How much brass do you have?

There was a fella on here years ago who posted very high quality pictures.
Almost exclusively handguns as I recall. He used a medium powder blue fabric
as a backdrop which really made the subject pop.

quote:

Originally posted by lbsid:
There was a fella on here years ago who posted very high quality pictures.
Almost exclusively handguns as I recall. He used a medium powder blue fabric
as a backdrop which really made the subject pop.

That is what I do and I've posted a number of pics of handguns. I doubt you are referring to me but here is an example.



Jim

More important than the backdrop is the light.

The easiest and cheapest way to get good light is to go outside and use the sun.

A single on-camera flash will not produce great product shots. Bouncing the flash and using a diffuser will help a lot. Using a multiflash setup or a lightbox are the best solutions, but now you are talking about commercial photographer's tools and techniques, which don't make sense for the occasional photoshoot.

Use the sun.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
More important than the backdrop is the light.

The easiest and cheapest way to get good light is to go outside and use the sun.

A single on-camera flash will not produce great product shots. Bouncing the flash and using a diffuser will help a lot. Using a multiflash setup or a lightbox are the best solutions, but now you are talking about commercial photographer's tools and techniques, which don't make sense for the occasional photoshoot.

Use the sun.

I believe this is what Z06 does and his photos are of a professional quality in my opinion. I recall his saying that he uses defused sunlight in his shots if memory serves me right. I was hoping he would respond to this thread.

Here is his latest shot in the Gallery section.



Jim

Thanks Jimbo54, I just saw this thread now.

I have been photographing firearms for a magazine (mostly covers) for 35 years+ but started much earlier. As stated by most folks I use natural light for 99% of them. Timing is key and here in AZ early morning yeilds the best results for me over the past 20 years.
Digital photography is great in that you can see what you got and do it again if you do like the first shots.
Here are a few examples:

I’ve done white back grounds:


medium gray back grounds:


black (leather coat) back grounds:


wood back grounds:


even patio block floor back grounds:


Just make the guns the star of the show NOT the back ground. Always happy to help.

Oh and I have had very good luck with pictures 'selling' guns for me.

Awesome guys, most appreciated

Our very own Q, sells/karmas a lot of pistols here on the forum. His photos are done on rich deep color fabric and looks great. But since you say you are doing it to sell, I think one of his greatest attributes is that he take a crap ton of photos of every possible nook and cranny and every angle so that a buyer feels confident of exactly what they are getting.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Do you have any buxom lady friends?

I don't know if having some background T&A increases the sale price, but it does work in generating clicks & views. You'll also have to deal the respondents who think they're first person to think of asking, "Does the girl come w/ the gun?! LOL!"

Wipe down surfaces with appropriate oil products before photos.

Nice shots up there Z06. BTW, that shotgun the Cabelas photog did (linked above), wow. Just WOW.

https://pbase.com/slowpokebill/image/92113140