Looking for some advice on photographing knives..

[JeridJohnson]

Howdy folks,

I am looking for some advice on photographing the custom knives I make.. I think I am doing ok but I am sure I could do better and definitly feel I could be more consistent..

I shoot my knives in a white softbox.. I have 3 65w compact flourecent daylight bulbs that I place aroud the outside of the softbox.. I recently got my speedlight flash and a diffuser cap for it which really seems to help..

I find that i get the best results shooting in manual mode however I dont know what settings to really select to get the quality photo.. The current setting (dont have it in front of me) seems to be working pretty good.. Here are some of the latest pics.. Please let me know what you think and if there are any settings I can try to get better results..

Note.. I usually use my short lens about 1' from the knife..

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[Big Mike]

The shadows in the first two, look harder than in the last one. I like the soft light better.

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that if you put the objects onto a piece of glass that is above the background...you can either make it easy to get rid of the shadows...or make them more of a drop shadow...I don't really remember.

The settings you use will depend upon the light you are using. Your exposure looks good, maybe a little light on the last one...but nothing I'd be worried about. It could use a bump in contrast to give it a little more 'pop'.

[JeridJohnson]

Interestingly, the last pic is one taken before i got my speedlight flash..

[fmw]

Nice knives. I wonder if you make your own damascus. The photos are technically fine. I might suggest making more of a "set" with the knives as the main subject. The set could include other items that would complement the knife - perhaps suggesting the environment in which it would be used. The drop point hunters could be shot with some hunting paraphernalia and the bowie might fit in with an old western theme - maybe a pair of spurs and a pair gloves with a rope lasso. That sort of thing.

Note that there is a knife photography forum at http://www.knifeforums.com in case you might want to get in with some folks that do exactly the same thing.

[JeridJohnson]

Thanks for the complient fmw. I can make simple random pattern damascus but I leave the complex patters (as shown) to the pros... anything I make has to be hand forged as I dont have a press.. In case you are interested you can see more of my work here.

I am aware of the knife forums photo forums but wanted to get some opinions from "non knife" people to round out my research.