The question was asked by Nitin (Neetones) about composition. These photos are not K.I.S.S. but I wish to clarify my points.
All of our images are in the form of a rectangle. 99% of the time setting the knife on a diagonal within that rectangle will create a line of vision that is complementary and opposing (if there can be such a thing
) from the parallel outlines of the square. Also it is the most efficient use of space.
That said, there are four positions an open knife can take to fill in those diagonals. 90% of the time the maker's mark and the 'presentation' side are the LH side of the knife. This is the 'obverse side'. (Which, it should be noted, the term comes from is the principal side of display of a coin or medal, and it also applies to knives.) The obverse side may also be the RH side, such as D'Holder's work and Gaeton Beauchamp among others, but these are exceptions. Here is one:
There is a tendency, (myself included) to display the knife pointing down from the RH upper corner to the LH corner. Look around and most are done this way. This has a slight tendency to embellish the blade length and shape as it places it in the forefront.
In the case of an extra long blade, there might be an advantage to directing the blade away from the viewer, as the handle will have been lost proportionately being the farthest away, relatively. Did you follow that?
There are no hard rules, and it always impresses me to find an example that doesn't abide, but for K.I.S.S. reasons this can be a basic guide.
Backgrounds: Generally the busier the knife, the simpler the background. You can get away with more texture of patterns as the piece is simpler. Again, a generality. My least favorite cheapo background is a rug. Wood is simple and warm and effective and plentiful. But so is wallpaper or artists paper. I suggest going to the Home Improvement store in your area and lying about your pregnant wife not being able to make a selection of patterns for your wallpapering choice, so if they could be so kind to allow you to cut a few samples to take home to the gentle woman, it would be very upstanding of them. (Believe me, it works like a charm!
) Muted patterns can't fail.
There is a lot of 'drama' captured in a shot of a knife looking down the blade at a low angle. I love those shots. But for my line of work where I must capture the largest essence of a knife within a single rectangle as a portfolio shot, I usually don't have that liberty. So the long sideview is what you will see from me as a core image. I make sure my insets get into the nitty-gritty anyway.
I am dead certain my images have a ho-hum effect on some because of that, and I accept it. That's what works for me and PAYS for me!
That said, experiment and see what comes up. I especially liked this shot I took just for the hell of it of a Sal Manaro knife:
(If you are attempting this type of shot, having a LOT of light and a small f-stop will help give you the depth of field necessary.)
On the subject of props or other items in the photo, ask yourself if it is visually enhancing or simply distracting the eye from the knife, or rather, the main subject. I am as guilty as the next guy of allowing stuff in an image that may have looked better left out. Including my reknowned insets.
Composition is something I wish I knew MUCH more about, but I follow some simple rules and it works most of the time.
Coop