Need help photographing firearms, Experts?

[sturmruger]

I am planning on taking some very detailed digital photos of my handgun collection. The problem is I am by no means a photography expert; in fact I am just an amateur. They problem always seems to be the lighting.:banghead: It isn’t like I can just get a big halogen light and shine it directly on whatever I want to photograph. I tried that and it was horrible. Has anyone else out there had any experience trying to photograph their guns??

What kind of lighting would you recommend?? What might I have lying around the house to help get the job done???

 

[MikeK]

I have no idea. However if you use the search function, there have been some posts on technique and lighting. I believe Oleg made or replied to at least one.

You may also try the same thing on the Sig forum. Lunde(sp) has posted tips. Both Oleg and Lunde have some wonderful pictures as do others here and there. Not me.

 

[DougCxx]

-I'm not hardly an expert, but what I know works well is to get as many incandescent lights (that is, those using regular filament light bulbs) all around the item as possible and don't use the camera flash at all. Also I use a digital camera and adjust colors and whatever in image editing software afterwards.
-Avoiding direct reflections is nice if it can be done (by moving the lighting around, or aiming lights with "spotlight"-type reflectors at the ceiling), but it's not always possible.
~

 

[shane184]

When photographing any thing metal what you are photographing is the reflection in the metal. Usually you will want to surround the gun with white reflectors such as poster board or something like that and actually light the poster board as opposed to the gun. You will see a big difference when you get the board in the right position depending on where you are photographing from. Once you have your camera positioned just move the board around until it fills in the metal of the gun nicely. For some surfaces a mixture of white and greys may work better. This will also help soften shadows.

 

[sturmruger]

Duh

I forgot to do a search before posting I will do that now.

Any other comments would still be apreciated.

 

[Ringer]

Don't forget to check out Image Matters provided by THR's P95Carry.

He has provided a very nice web page to answer many questions about picture taking and posting etc....

 

[Lupine]

From a pro photog

The idea of using the "bounce cards." as mentioned above, is an excellent one.

All the other advice I've seen on this thread is also helpful.

What I can add: Don't use on-camera flash. Adjust your white balance in your camera to "tungsten" and use household lighting either diffused and reflected with bounce cards, or this:

Get a large piece of white chiffon (slightly transparent fabric. Bane of bridesmaids everywhere).
Staple it to a square of four yardstick-sized slats.
Use this screen to diffuse your lighting, similar to a softbox, and balance the lighting accordingly. (Halogen desk lamps, shop light, clamp light with tungsten bulb, etc).

Depending upon the features of your digital camera, you may be able to manage contrast control.

There are also products available for purchase (if this is more a serious hobby) that will take the glare off the metal finish of your firearms. it can be cleaned off, of course, after your session is done.

 

[BerettaNut92]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20761&highlight=photo*

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but here are my methods. Like with firearms, shooting styles vary among operators.

 

[sturmruger]

Thanks to both Skunk and Ringer those are both excellent links.

 

[esheato]

My technique: Get a large spotlight. Walmart, 25 bucks. Set up the gun on the background you want. Put your camera on a tripod and frame the image the way you want it.

Start shining the light all over the place...use the walls as reflectors. Shine it on the roof, the walls...Indirect light works best for me. Take lots of digital photos...with the light at different points around the room....then go through them and pick out the best one.

esheato...just an amateur also.

 

[Standing Wolf]

When all else fails, read the Photoshop manual from cover to cover.

 

[DragonRider]

One of the best Gun Porn Pages, will take awhile to load if on dial up!

http://www.praxagora.com/lunde/firearms.html

Also a great guy!

John

 

[RGO]

As many have said, never use the flash. Practice with the manual controls to get the best results (after a while), specifically exposure time and focus. If you have a digital camera, you can experiment and learn without development costs.

 

[mete]

Turn off the flash and don't use direct lighting. Use indirect lighting , bounce it off large pieces of white cardboard . Use diffused lighting , I use translucent white plastic, the light will be diffused when it goes through the plastic. A tripod will make it easier.

 

[TarpleyG]

Definitely use indirect lighting and turn off the flash as metioned before. Also, diffuse the light. I bought a couple of those cheapo lights with the aluminum reflector that you can clip onto something from Home Depot. Then I put parchment paper over it and secured with some rubber bands. You can adjust light output by changing the bulb wattage.


Oh, and you MUST, MUST, MUST always use a tripod. Forget trying to take pictures by hand. You want the slowest shutter speed you can get using the aperture that you want and a tripod makes that possible without blurring the image.


GT

 

[ysr_racer]

I take mine outdoor in the sun. It seems to work OK.

 

[FJC]

Lots of light, with most of it being indirect (bounced off walls, ceilings, cards, etc). I often also hold a flashlight or two to reduce shadows (Surefire G2 or L5).

Tripod is a must, and I highly recommend using the timer. That way, you're not touching the camera at all when the picture is taken. Really helps with those close ups.

Also if taking very close-up pictures, use the Macro mode if your camera has it. I used that for this picture (which is purposely a bit dark, for effect):

On this one, with a shiny stainless slide, I held a light at the right angle to get the slide markings to be visible, without glaring out *too* much:

I'm by no means an expert, but in the past 18 months my pictures have greatly improved by using these techniques.

 

[Gunhead]

You don't need too much equipment to get great results. Here is mine:

- Canon 10D DSLR camera or Olympus 5050Z compact digital camera,
- tripod for the camera (Manfrotto 055pro),
- tripod mounted 500W reflector,
- cheap mini-Maglite flashlight
- some homemade diffusor plates (white sheet, heat deflectors, etc)

Some quick tips:

- Always put the camera on tripod,
- Always use the shot timer,
- Never use the camera mounted flash,
- Never use direct lighting (unless it's natural light),
- Aim the reflector/light source at the cieling,
- Place diffusors (white sheets) around to subject to eliminate deep shadows,
- use the focused light of the flashlight to brighten up dark spots,

Here is some of my result:

 

[TechBrute]

As many people have said, lots of indirect light is what made the biggest improvement in my shots. I have a white plastic folding table that I use as my backdrop. I put it up in a hallway with a low ceiling and turn on 2 halogen work lights and point them upward. With the two lights on each side, the shadows are minimal, at best.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Gunhead

NIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

PS you and your white HK magazines!!!!

 

[bogie]

What to remember, besides lighting, is that EVERY shot you take on a digital camera is free. You've already paid for it, so you may as well shoot a lot. Move your lights around, spread 'em out, and take a lot of pictures.

 

[harpethriver]

You mean Oleg hasn't been to your house with his cameras? Just you wait til he finds out he missed a live one-and he was just up in nearby Minnasoooduh-why he would have been right over had he known. Have you ever seen his pics of Steve Smith eating an ice cream cone? Quality work!

 

[Gunhead]

Thanks Skunk!

Another very important (but often overlooked) detail in digital photography is post processing. No picture comes out perfectly from a digital camera, no matter what is the price tag! As you have to do some tricks when developing analog film to maximize the results, you have to do the same with digital pics.

Some quick tips:

- First of all, set your camera to shoot in RAW mode. This format gives you the maximum resolution and flexibility, it's better than JPG. You can adjust the small errors (over/underexposure, white balance, etc) AFTER you took the picture, without data loss.

- Use the lowest possible iso setting (iso50-100 typically) of your camera to lower "noise". Picture noise can be a serious issue with most compact digi cameras in higher iso settings.

- Use Photoshop or other preferred picture editing software for post processing. (I recommend external RAW converters like CaptureOne or BreezeBrowser, if you are really picky, then Photoshop.... Or just stick to the good old JPG if you are getting confused by this RAW stuff. )

- In Photoshop play around with the options under Image/Adjust (like Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, Auto Color, Color Balance, Hue/Saturation, Replace color, etc) to get the desired results.

- Digital pics tend to be a little soft, especially on SLR cameras. Use the Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask option in Photoshop to sharpen the picture to the desired level. (Play around with the three bars to see what they do.) Too much sharpening will leave strange "artifacts" on the picture, try to avoid them, make it look natural.