need help with Gun picture lighting

steve45

Im having trouble getting the lighting right to take some gun pictures. Direct light makes glare on the finish and shade makes the details too dark. Im guessing I need indirect light. Whats the best(inexpensive)setup to accomplish that?

Marc1301

Seems that most folks capable of great pics use small fluorescent fixtures for 'indirect' lighting.

You could probably buy a few short ones, and wire pigtails to them, and mount on home made stands.

This is only what I have read in the past BTW.

andrewsw16

I find that turning on all the lamps in a room works. The light is diffused and coming in at more than one angle. I NEVER use a flash. That is almost guaranteedt to screw up your picture. If you have to, go borrow one or two extra lamps from another room and disperse them all around the layout area. I like to shoot against a plain background, like an old army blanket stretched out on a bed. It provides a good neutral background and the blanket fiber does not reflect. Experiment to see whether your camera has an upclose macro lens setting for getting the details. If not, then use the telephoto setting and stand back a couple of feet. For details like proof marks or engraving, try a welder's white marking crayon or a piece of white chalk to fill the mark and make it more visible.

Marc1301

Some of the best pics I have taken of guns were done outside on a bright sunny day.

I laid a neutral colored blanket, or towel down on my truck tailgate and shot the pics out of direct sunlight. They came out really good.

That's about as cheap as it gets![:D]

Bubba Jr.

Take a white sheet and make a tent over the subject. Put your lights outside of the tent shining towards the subject. This will diffuse the light and eliminate the harsh shadows. Use as many lights as possible and make sure they are all the same type (incandescent or fluorescent) and don't mix them. Choose a neutral background that won't compete with the colors and texture of the subject.

Be sure to adjust the color temperature in the digital camera or use filters on a film camera to compensate for the type of lighting you are using. Then all you have to worry about is the composition of the picture.

Good Luck.

HappyNanoq

You can get a light-reflector, like the one photographers use.

In all simplicity, it's an umbrella, where you shine the light up underneeth the umbrella - and that diffuses the light enough.



Or you can use wire-mesh to make a frame in front of your lightsource, and cover that with a thin white bedsheet.

Do the same with your flash.

Do a search for "softbox", "flash diffusor", "flash reflector" or "light reflector" - and you'll get the general idea. =o)

Those are fairly inexpencive items, and will help make better pictures at short distances - and you can use it to photo-document your house, or make better portait-photos with too with less shadows.

drobs

Outside with no flash seems to work best for me.

CS8161

Outside, sunny day, but take your photos in a shaded area, they will look great.