A Thread with an Edge

A sharp edge that is. As many of you know by now my son Sam is a blacksmith and farrier. But he is also a knife maker. As such he needs photos of some of his product for a web page and knife shows. I have never done product photography before and am looking for help and suggestions. If you are experienced in this area I would appreciate your input or if you know of sites on the Internet where I might get some help I would also like to know about them. Here are a few of the first shots that I attempted of his knives. They are far from perfect and I post them for your ideas and suggestions.

Lookin good OT :) I've been collecting knives for a long time.. Here's a couple of my favorite knife photographers whose sites you might want to check out to get some ideas. Hope these help :)

Bob Glassman & Son

Sharp By Coop

I like the first one the best OT. If you can get the knives to set up and get some separation from the background I think it shows off the knife better.

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Originally Posted by Xia_Ke

Lookin good OT :) I've been collecting knives for a long time.. Here's a couple of my favorite knife photographers whose sites you might want to check out to get some ideas. Hope these help :)

Bob Glassman & Son

Sharp By Coop

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Two great sites Aaron. Thanks I think can pickup some tip from what these guys are doing. I appreciate your help.

No prob OT, glad I could help a little. Speaking as a collector, make sure to show snipits of the details. If it has mosaic pins, any special file work, etc make sure to show it. Also, make sure to include a spine shot in your layout.

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Originally Posted by I_Fly

I like the first one the best OT. If you can get the knives to set up and get some separation from the background I think it shows off the knife better.

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Thanks Troy. This was my first attempt at something like this. My son and I worked on it late one night after everyone else had gone to bed when I was in Texas last month. I was using baggies filled with rice as my platform under the felt background. Any suggestions here would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Xia_Ke

No prob OT, glad I could help a little. Speaking as a collector, make sure to show snipits of the details. If it has mosaic pins, any special file work, etc make sure to show it. Also, make sure to include a spine shot in your layout.

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I'm really learning as I go here and depending on my son to tell me what he wants. I did a little of that. Is this kind of what you mean?

Really nice stuff. Handmade objects like that, with all the skill of making steel, choosing the all of the details, etc.

I don't know him, but this guy is a bass player and active on a music site I frequent as well. I think he's done a good job with his photography, and I think that backlighting might be something to try with this.

Exactly OT, especially when there's file work on the spine. Not sure how he sells his pieces but a lot of sites will only post a shot or 2 of a knife so the more detail you can put into a layout, the better. Another excellent custom knife site you might want to check out is Blade Gallery

I don't shoot product shots but I've seen a lot that others have shot, through my work at a print shop. Mostly, I'd suggest a background that you can drop out, white is good. Then, avoid a color background that will give the product a color cast. Look at the first photo. If you put a clipping path around the knife and dropped out the background, the steel would have a strange greenish cast. You want to avoid that, so maybe use colors that compliment the metal with realistic shadow casts. A very light grey might work well, something that is almost white but not quite.

You'll also probably want to have a light source that bounces a muted highlight off the metal. You don't want a bright spot or a flare, but just some highlights to make the metal pop. Highlights and shadows are key, IMO.

And finally, you want to capture any desirable texture in the handles, so sidelighting would work for that.


Am I off base, anyone?

I think I would go more with a poster board background that had less texture. Maybe white or off white. I thing the knifes would stand out more.

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Originally Posted by another view

Really nice stuff. Handmade objects like that, with all the skill of making steel, choosing the all of the details, etc.

I don't know him, but this guy is a bass player and active on a music site I frequent as well. I think he's done a good job with his photography, and I think that backlighting might be something to try with this.

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Another very good site to explore. Thanks Steve. I think I can pickup some ideas here for sure.

More good suggestion Kelly and Greg. Thanks for taking the time to look at these and make suggestions.

I have to agree that you need to use a neutral back ground: white, grays, or black. I learned it the hard way for my final photo for color photography class years ago, 1968 or 1969. I never could get the color cast out (note: it was years before a real PC that you could photo editing).

I do like the knifes but I don't think that my packet book could take that much of a hit :)

OT - this is a great start. I'm no expert here......however, if I were shopping for knives - or was a collector, I would be attracted to the knife if the background made it more striking. I would try different backgrounds. Actually for some of the knives that are more "silver" or lighter color, I would try a black background to make the knife stand out more. I would also leave less space around some of the knives - maybe a crop. How about raising the knife somehow (something to give it a "3D" effect). I got some black velvet (you probably just need a yard) for a very cheap price at the local fabric store. You also might want to try a finer texture for the background. Finer texture would give the knives a "sharper" look - pun intended.

ETA - after taking another look I noticed some of the knives are raised (you already did that). However, the image is kind of flat so it isn't too obvious - it may be the background color. I don't know how to "fix" that - to make the height more obvious and the knife stand out more.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my tired brain tonight. :idea:

Liz

OT, I've done some product shooting and not the best by any means.

I seem to get the best pics using a light box with either a white or black background depending on the color of my products. I think the fuzzy backdrop is ok, but personally I'd like to see something not fuzzy and something that would make the silver of the knives pop.

Oldtimer .. I can't comment at all on the product photography, but I wanted to say how much I admire people who can make things which are both useful and beautiful. We live in a world full of factory made stuff with little real craftsmanship, and it's nice to see that there are people around who put care and attention, and even love, into the things they make. Good luck with the photos, and also with your son's business.

Cheers
Mike

You're off to a great start OT. I was just in a class last night, and one of the subjects we talked about was product photography. The instructor was showing us an easy way to shoot jewelry. All he did was build a light tent out of a milk jug, and positioned a $5 light on one side of it. He cut the bottom off the jug so it would fit over the object, and cut the top off the jug so the hole was big enuf to get his lens through. It made a great light tent and the difference in the pics shot with it and without it were very noticeable.

I also like Kelly's idea of shooting these on a white background, then dropping it out.

Thanks once again everyone for the great suggestions. I was concerned about the background form the get go. You guys pretty much confirmed what I thought. Any suggestions on light placement and angles that I should shot at. I know on some of the sites that have been recommend they are shotting straight down with the knife flat. What do you think there?

If you shoot straight down, you won't get any perspective exaggeration or distortion - the kinds of things that make a lot of photographs interesting. However, it probably would be a better representation of the knife itself.

What I meant about backlighting is that if the light is behind and at a low angle, it will pick up edges and make them stand out. This is a food photography trick, and adds depth to the image. Others here know more about lighting than I do - but I think you'd want the light off to the side and at an angle, just a few inches above the knife. If the light was right behind it and pointing at the camera, it would cause lens flare.

Didache said what I tried to - it's the idea of taking something utilitarian and making it so much nicer to work with and look at. Knives have been around for thousands of years, but not like these!

I'm no expert but do sell stuff on ebay sometimes and have an 18% gray background which seems to make the objects stand out well with no color cast.

I'd go with with what Kelly said about using a white background, because it would contrast with the product.
These are good first attempts Larry.
Look at the sites the others have provided that will certainly help too!
The knives your son makes are really nice looking knives.
Brian

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Originally Posted by mjs1973

You're off to a great start OT. I was just in a class last night, and one of the subjects we talked about was product photography. The instructor was showing us an easy way to shoot jewelry. All he did was build a light tent out of a milk jug, and positioned a $5 light on one side of it. He cut the bottom off the jug so it would fit over the object, and cut the top off the jug so the hole was big enuf to get his lens through. It made a great light tent and the difference in the pics shot with it and without it were very noticeable.

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Thanks for posting this. Jewelry is the hardest thing in the world to shoot.

Can I ask you what kind of class this is? Thanks!

OT, finally tracked down an old article for you that I couldn't find last night. This was written for photographing Nihonto. I noticed a couple of the blades have differential tempering. This article should help you shoot the temper lines better...

Photographing Nihonto

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Originally Posted by Xia_Ke

OT, finally tracked down an old article for you that I couldn't find last night. This was written for photographing Nihonto. I noticed a couple of the blades have differential tempering. This article should help you shoot the temper lines better...

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Great one Aaron. Very good how to should work well on Sam's Damascus blades.