Home Forums Gear Photography Gun Pictures?

I want to begin photographing my guns in studio portrait style. I have a Nikon D5000. What other equipment do I need? And, especially what lens do I need? The lenses that came with the camera don't seem to cut it. One is too close in & the other too far out. I will likely need flash screens I suppose.

What lenses do you have?

Years ago when I ran Nikon, I had a Nikon 60mm macro lens and it was very sharp. They make a 105 too that would double as a portrait lens. I'd start with one of those.

I have the 18-55 & the 55-200.

The best way to get good photos of something like a gun - round surfaces that can have weird reflections etc, is to use a cuple of light boxes on ovpnjynvtion with a decent set of lights.

A few things you don't want to do are (1) don't place the firearm on a surface that is light in color and (2) nor one that is highly reflective.

A lighter background will fool whatever metering system you're using and the reflective one will cuse glare. Think of all the photos taken with a gun on a white sheet --- gun was to dark to see any detail 0 right?

The best thing, if you're using artifical light is something with a texture such velour or a wool planket.

Photos - good ones can be taken outside as long as you stay in the open shade and not in the direct sunlight.

I use a variety of lenses but I like a fairly long telephoto with a fast aperture such as my Signa 120-300 f2.8 I use for shooting soccer.

Using a long lens wide-pem (f2.8) it provides a shallow depth of field that makes the gun the only thing if focus.

Betweem the 18-55 and the 55-200 I'd probably take the 55-200

My Canon 17-40 EF f4 L USM lens is my workhorse.

inside



or out of doors.


GWB