Indoor Knife Photography

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kootenay joe
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Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

I would like to see a picture of your set up for taking knife pictures indoor, as well as know the type/strength of light bulbs you use.
I bought some photography lights on ebay but the plugs do not fit North American outlets. I bought 2 light bulbs from our local lighting store. They have a blue coating ("Neodymium") which is said to be good for picture taking but are only 60 watt and cost $12 each. They are not bright enough but retailer says he cannot get them in higher wattage.
I use a tripod and like to take pics from directly overhead. I cannot figure out how to get my camera directly overhead and use a light tent.
So, please, i need help as the next few months here will be mostly snow & rain so no outdoor pictures possible.
thanks, kj
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TripleF
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by TripleF »

No lights here except natural sunlight and or camera flash......

I set stuff close to a window and usually shoot in the afternoon when the direct sun has passed the window but is still bright.
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

A photo of my setup,the way I do it but not the only or even best way. I use a workbench that I have in the house with 2 risers attached to the sides and a crossbar between. You want to be able to move the camera left and right somewhat as well as up and down. My camera is a Canon XSi with a Sigma 17-70 millimeter zoom lens. I can move the camera up and down on its bracket as well as zoom the lens. For lighting I use two 60 watt equivalent LED bulbs (10 watts actual) that are classified as daylight bulbs. I tried other bulbs before these, but they made the pictures and background appear too yellow. These daylight bulbs give a more natural light and are housed in clamp on "heat lamp" type bulb holders. The camera uses the SD card that goes right from the camera into the card reader slot of my laptop. When I see something posted on AAPK and I want to send a reply, I can put something on the table and take the photo and post it in just a couple of minutes. I also use this setup to copy old family photos onto digital and CD's for other family members. The camera can be manually focused or used on autofocus per your preference. I set the camera mode selector to "flash off" for this setup as the auxiliary lights provide plenty of light. As I am viewing thru the lens of the digital SLR, what you see is what you get. Hope this is helpful to you.
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by doglegg »

Olde Cutler, that is genius in its simplicity.
kootenay joe
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks O.C.
The 'super-structure' is what i need to hold the lamps and to clamp the camera in place of using tripod. Somehow i couldn't figure it out for myself.
If you have a set up different from the way O.C. has done it, i would appreciate seeing it.
thanks all, kj
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Lately, I've been taking photos with my cell phone on either the kitchen or dining room table, both of which have multiple bulb chandelier type light fixtures above them.

They provide adequate light and the multiple bulbs take care of the problem of shadows.

An example:

Charlie
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LongBlade
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by LongBlade »

KJ - Below is a photo of my photo setup using a light box. Homemade out of a heavy cardboard box lined with bright white poster board - it cost me $14 with glue to make it. I am convinced the only way to get knife photos without reflection is indirect bounced light. The flood lights have 150 watt bulbs that reflect off ceiling of box and bounces onto the knife. I used direct lighting prior to this and other than outdoor indirect lighting this works great for me. The light box no doubt gives you the"what you see is what you get without seeing yourself or bright light reflections off the knife! Any questions just let me know.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks Lee. The only 'problem' for me is that i want to take pics from directly overhead and use a tripod as my hands are not steady enough. With your set up there is a slight angle as camera is in front of object. Am i understanding your set up correctly ?
Using indirect light is something i will do. Thanks for this tip.
Is the 150W bulb standard ? or special wave length for photography ?
I was told by a store clerk that lights for growing plants give the same spectrum as lights for photography. Does anyone know if this is so ? I can buy grow lights locally.
kj
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by mrwatch »

I have never used a light box or tent. my tripods let me remove the center post and turn it up side down to take pictures. They used to sell dulling spray for product photography, but some folks mist milk. I really like daylight LED's but the old blue photo bulbs are expensive and loose temperature rating as they age. I do about as much now with color correct LED flash lights. Selecting a suitable back ground color helps a lot.
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LongBlade
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by LongBlade »

kootenay joe wrote:Thanks Lee. The only 'problem' for me is that i want to take pics from directly overhead and use a tripod as my hands are not steady enough. With your set up there is a slight angle as camera is in front of object. Am i understanding your set up correctly ?
Using indirect light is something i will do. Thanks for this tip.
Is the 150W bulb standard ? or special wave length for photography ?
I was told by a store clerk that lights for growing plants give the same spectrum as lights for photography. Does anyone know if this is so ? I can buy grow lights locally.
kj
Roland - Glad this was of some help as I truly believe indirect light is the only way to avoid the reflections ...

To answer your questions: The camera is on a very slight angle to knife - if you are photographing straight on (perpendicular) to the knife blades they will look dark or even black.. The bulb is a standard 150 watt incandescent (I tried 200 watt too but they got too hot for my use - the 150 watt bulbs get hot but less so which may be because my flood lights were rated to 150 watt - I played with other bulbs claiming natural sunlight but they were not bright enough for my use with knives - they worked fine when I photograph fishing flies but that is a totally different setup as fur and feathers absorb light and I use direct lighting whereas knives are reflective and thus indirect light is key. I never tried grow lights so not sure but know they are bright.

Believe me I learned the hard way with knife photographs - when I took photos for Knife Magazine with direct lighting the end result was poor - I was being stubborn and used direct lighting until a discussion with the editor Mark Zalesky who turned me on to the light box concept. It was without a doubt a huge difference in photos of knives and as such I needed to reshoot all the knives which in the end did the knives great justice for the article. Mark published this article explaining all which also may be of help - http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/knifeworld/photoarticle.pdf

Cheers
Lee
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by Berryb »

I'm still trying to figure it out, alot of good information here. One thing I have found though, is the back ground is important. I avoid black, white, or any really bright colors. I don't know how to explain it but the color intensity needs to be similar to that of the knife but in a color that it will stand out against. Hope this makes sense.
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LongBlade
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by LongBlade »

I agree mrwatch and Bruce - the background is important.. While it needs to contrast to the knife it also needs to compliment the knife to a degree... sometimes I try a background that I think I would like yet the photos say "no" - always good to have different backgrounds and generally neutral colors work...
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RalphAlsip
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by RalphAlsip »

Probably beating a dead horse at this point... Because the metal parts of knives are shiny and reflect light, my experience is that either the lighting or the camera or both need to be at an angle with respect to the knife. Bright reflections back at the camera mess up the exposure. I am happy with my results when the shiny parts of the knife reflect into a white background. The white background reflection does serve to "matte / dull" the image of the blade so it won't look as shiny in a picture as it does in real life.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

Mr W.,neat idea to invert center 'pipe' so that camera is surrounded by the tripod legs. I checked my $25 tripod but center rod does not slide out (unless i use a hacksaw !)
I don't have a cell phone so no cell phone pics. Don't have quite the same bright kitchen lights that Charlie describes either.
Olde Cutler & Long Blade have given me what need to know at this point & 'Ralph', i will take your advice and move away from directly overhead until glare is gone.
I went to building supply store and picked up 2 galvanized steel floor flange and some galvanized 1/2" pipe & PVC 1/2" pipe and fittings. I will assemble into a structure on which i can clamp my camera & adjust height. Then i will put this into a light box with curved white board lining box. I bought 2 light bulbs and a 150W rated light socket/reflector. One is a grow light 150W with a blue coating. The other is an LED of 1300 lumens with a "daylight" spectrum of 5000K.
When assembled i will post pictures of this set up and examples of how well it works (knife pics).
Very much appreciate everyone's help,
thank you, kj
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danno50
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by danno50 »

Thanks for all the tips. I have tried a light box, but not with indirect light. Just looked back through some of my posted pics, occasionally I get a good one or two, however, I have posted some abysmal ones lately. Have to do some experimentation and try harder.
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by gsmith7158 »

I have a simple little light box that I use for indoor pictures that I made from one of those plastic storage bins. I spray painted the interior of the box with a bright white acrylic paint and use two 150 watt led bulbs. It works fairly well as my photography has improved but a photo editor app on your computer is still a must. I had the same issue as Roland in that I could not get a good straight down shot on my knives with the box. Today I thought about that a bit and devised another simple little fix. I made a wedge from a small priority USPS box using the gummy flap to hold it in place and I just lay a piece of white felt over it. It gives a much better angle for your shot. :D
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

Looking good. It pays to keep experimenting with different backgrounds and light angles until you get what you are after. As I explained above, I started out with my setup for copying old family pictures and then adapted to knife pictures. I don't use any photo editing software at all with my setup as used on knives.
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by sextonknifeworks »

I use this Photo Light booth made in Canada. I have had it about 10 years and replaced the bulbs once. I think it cost between $200-300 but it has been a good one. You stick the camera through the hole in the top. You can also rest it there for steady pictures.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

Greg, you nailed it ! i will copy except use cardboard rather than plastic tub. So a white plastic tub still needs a coat of spray paint to make it reflect better ? I have the same 150W reflector socket with clamp handle but the clamps slide off most things.
Your 150W bulbs are close to the plastic tub. Does the heat make the paint or plastic smell ? or being LED do they not give off much heat ?
kj
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

skw, in your second picture is it showing a rectangular hole in the front of the box through which you place the item to be photographed ?
Where are the lights ?
kj
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by sextonknifeworks »

kootenay joe wrote:skw, in your second picture is it showing a rectangular hole in the front of the box through which you place the item to be photographed ?
Where are the lights ?
kj

Yes, the hole in the front is a trapezoid shape (wider at the bottom). You can also take pics through this hole.

The bulbs are hid behind 2 slanted plastic lenses that muffle the light evenly without much reflection, just soft light.
kootenay joe
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks. So the lights are mounted on underside of the box top, either side of where the camera lens goes ? and then are aimed at item being pictured ? or the walls to 'bounce' the light ?
kj
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by sextonknifeworks »

kootenay joe wrote:Thanks. So the lights are mounted on underside of the box top, either side of where the camera lens goes ? and then are aimed at item being pictured ? or the walls to 'bounce' the light ?
kj

The are just mounted to the lid but hid on the inside behind the Plexiglass walls. The Plexiglas side walls inside are angled to evenly distribute light.
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by Dinadan »

There are some interesting ideas in this thread. Thanks for showing your setups, OLDE CUTLER, Lee, Greg, and sextonknifeworks. I have done anything as elaborate as you folks. My photos are mostly taken in front of my western facing window in the very late afternoon. I do get a lot of reflections off the blade, but so far that yields what I consider my best photos.I keep toying with the idea of a light box but so far I have not made one. Now I have some ideas if I do decide to make a light box - maybe next rainy day.
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Re: Indoor Knife Photography

Post by gsmith7158 »

Roland the plastic storage bin that I used was originally clear plastic so the painted interior is necessary for light reflection in the box. I think a white paper lining would work just as well. I originally used incandescent lighting and it was much to hot. It started cracking the paint but the LED fixed that problem as they are much cooler. I am still not completely satisfied though as I think I need more angles of light bouncing around in the box. I like the idea behind skw's light box. I think I will try to build something along those lines.
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