Flash Photography of Rifles - Using a cheap flash diffuser

[TCups]

So are those digital photos?  Which camera?  

Lots of folks seem to post with colorful backgrounds or textured backdrops and such.  For me, I prefer a neutral gray background.  I find that if the color of the neutral gray is correct, then the color of the woodwork is usually pretty close also.  Nice rifle.  Good photos.  I presume you took a couple of quick shots to show the differences in lighting.  IMO, the rifle will "show" better with a background that offers some natural contrast to the light grain in the woodwork, and were I posting it for show or sale, I would choose something different from a background of light grained woodwork - not so?  And IMO, anything "busy" at all in the background takes away somehow from the focus of the rifle itself.  But that is more composition and personal preference than technique.

Just for fun, maybe we should start a show-off thread of "Airgun Photos Only, No Chat" to let our memebers show off their photography skills and their air rifles.   :emoticon:

[Zzyzx]

You control the background partly with lighting and partly with depth of field. Shoot at a wider aperture with the rifle sharp and the background going soft. Add in some distance between the two to accentuate the difference and give your rifle more of a 3 dimensional look. Tone down the background lighting and you have more control of how the product shows to those who view it.

Then you get into differential reflections, gobos, scrims and reflectors to hold back and accent highlights just where you want them as well as adding depth to the rifle.

Lighting is an art as well as a science. If all you want to do is show the rifle almost anything will do. If you want it to look its best you finesse lighting and lens settings.

[TCups]

Well, I suppose I could pull out the Oly E-500, maybe a couple of different lenses, the FP-50 electronic flash, a reflector or two, and my digital light meter, then I could check the white balance, vary the depth of field w/ several different aperture and shutter settings, maybe even revert to manual mode and figure out the correct bracketed exposures, bounce the flash from several angles (or even fill in with a slave flash/servo unit?) and ultimately futz around for an hour or so it might take me to get that "perfect" exposure, lighting effect, and depth of field, and aspire to shoot like a true pro.  Then I could post the technique so everyone can see how hard I worked.  Or, I could just stick my tin & plastic can flash diffuser on my trusty point and shoot, stick a piece of gray cardboard behind the rifle and click off a few quick shots on the auto setting and post them in about the same time it would take to get my other camera equipment out of the closet.   Hmmmmmm . . .    something to consider.  

Please understand, I am certainly not saying anything adversely critical about what you suggest.  In fact, you are absolutely right about the proper techniques for everything you have posted and you obviously know your stuff (probably better than me too, even though I have bought the camera gear, and been there, and done that.  And let's not even talk about video equipment and PhotoShop, Aperture, QuarkExpress, and iMovie --cringe--)

Here is all I am saying -- for the average, middle of the road, point and shoot kind of GTA member/photographer who just wants to post a quick pic or two, you can vastly improve your results with a piece of gray cardboard and a flash diffuser (or piece of cotton gauze) without much else in the way of photography skills if all you want to do is just take a couple of quick flash snapshots indoors get a properly exposed picture without the motion blur, red-yellow color cast or noise that all to often occur when using a digital point and shoot camera in auto mode with available incandescent lighting.  Been there and done that, too.

(Photoshop fun with my daughter and granddaughter)

[Brutuz]

TCups - 4/28/2010  10:11 PM  So are those digital photos?  Which camera?    Lots of folks seem to post with colorful backgrounds or textured  backdrops and such.  For me, I prefer a neutral gray background.  I find  that if the color of the neutral gray is correct, then the color of the  woodwork is usually pretty close also.  Nice rifle.  Good photos.  I  presume you took a couple of quick shots to show the differences in  lighting.  IMO, the rifle will "show" better with a background that  offers some natural contrast to the light grain in the woodwork, and  were I posting it for show or sale, I would choose something different  from a background of light grained woodwork - not so?  And IMO, anything  "busy" at all in the background takes away somehow from the focus of  the rifle itself.  But that is more composition and personal preference  than technique.  Just for fun, maybe we should start a show-off thread of "Airgun Photos  Only, No Chat" to let our memebers show off their photography skills and  their air rifles.   :emoticon:

Yes they are, I use a Nikon D70, I can play with light, depth of field and background ;-)