AE with 32" barrels and an introduction pic heavy

[Slowpokebill]

They were taken inside with a combination of diffused window light and a fill flash bounced of the ceiling. The window light gives a nice highlight along the barrels and comb and the bounced flash brings up the shadows a little. It is a pretty dirty and quick approach but it works.

[Slowpokebill]

Marshfellow I think I returned your message but, okay, techno geek I'm not. You're right, the barrels on the 20 gauge are 28" and not 26 inches. But, she who must be obeyed doesn't let me handle it all that much anymore and it just feels so little.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Excellent. What do you use to diffuse the window light? cloth material?

tjw

[Slowpokebill]

Excellent. What do you use to diffuse the window light? cloth material?

tjw

Bare with me here, product photography is what I do for a living. These were quick and dirty shots done in my living room on a coffee table but it is the type of thing anyone can do with a little practice.

The goal in this type of photo is to bring the contrast levels down between the highlights and the shadows. Our cameras don't see as wide a range of light as our eyes. So we're trying to balance the shadows and the highlights and put them in the right places. So for this type of photo we can add light to the shadows or subtract light from the highlights or do a little of both which is what I did in these images.

If I had allowed the light coming in from the windows to blast the highlights along the barrels and comb then the shadows on the bottom would be blocked up and dark. You could fill those shadows with a reflector or flash or softening the window light which was easier.

The windows are east facing and the photos were shot in the afternoon so I'm working with reflected light which is a little softer. I have shutters which helps control how much light spills in through the window so I soften the window light even more. The shutters were turned up so the light wasn't directly falling on the table and I achieved the highlight I wanted on the barrels without the shadows being too deep. I still added a little reflected flash to bring up shadows but it also increased shutter speed so I could handhold the camera.

That was likely more than anyone wanted to know.

[AmarilloMike]

That was likely more than anyone wanted to know.

No, that was very good information and the first time I have understood an explanation of lighting for gun pictures. Thank you very much.

Best,

Mike

[MARSHFELLOW]

SPB,

I wanted to know it & understand a little more....thanks.

tjw

[fox-admin]

How does a 1500 watt halogen light box work for gun photo's?? Do you find a flash bounced of the ceiling better?? Craig

[Slowpokebill]

The average Joe or Jane with a point and shoot and a little care with light placement can do some amazing work. A couple of well placed halogen lights and some white board for reflectors would work very well especially if you diffuse lights with some opaque material. Even some cheap hardware store metal bell fixtures with 150 watt bulbs will work. Toss the camera on a tripod or bump the iso to get the shutter speed you need for a sharp picture the when you process the images color correct or better still set a custom white balance on your camera for the light source.

How you achieve the images isn't all that important. Just remember your sculpting the image with light;so, it is how you place the highlights and shadows and how well they balance that matters when it comes to lighting. High polished surfaces like nickel plating you also need to worry about reflections and exposure can be tough. Well placed white board and shooting at an angle helps with those highly reflective surfaces. Engraving can be washed out if you put light right into it. With engraving the metal is mostly the same color it is the shadows that give the detail we see.

With a little PVC pipe, a few cheap lights from the hardware store, some white board, opaque plastic and a tripod you can do some pro looking work with a point shoot camera.

I used the window and flash because it was quick, simple and effective with what I had on hand.

[bbman3]

Beautiful guns and beautiful lady! Bobby