knife photography (pic heavy)

[bushblade]

Hi all, would very much like to know your thoughts on the following photos of knives I have recently completed.

My girlfriend is already an accomplished nature photographer and has recently taken an interest in studio work, and fortunately for me she is trying the tricky subject of my knives, much to her initial frustrations and obviously to my benefit.

 

[Shewie]

Very nice Will, lovely work on the knife and great pics by Louise

 

[Cap'n Badger]

....wow!

 

[g4ghb]

The photos are stunning - the knife isn't that shabby either

 

[GeoffWood]

Great photos - your girlfriend knows her stuff.

Are you prepared to share any details of the setup used?

Cheers,
GeoffW

 

[bushblade]

Thanks for the compliments

Just having a look at her gadgets she is using:

Canon 40D
Canon 100mm Macro
Elinchrom BXRi 500/500 kit with softboxes
Sekonic flashmate light meter
Diffusing tent
Black acrylic sheet for background
Blutack
& finally...a happy little helper called Bushblade!

 

[cwillson]

wow! Well done mate! Something I aspire to be able to do (but I bet it takes a lot of practise huh?

What kind of leather did you use for the sheath? I want to have a bash at making a replacement for my current one.

Chris

 

[bushblade]

wow! Well done mate! Something I aspire to be able to do (but I bet it takes a lot of practise huh?

What kind of leather did you use for the sheath? I want to have a bash at making a replacement for my current one.

Chris

Thankyou.

Its fairly new stuff for her, but she has researched it a fair bit.

The leather is just vedge tanned 3mm shoulder, natural colour, wet formed, dyed and oiled.

 

[pwb]

Look perfect , both the pics and the work on the knife

 

[armie]

wow! Well done mate! Something I aspire to be able to do

Yes, these pictures definitely set a standard!

 

[robin wood]

Good pics, the 100mm macro is a great lens and the lighting is spot on. I prefer non reflective dark paper roll for background, I find the strong reflections take the attention away from the knife slightly.

Whilst the 45 degree shots show the knife really nicely I would prefer more variety, I always want to see one profile shot that clearly shows the line down the back of the knife as that is one of the lines that most affects how a knife looks, you don't see it properly at this angle. We only see one side as well, always good to show both sides. Hope this is constructive, they are great shots already.

 

[bushblade]

Cheers Robin, usefull info, thanks for the advice

Lou has just been admiring the pics on your site, did you take them?

 

[Driftwoodwalker]

Excellent pictures, knife is nice too.

regards,
Lance.

 

[robin wood]

Cheers Robin, usefull info, thanks for the advice

Lou has just been admiring the pics on your site, did you take them?

Yes, I am far from a photographer though, I just snap. I do have a mix of skills, involving making stuff and knowing a bit about what is needed to sell it. I guess that is what commercial photography is about, you need to create a desire but also present enough information for folk to decide to buy. I do most of the knife photos for Grace Horne http://www.gracehorne.co.uk/ (the ones with gray paper background) I just have one cheapo portaflash with a softbox and a reflector. Most photos taken on my ancient 300d with sigma 50EX macro though have recently upgraded to 40d.

 

[bushblade]

Just a couple more pics from trying on a white backgound, she even had me modeling

And one for fun of an old/used knife, I tried to clean it up a bit for the photo, but it still looks a bit dirty at this level.

All comments/critisism gratefully received.

 

[g4ghb]

Just a couple more pics from trying on a white backgound, she even had me modeling

And one for fun of an old/used knife, I tried to clean it up a bit for the photo, but it still looks a bit dirty at this level.

All comments/critisism gratefully received.

equally good pics!

how long did you have to hold your breath for?

 

[robin wood]

Not a fan of the white background. Very difficult to get the right amount of light on the knife on a white background, blade is appearing bleached out, always easiest when background is similar or darker.

 

[malente]

fantastic! could you let us in on details about set-up? post-processing?

In any case, I like the pictures a lot!

Maybe add some outdoorsy props like animal-skins as background?

ATB

Mike

 

[Adze]

Your firesteel is upsidedown... other than that it's a helluva lot better than I could do

 

[Danzo]

They are very good pics, but I don't like the mirror reflection used in the first set. It detracts from the image and obscures the clarity.

Danzo