewer to the subject of the photo by "blurring" out the rest of the image (there is a difference between blur and out of focus) and long shutter speeds are just fun

 

[mmitch]

To get this:



I used this set-up:



Mike

 

[medalguy]

Here's a link to a site mentioned on I believe S&W Forums which describes in detail exactly how to build a light tent to shoot pictures of firearms. I made the whole apparatus and it was inexpensive and took very little time. His directions are very easy to follow. I'd highly recommend this if you want to make really great pictures:

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

 

[mgkdrgn]

Lets see ... there is lighting, then there is lighting ... and oh ya, don't forget lighting! Buy or build (easy) a light box ... you'll thank me later.

 

[lowerunit411]

All i lack is decent equipment and skill! I took this last september at about 6 pm after a few hours dove hunting. I admire the fine photos all of you have posted.

 

[lobo9er]

Light bulbs can, and will, cast strange light on whatever you're photographing.

Just look at the photo from the "moon" walk

Good stuff so far. I like the glock on the mags.

 

[armoredman]

ninong, that text in my Please Leave poster refers to the work of criminologist Gary Kleck.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Just do a keyword search on a search engine for something like "gun advertising photography design" and you'll get lots of good people with great ideas and such. And, no--I'm NOT one of them.

Oddly, when I've wanted a photograph of a pistol I have often just used a color scanner w/ a white cloth/tee shirt behind as a starting point and 'fixed' problems on Photoshop. Limited, 'flat' appearing, BUT very accurate details in most cases and an easy cheet we are all set up for. Give it a try and skip the camera as such.

 

[reppans]

 

[Rail Driver]

I'm not the best at photography, and I'm not working with the best equipment, but my main problem seems to be keeping errant body parts out of the picture:

 

[Cluster Bomb]

decided to try to take some decent pictures. I need to set up an area for this but space is quite limited.

 

[Fatdaddy]

The only way I can get decent pictures is with natural light.

 

[Rebmeced]

This is my 1st post here
I like to have a theme to my photography which is usualy represented by the subject. Attention to backgrounds, color, focus and message is very important if your aiming higher than a snap-shot.
A Colt SAA is an icon of the old west and looks out of place with a high tech background.
Use an old map, a wanted poster, weathered wood or period holster and the pic has a historical anchor.
Elements of a Colt SAA like the blueing and color case hardening beg to be a focal point as would heavy wear patterns. The finished pic tells a story.
The theme could even be humor or political satire using the firearm in an appropriate way the included pic is just an example, it is too busy, I'd remove half the elements, I'm not citeing it as something you would want to emulate!

 

[wundudnee]

Always use a tripod, also use your timer, you can't hold a camera still. Take a lot of pictures, save a few. Mine are light challenged as I use lamps and drop lights. I move the lights around until I see no glare with my eye. The camera will find stuff you don't see (dirt, hair, rust). As everyone says you can't get better than an outside hazy day. The first picture is inside with lamps, the second is outside with ambient light.





Outside

 

[Kingofthehill]

 

[Kingofthehill]

Pre "RP" model that Ruger offers that i milled and made factory 1911 grips fit