doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to take gun photos

Laid up with a bum knee this weekend and thought I might FINALLY get around to taking some photos of some of my guns. Have a Nikon SLR and a tripod if needed. Any suggestions as to light, background, etc. would be greatly appreciated.I

I prefer outdoors on an overcast day. Inside flash photography without multiple flashes and diffractors or reflectors is pro level work. Rent, borrow, or steal a Nikon 60 mm Macro lens for close up work if you don't have one.

Use a neutral medium tone background. DO NOT use a white sheet or similar or you end up with a dark shape resembling a gun.....:)

Here is my semi-permanent setup. I had the reflectors made in a sheet metal shop and I painted the inside flat white.

I use a Nikon digital camera with a 60mm lens, I need nothing else for full shots or closeup of engraving, it does it all.

Every shot is with a good solid tripod and I use the camera timer...always.

This was my traveling one, you can pick up these soft-box (that may not be the right term) light set which are fairly inexpensive.

With a store bought background, When I took this picture I had not washed and ironed out the fold marks ;-).

I love this subject as I'm a student of photography and doubleguns.

I think there are multiple approaches to the subject.

The method above produces a technical image of the gun.

My makeshift approach to technical pix on a trip where my equipment was limited was to use a blanket held a few feet behind the gun and an open apeture to blur the background. The handheld off camera single flash was held at a glancing angle to the gun surface to accentuate the engraving.





Another approach is the 'diorama' where the subject is in what appears to be its natural setting but is usually composed.
Other articles are included and texture is often an interesting addition. In this picture the flash was bounced off of a white ceiling which causes a very 'soft' lighting effect that appears more natural. This effect is similar to the 'overcast day' effect mentioned often by still-life subject photographers.


In the picture above, I think I used this method with this camera. It's been awhile and I can't recall for sure, but this method works well with a white ceiling with a 'on-camera' flash that is TTL metered like the Nikon SLRs. It's kind of a billiards game. But with digital photography, you can test the effects and compensate quickly.

I use a blue sheet a tripod for the camera, a flash attachment on a cord and a tripod holding a white umbrella. I bounce everything.

I messed around with a single flash with a small soft box like this.

I ended up buying 3 Nikon flashes that can be remotely wirelessly triggered.


I also mess around with food photography for some bbq forum I belong to and multiple flashes come in handy with food as well as gun macro photography.

I have to confess I take all the photos for my articles and books with a small digital camera.

Use natural light when possible.

If outside, a technique Mike Yardley taught me was to have someone hold the muzzles, with gun barrels on his shoulder, the rest of the extending behind him.

Angle the gun so that the background is a blue or cloudy sky, add a tickle of flash to pick out the engraving, angel so it focuses sharply and shoot. The sky makes a great background.

Very nice! I certainly could use some practice in taking clear photos. You have given me some ideas as to lighting and backgrounds. Thank you. I am always puzzled by folks using a pile of rocks or concrete as a backdrop for their prized firearms!

If someone is looking for a Nikon 60mm f2.8D Micro Nikkor closeup lens, $200 will take mine. Too much overlap in my gear bag.

Chuck,

I'll take the 60mm for $200!!!

Mark

I'll back up the I'll take it if your deal for the 60mm falls through.

Great insight, guys. Thanks for sharing. I've also wondered how some of the dealers got such good photos.

My shots are nowhere near the quality of others here but they are good enough for me. All I use is a Wal-mart special point-and-shoot... costs $150. I bought a much nicer Fujifilm but I still have to learn to use it.

I take all of my shots outside on overcast days or I wait until the sun is behind the trees. I lay down a black skeet on the front steps and snap away. I am happy the results.

The folks at Great Lakes Sporting Arms (http://www.greatlakessportingarms.com/index.php) seem to know how to take pictures, and their website has a neat "Magnifier" feature to let you examine the details of their photos.

The photographer that shot those Great Lakes SA pix knows his stuff. Multiple sources of diffused light were used.

There are lots of ways to take a picture, the way I do things has evolved over the years because I needed clear full length shots.

Getting a full shot of a rifle or shotgun can be problematic without some sort of fixture that will hold the gun away from the background.

There is a good "write up" of this in the German Gun Collectors site,www.Germanguns.com.
Mike

Michael do you use a different rod on that tripod for each bore diameter? How long is the rod? Thanks.

Bob,

I have one in .22,25,30, 40 something and one for 12 gauge.

Polished steel with a nylon bumper at the bottom, for really big bore pistol and rifle I use a little tape on the .40.

I just used some old cutoff barrel stock for the bottom, whatever I could find in my scrap pile.