Mad Gun Photo Skillz!

[Spart]

^Yea, that's all I did. Gave the camera to my buddy and just told him to old down the shutter button as I ran through a mag. The camera will take 2-3 shots per second. Over the past year or two, we've probably taken over 1000 pictures (gotta love digital cameras) and I've only had three turn out like the two I pictured (the third is the Glock with flames coming out but it's much less spectacular than the USPc because it's only a 9mm). I almost shat myself when I saw those two.

[PreBandit]

I am not a professional photographer, but I do enjoy photography.

[PreBandit]

Same PTR 91

[HKCHEF]

Are any of you on any photography forums?

[MueveloNYC]

I am... But someone made this great post on using your bathtub to take perfect gun photos. Someone was seriously thinking out of the box. Too bad my tub is a 70's goldenrod color (so is the toilet, sink, etc. - how the hell did they think this was a good color?!)

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.htm...f=121&t=749517

[SpookyDan]

The key to great photography is controlled lighting. The key to horrible photography is using your on camera flash. While most of you don't have access to fancy flashes and studio strobes you do have access to a tri-pod and thats all ya need.

While many people like to take the soft lighting and light box approach I don't think it works for guns. Soft lighting is for wedding photos and pictures of toys. Guns are unforgiving killing machines and better suited with some dramatic hard lighting.

Setup a scene with your gun.

-Background: Dark colors work well. A black sheet, a leather jacket, camo, burlap, a weathered board, rusty steel plate. Again... these are guns so try and stay away from neutral things like white paper, flowered bed sheets, nasty carpet, etc...

-Primary Object: Place your gun in the scene in a way they looks good to you. Laying them flat almost never looks good so prop them up on a slight angle. Lean them against a spare mag, a bullet standing straight up, whatever. Just do yourself a favor and dont use a pen or other random object thru the trigger guard to prop it up... that looks retarded.

-Secondary objects: Place other objects in the scene to add extra flavor just make sure they dont overpower the primary object and draw attention away. Knives, ammo, mags, vests, holsters, cleaning tools, mirrors... Get creative.

-Lighting: Get a halogen shop light or a bright lamp and point it at your scene. Turn all the other lights off in the room. Move it around and watch from the camera to see how shadows and highlights change. Find a good angle that make details on the gun pop with good sharp contrast. If you feel there just isnt enough light than add another.

-Accent lighting: Accent lighting can work great with gun photos, especially reds and blues for obvious reasons. Accent lighting can also quickly ruin a shot so be careful. Accent lighting should be shot at the scene 90 degrees from the camera or even behind the scene facing into the camera. Just remember you want to create colored accent not light the whole scene with color. Adjust your accent light with the other off to see exactly how it will effect the scene.

-Taking the shot: You will need to setup a tripod and take long exposures which will vary for everyone depending on lighting and cameras. See your camera manual for further info on this.

This is just some very basic info, hope it helps.

Here are some of my photos. These were all taken with one light and in some cases the addition of one accent light.

1. Walther PPS .40


2. HK USP .40


3. Springfield 1911 Ultra Compact .45


4. HK USC .45

[E.W.]

Are any of you on any photography forums?

Not yet, but I am very interested. If you happen to find a good one that has room for rookies please let me know. Thanks.


Dan, thanks for taking the time for your post. Lots of good tips to get me started. Thank you.

[SpookyDan]

Not yet, but I am very interested. If you happen to find a good one that has room for rookies please let me know.

Canon owner or not http://photography-on-the.net/forum/ is good.

[NcParker]

I love the gelled strobe look, very cool...







These are my first couple posts on HKPRO! I've had these pics for a couple weeks now and with no real gun enthusiasts as friends to share em' with; so here I am- I also put them up in high res version on the desktop thread:

http://hkpro.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92078&page=4

all comments appreciated

Nick P.

[link80reid]