How to take quality pictures of firearms?

Not getting much traffic with this post in "Ask the Gunwriters", they must all be out hunting or something.

A post in the Classifieds reminded me that my gun pictures certainly could be better. I have a decent Canon digital camera - Power Shot SX130 IS - which should be capable of good quality photos but whether trying to sell a firearm or just posting pics of something I’m proud of, generally the pictures are little better than snapshots with glare, uneven lighting, shadows, bad angles and all that.

So, all who care to, would you mind posting suggestions and tips of how to take well lit pictures of a firearm or other object (scope, tools, whatever) with details filled in and that show off the true color and condition of a firearm without investing in a lot of dedicated lights and those silver umbrellas? There are a lot of really well done photos in the forums and I'm sure not everybody has a dedicated studio for those. Some pictures of your picture taking setup might be especially helpful.

I'm thinking diffuse side lighting may rank up there in importance

Yes. Diffuse light such that there are no shadows and no obvious glare. Avoid extremely light back grounds, and orient the points of interest such that they are parallel with ones focal plain to keep things in focus. Do a search of this site using "fence post" as a search term and one should spot some good and bad examples.

If one has a digital camera with a "highlight tone priority" setting, enable it. That can help add detail to extremely bright areas that typically burn out but with some loss of detail in dark or shadowed regions.

How does one achieve diffuse side lighting with ordinary household lamps?

You can try a diffuser of sorts, like a thin sheet. You can also bounce the light

I am certainly not a product photographer, but I have had decent results photographing firearms set on an elk hide (or other neutral colored drape) while outside in the shade or cloudy day. You could also try next to a window with no direct sunlight. You will need to adjust the white balance in post to account for the shade or cloudy conditions. A frame covered with a white sheet to diifuse sunlight may also work, but watch the histogram so you do not underexpose the gun or scope if the background is also the sheet.

Always important to wear sandals, without socks of course, and include a toe pic.

Set up the picture to accent the gun...

The more off the axis of the lens the main light is the more contrast and detail there will be. This can be excessive so adding a secondary or fill light is usefull. This can be as simple as a piece of white paper just out of the frame or as refined as a strobe with light modifier. Depending on what your going for that main light could be soft and ambient like a window or like the very nice soft flat light in the photo above or hard and directional like a barebulb flash or lamp at a distance. Typically you want a ratio between the two light sources. Light/reflector combos nsturally produce usable ratios. Usually the reflector is placed far closer to the subject than one might estimate.
Another usefull thing is a translucent screen or "scrim" shot in full sun the diffuser softens and reduces full sun to a usable level.
great shots usually have main/fill components whether its realuzed or not.

I’m no photographer but I’ve had good results outside in natural light. Orient to minimize sun glare. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by gkt5450

I’m no photographer but I’ve had good results outside in natural light. Orient to minimize sun glare. Just sayin.