Revolver Photos 101?

[Hawg Rider]

Moderators: Not sure where to post this Thread, it doesn't seem to fit in any specific Forum. Please move if this is not the correct Forum. Thank you.

I enjoy posting photos of my modest collection of S&W handguns, but they end up looking really amateurish. Several of our Forum gurus (that are also photo experts) recommend not using white as a background when taking photos of guns. But I have also seen several Forum members that use a photo box with white lining that result in beautiful pictures. I do not intend to build a photo box with lights, etc., nor purchase an expensive camera. My pictures are almost always taken with my iPhone camera (lately on a shiny white poster paper background), and then edited in my Photos app. Is there a quick and simple method for photographing handguns with good results (background, ambient or additional lighting, distance, etc.) without being a semi-professional photographer? Thanks.

 

[DARE]

I have heard natural light and a neutral background. Have a slab of sandstone I use for a background and light comes indirectly from a picture window. Here is an example pic. I use the camera on my android phone.
If you don't like the photo, please disregard the advice. Ha Ha.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Man this is a question that is likely to get you some heated answers like whether a .38 M&P with rebound slide action and a round butt is a Model 1902 or Model 1905.


I'm not a professional but here is what I try to do:



1. Use diffuse but bright lighting. Camera lenses are sharpest with bright lighting. But the image can be garish when the light is extremely bright and direct. It is better to shoot in a well lighted area but where the subject is lit from indirect light. If you are using lights, consider covering them with a light fabric like a handkerchief. Don't use a flash unless it is bounced off a reflector.



2. Use a neutral background. Grey, like concrete, slate or weathered wood, will let the gun stand out from the background. You can also use solid colors like green, blue or red similar to the flocking in a gun case.


3. Shoot at the highest quality your camera provides and without zoom. Try to let the gun fill the frame as long as it is in focus. If the image is too large, you can crop it to remove unwanted surroundings and resize with a photo editor.


There are likely some other tips I missed and I'm sure you'll hear about them.

 

[80sgyrene]

I have heard natural light and a neutral background. Have a slab of sandstone I use for a background and light comes indirectly from a picture window. Here is an example pic. I use the camera on my android phone.
If you don't like the photo, please disregard the advice. Ha Ha.

Forget the photo! That is an ideal RM right there! Exactly how I would’ve ordered one back in the day!

 

[Mbrgr1]

No pro, but.........

I use a denim background and a sheet of thin closed cell packing material above the object to break up the light.

All cell phone pics, from an old android.

I also use "photoline" software to adjust the light levels etc.

Seems to work OK?

 

[jareds06]

As others have said diffuse lighting and neutral backgrounds work the best. Morning light is about as bright/direct sunlight as I would go for a good picture. High noon on a clear day will wash a lot out. Slightly overcast days that scatter the suns rays are my favorite. Wood makes an excellent background. Here are two examples: One taken in the morning and one taken around noon with some cloud cover. Please don't hang me for the 2nd picture not being a Smith.

ca. 1955-1958 K22

1944 Remington Rand/Colt

 

[rct269]

This has already been said in so many words, but NO direct light---and an appropriate background. What is or is not an appropriate background is for others with more knowledge/experience than me-----who's taken exactly three pictures of guns.

I'll hunt them up, and be back; so you can see the results for yourself.

Ralph Tremaine

Okay-----you can see the results for yourself in a thread titled "A KING SUPER TARGET TRIPLE LOCK"---on this section of the forum, posted 2/16/18.
It's to be found on page 192, maybe three up from the bottom of the page.
Everything worth reading about the pictures is down at the bottom of my post---in the EPILOGUE.

As an aside, not that I've ever used one, but the purpose/use of a light box is to diffuse lighting. Used properly, no part of the box is going to appear in your pictures----only whatever's inside the light box--unless your background is actually a part of the box.

 

[Mbrgr1]

https://i.imgur.com/6BskLpa.jpg[/IMG]

 

[Vtgw938]

I do simple. I do use a SLR and I don't use the highest quality setting to keep the size a little lower. I also often use a white background for less distractions and again it is easy. Sometimes use a book cover or the weathered deck.

I don't have a box, but I did rig up a horizontal surface and a vertical surface of cardboard with painted white styrofoam and I lean the gun against the vertical surface with a piece of a glue stick. This way the vertical surface is further away from the gun and doesn't look like the gun is just laying on the surface. Eventually I covered it with joint compound and filled the seam so you don't see the joint. Sometimes I shoot outside on the deck, other times just stick it on the counter in front of the window. Often have a little shadow or greying and I don't mind a little reflection, it hides the defects!

 

[AC Man]

I appreciate this thread because I am still learning. Just got a new camera and I will see how it turns out.

The white light box is the best option to show off the condition of the firearm for sale which is why the top Gunbroker sellers use it or a homade version of a light box.

On the other hand it is not artistic and has no background to show off your firearms. I am still working on it.

 

[bdGreen]

Light box for me.

I use painting canvases, framed, for light diffusion.

The white background is an old cotton T shirt.

Got them at the Hobby Lobby for a few bucks each.

bdGreen

 

[4K2022]

Thanks to everyone,

My objective is the beautiful font, and the nickel is my nemesis. Outdoors under an oak tree the font really stands out. But in a gun room with yellow walls and no windows,,, I gave up!

IF, I was to someday own a RM ,,, I don’t think I could lay it on a piece of Sandstone. Many beautiful photographs, I believe I looked at all of them.

After reading this thread I took the barrel stamping photo, in an iPad box outside and I’m happy with the results but I would like to stay indoors. Because (sometimes) I peek under the side plate or pull the yoke and want to take a few pictures. Outdoors I do OK but in my case photographing the font is an indoor sport. More of a challenge than I thought, I should google light box, the term didn’t register on my mental hard drive.

 

[kwill1911]

You can use a pure white background but the camera is going to average the overall image to neutral gray. So, a black gun in the middle of a white background turns out poorly UNLESS you go into your phone/camera settings and change the setting for "white balance." Experiment until you get it right.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

I have a couple of goose necked, clamp on lamps that I use sometimes for lighting indoors. You can get them at Home Depot.

 

[H Richard]

As I mentioned in another thread, don't use white background unless you have controlled lighting and an adjustable camera (and know how to use it). The neutral background keeps the camera's automatic shutter from reading too much light and overexposing the gun blocking out all the fine detail. White makes a great background WHEN you can control the actual exposure of just the gun.

 

[AC Man]

Just a FWIW A photographer told me don't bother with a high end camera, just use a top cell phone and you are good to go. I bought a Samsung 23 Ultra. We shall see.

 

[Onomea]

I am pretty satisfied with my iPhone photos. What I do is take a bunch of photos, natural light, and then use the editing features to tilt them to an angle that is pleasing to my eye, and then crop them down to frame the revolver within what looks to my eye like the right area. I then choose among the results the one I like the best. E.g.,

 

[Nevada Ed]

Good lighting, not bright, is what you should be looking for
one reason a over cast day works as well as a flash "Bounced" off the ceiling, etc, when indoors.

Bright lights, tend to make the gun pick up "refections" from other items
that give off "High lights" on its surface, that I think, distract from the picture.

I prefer a "One" light source, for a softer picture and less "light lines" that
show up on the contures of the gun.

Neutral colors are fine but with a little knowledge, Black, Red or a blue velvet satin sheet can pick a picture, up a notch.

 

[Faulkner]

There are all kinds of things laying around that can be used for backdrops and it doesn't have to be complicated. Lighting is the key, though. I like indirect sunlight (i.e., the shade) but I use lamps as well.

 

[4K2022]

Good lighting, not bright, is what you should be looking for
one reason a over cast day works as well as a flash "Bounced" off the ceiling, etc, when indoors.

Bright lights, tend to make the gun pick up "refections" from other items
that give off "High lights" on its surface, that I think, distract from the picture.

I prefer a "One" light source, for a softer picture and less "light lines" that
show up on the contures of the gun.

Neutral colors are fine but with a little knowledge, Black, Red or a blue velvet satin sheet can pick a picture, up a notch.

Reflection,, Here are my examples! I’m in a storage room with a LED ceiling light. I was testing backgrounds gray, black and red. The green is the reflection of a couple plastic bins.