All About Pocket Knives

Thanks Gents, I keep piddlin' with it. Go ahead and try one Paul, it's just "one" more knife! OH

Old Hunter wrote:I like to look at this thread and admire your knives, but I don't post in it too much - when I get a good knife photo it is by the pure dumb luck method. I obtained a Case 6318 HE this week for my 18 pattern collection. Today I attempted to put the decent ones into one group photo - I have never found a way to get all knives focused and evenly into the light when shooting more than two knives in a photo. For what it's worth, here is today's attempt at six Case pocketknives in one picture. OH

Touched it up. Great knives man!

Thank you Yehuda! OH

Old Hunter wrote:Thank you Yehuda! OH

My pleasure sir! Not much work though, just ran it through a couple of filters I like.

Just snapped this.....love the bone scales

Oh yeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that bone makes drool FFF, grrrrrrrreaaaaat! It is bone isn't it. Hmmmmm. Whatever, it's fabulous.

Oh yeah, all bone baby!!

I'm learning how to be a better knife photographer to sell some knives on a website that I'm building. I'm looking for sharp images without any ephemera or background accoutrements. I have a shadow box with lighting and a decent digital SLR camera so I think I'm prepared to take some images that will display well on my website. This is my first attempt, your honest feedback and critique would be most welcome as well as any suggestions you have for setting, lighting, backgrounds, etc. Thanks in advance fellow AAPK'ers and photographer wannabees.

The bone on that Pocketeze is really nice, Scott. Add the patina on the blade and that is one good knife: looks way more desirable than a lot of brand new knives!

Tom, your photos are plenty sharp and detailed enough, in my opinion. The neutral background and lighting lets me focus on the knife. If I were looking for a scout knife like yours, the photos you posted would show me what wanted to see. But, if I were not looking for a scout knife, the photos would not tempt me to buy one. I do think that a different presentation could make the knife look considerably more appealing, like the way Scott did that old Pocketeze.

Thanks Mel - great feedback and very much appreciated. My plan is to present my knives "in the raw" without any special backgrounds, more like a catalog image. I'm going more for sharp and detailed rather than artistic. Hopefully others will weigh-in too.

Here's three knives made in Plymouth, Ct. and related books.

Thanks for looking.

Tom, I like your approach. I think the background in your picture is a little strong.
I was surprised how little light I actually needed to take photos with a camera that gives me so many adjusting options.
A light back ground will make the camera allow less light. A darker background will make the camera open up.
Thus affecting the image of your subject.
I have a relatively inexpensive Nikon. P530.

Truth is, I have used a camera for years but rarely used one to take so many closeup knife photos.
It took some getting used to and I am, of course, still learning, but I'm not trying for anything too high end
just trying to get some information about my knives across.

Practice, practice ........ trial and error ...................

Thanks Joe - I agree that practice will yield better results. Fortunately I have about hundreds of knives to photograph for my website to sell so I should get better over time.

I love takin' knife pics, here's a few, didn't want to post 'em all at once.

Joe - those Plymouth knives and books make a good historical combination! I use books for some of my backgrounds.

TheMadHungarian - I could really go for a tray of cupcakes and knives right now! That photo with the little Spiderco is really well composed, in my opinion. Welcome back after ten years!

Dinadan wrote:...

TheMadHungarian - I could really go for a tray of cupcakes and knives right now! That photo with the little Spiderco is really well composed, in my opinion. Welcome back after ten years!

Thanks, I always come here to look up info but I never really hung out. It was more of a ready resource of knife info, I see some of the folks from the other forums, I saw Railsplitter and a few other names I recognize. I'll make it a point to stop in more often and hopefully contribute more often.

A couple of more pics:

Hey Mad Hungarian, great looking Blade Forums equal end there. Sweet bone color. Nice one.

bestgear wrote:I'm learning how to be a better knife photographer to sell some knives on a website that I'm building. I'm looking for sharp images without any ephemera or background accoutrements. I have a shadow box with lighting and a decent digital SLR camera so I think I'm prepared to take some images that will display well on my website. This is my first attempt, your honest feedback and critique would be most welcome as well as any suggestions you have for setting, lighting, backgrounds, etc. Thanks in advance fellow AAPK'ers and photographer wannabees.

Tommy...buddy....there's something about that pic that gives me a headache. Not being negative, just something about it....
Maybe it's the background....it's too loud from the knife, completely overpowers it.....
Try a different background......this one is too much for me.

OK Scott, maybe it's like a bull getting enraged when he see's red, great feedback. I have blue, black and white backgrounds, I'll take the same picture with the other backgrounds and get some more feedback.

I used the red because many of the non-artistic pictures of knives here and on eBay use the red background but I don't want to be the cause for any headaches.

It doesn't look red bro.....looks like a popsicle color....

Nice photos guys ...

Tom - in addition to that noted above about background you need to change the lighting setup for the photos... based on a project I am working on I discovered that the best knife photos are no doubt scattered or dispersed light (such as late in the day or a cloudy day if one can shoot outside which for many is not possible year long) but for inside shooting the most consistent photos need a light box where the light bounces off the white ceiling and walls of the box... I just made a light box by gluing "white" poster size paper on the inside of a cardboard box and than use 2 flood lights on each bottom side that shines the light towards the ceiling which reflects off the walls and disperses light evenly across the knife... it will also make the blades pop rather than look dark such as yours and reflections off bolsters etc disappear as do shadows... lots of learning curve for me too right now but when I have a good knife photo to post you will see the difference - I am just getting started on using the light box after testing it out in regards to setup and light placement. Mark Zalesky had an article on Knife Photography in Knife World in Dec 2006 which explains all - an excellent read for improving photos...

bestgear wrote:Thanks Mel - great feedback and very much appreciated. My plan is to present my knives "in the raw" without any special backgrounds, more like a catalog image. I'm going more for sharp and detailed rather than artistic. Hopefully others will weigh-in too.

1 thing I try to do is get the blade to show a reflection that is nearly all white. That makes the tang marking, and any blade etch really pop out, and it is easy to see in the picture. The best way I have found is to take photos on a cloudy day, and angle the knife (or the camera) so that the blade is showing a reflection of the clouds, which is basically just all white. In your photo, the blade etch is difficult to read. However, if you are selling the knife, you'll likely have more than 1 photo, so you could always take one of just the blade, which clearly shows the etch and tang.

Lee and Rookie - both of you gave me some really good constructive criticism. I've reworked my shadow box with the lights bouncing off the top of it and angled the knife to brighten the blade etch and tang as much as possible. My camera battery is recharging but I hope to post some pictures later today or tonight. Here's the Mark Zalesky December 2006 story on knife photography for anyone who's interested: http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/knifeworld/photoarticle.pdf

Better?