decent pics

Bailey Knives

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
3,690
I finally have a few knives that I dont mind showing to people, but I couldnt take a decent pic to save my life. what are the tricks to keep the bright spots off the blade? IG mentioned at one point a shadowbox??? whats that?
 
The idea of shadow box or light tent is to diffuse light coming from several sources. You can get a light tent pretty cheap on eBay, I got one for about $48 including shipping and it made all the difference in the world in my pics.

This is the one I got but this guy has a ridiculous price on it. I didn't search for the same seller I got mine from but you get the idea.

A good alternative is to take pics outdoors on a cloudy day. Just try not to have anything reflecting in the blade that will distract from your work. Like tree limbs or the photographer. ;)

You can also check out the Photography forum at Knife Network for some great help.

Good luck and let us see what you come up with.
 
someone stated a few months back that they used a big plastic storage box, like tupper wear. They turned it upside down, cut a hole in the top, front for the camera lens to go though and directed their lights at it from outside and the plastic worked as a light defuser. Should work but I haven't tried it.

Bill
 
A light tent and a fair camera will do the trick.

Controlling the light is the most important thing about photography. The camera is just a vehicle to record the light set up. Learn about light and you will master the craft. There are several internet places to learn about setting up.
Here is just one. http://www.dpreview.com/forums/

 
This has just been covered in depth in another forum. What has been already suggested is also great information. I suggest you read this entire thread to see what works for you:

$75.00 home studio/light tent

Coop
 
That's a great thread, Coop. Glad you linked to it here.

Something everybody ought to be able to do.
 
Thanks for the info... I am going to try to build one out of pvc, it seems like it may be easy, and a bit cheaper. It wont be until I can convince the wife that I need to spend more money on knife stuff, and that may not be in this lifetime.
 
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