Photographing weapons - the details

Jens Nordlunde · 10th September 2009, 06:29 PM

One thing which may help is to crap ALU foil and straightend it again. Then put the light on the foil, and it will spread a lot, as all the facets will help spread the light.

migueldiaz · 13th September 2009, 11:05 PM

We may have seen these before, but just to compile in this thread the other tutorials available --

Photographing swords, a simple tutorial, and

Understanding sword photography (Cejunior).

Jens Nordlunde · 26th October 2009, 05:49 PM

A way of getting good reflections is, I have been told but never tried it myself, is to take some Alu-foil and crap it, then stretch it a bit, and point the light towards the foil. Due to all the facet’s you now have, the light will spread and not be direct.

Jens Nordlunde · 21st November 2009, 07:04 PM

A friend just sent me some pictures taken in a museum, and they were rather good. What he did was to place the camera lines on the glass and then focus on the object.

migueldiaz · 28th January 2010, 04:38 AM

I was just chatting with a friend who's a professional photographer.

His tip to me in photographing a sword (and so that the flash will not create a bright glare on the blade) is as follows --

1. use a cable to remotely place the flash, i.e., on the right (or left) side of the sword;

2. then place an (upright) piece of white paper or cardboard on the opposite side;

3. experiment with the various combination of the lens opening and shutter speed;

4. frame the shot so that there's a liberal amount of empty space to the left and to the right of the sword (will come handy when editing the image digitally later); and

5. to err on the side of caution, it's better to have slightly darker photos than brighter ones (slightly darker photos lend themselves better to digital editing).

I'll certainly try the above setup one of these days.

Then another friend said that rather than buying an expensive macro lens (for photographing details), it's better to just buy a cheap point-and-shoot camera with good macro capabilities.

Rick · 28th January 2010, 02:25 PM

I get pretty good close ups with my 6 meg. Fuji point and shoot .
There is no flash at the macro setting so extra light must be provided .

10th September 2009, 06:29 PM	#1
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	One thing which may help is to crap ALU foil and straightend it again. Then put the light on the foil, and it will spread a lot, as all the facets will help spread the light.

13th September 2009, 11:05 PM	#2
migueldiaz Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manila, Phils. Posts: 1,042	We may have seen these before, but just to compile in this thread the other tutorials available -- Photographing swords, a simple tutorial, and Understanding sword photography (Cejunior).

26th October 2009, 05:49 PM	#3
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	A way of getting good reflections is, I have been told but never tried it myself, is to take some Alu-foil and crap it, then stretch it a bit, and point the light towards the foil. Due to all the facet’s you now have, the light will spread and not be direct.

21st November 2009, 07:04 PM	#4
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	A friend just sent me some pictures taken in a museum, and they were rather good. What he did was to place the camera lines on the glass and then focus on the object.

28th January 2010, 04:38 AM	#5
migueldiaz Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manila, Phils. Posts: 1,042	I was just chatting with a friend who's a professional photographer. His tip to me in photographing a sword (and so that the flash will not create a bright glare on the blade) is as follows -- 1. use a cable to remotely place the flash, i.e., on the right (or left) side of the sword; 2. then place an (upright) piece of white paper or cardboard on the opposite side; 3. experiment with the various combination of the lens opening and shutter speed; 4. frame the shot so that there's a liberal amount of empty space to the left and to the right of the sword (will come handy when editing the image digitally later); and 5. to err on the side of caution, it's better to have slightly darker photos than brighter ones (slightly darker photos lend themselves better to digital editing). I'll certainly try the above setup one of these days. Then another friend said that rather than buying an expensive macro lens (for photographing details), it's better to just buy a cheap point-and-shoot camera with good macro capabilities.

28th January 2010, 02:25 PM	#6
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,336	I get pretty good close ups with my 6 meg. Fuji point and shoot . There is no flash at the macro setting so extra light must be provided .