I took some pictures of my shotgun in my backyard and I would like some tips from some of the photographers I have seen on here.
My Favorite of the 3
My Favorite of the 3
Need a Photographer's Tips
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I work as a commerical photographer. I studied photography for 4 years and Im still learning ,have been running my own business for 8 years now. My advice is to keep shooting and experiment. Some of the best photographers in the world are self taught.
1: photography is all about light ( photographing something like this in the middle of the day with the light being very harsh or flat ,will make your subject look like that as well)
2: Keep your backgrounds simple: At the end of the day you want people looking at your image to focus on that -not a big tree in the background ,a car etc etc
3:Clarity: When shooting a rifle like this , you need to position it so it makes it interesting for the viewer ,your 3rd picture as you described is the better one.
Laying the rifle down in the grass and shooting as a plan view dosn't make an interesting photograph. A friend of mine who does alot of still life work ,could spend two days setting up a still life shot!!! ( thats to the extreme of course)
4: As I was taught by some very good pros ,their advice was " keep it simple "
" have your light source behind you ie: the sun or a light.
5: f stop: Im not sure what kind of kit you have ,but depth of field is very important when shooting something like this. We could chat about this for hours ,but quickly -the more depth of field you have IE: f16 /f22 the more in focus your still life will be ,the less depth of field you have ie: f2.4 /3.5/5.6 your rifle won't be as sharp . Hope that makes sense.
Good luck and play around with it ,thank goodness for digital cameras where you can view your handywork.
1: photography is all about light ( photographing something like this in the middle of the day with the light being very harsh or flat ,will make your subject look like that as well)
2: Keep your backgrounds simple: At the end of the day you want people looking at your image to focus on that -not a big tree in the background ,a car etc etc
3:Clarity: When shooting a rifle like this , you need to position it so it makes it interesting for the viewer ,your 3rd picture as you described is the better one.
Laying the rifle down in the grass and shooting as a plan view dosn't make an interesting photograph. A friend of mine who does alot of still life work ,could spend two days setting up a still life shot!!! ( thats to the extreme of course)
4: As I was taught by some very good pros ,their advice was " keep it simple "
" have your light source behind you ie: the sun or a light.
5: f stop: Im not sure what kind of kit you have ,but depth of field is very important when shooting something like this. We could chat about this for hours ,but quickly -the more depth of field you have IE: f16 /f22 the more in focus your still life will be ,the less depth of field you have ie: f2.4 /3.5/5.6 your rifle won't be as sharp . Hope that makes sense.
Good luck and play around with it ,thank goodness for digital cameras where you can view your handywork.
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The yard background with all of the blades of grass and fallen leaves is distracting. It would even seem as if a leaf has fallen into the breach/magazine (forgive me please if I don't know the correct terminology) of your weapon. I would use a simple, plain colored sheet as a backdrop, to allow your subject to stand out more. If your gonna shoot outdoors, you'll want to find a bright spot out of the shade, and far from those pesky falling leaves. You could also try shooting it indoors, but make sure you have enough light. Rather than going to a store and buying expensive lighting equipment, try using what you have available. Try taking the shade off of a lamp and using the bulb as light. You can place a large white colored piece of card to reflect light from the bulb back towards your subject to give it extra light. You'll probably need to use a flash if your gonna try it indoors. One last thing if your shooting indoors using indoor lights (ie incandescent bulbs). You can probably set the white balance on your finepix camera to work with the kind of lighting you are using. Check the manual for your camera. This will prevent your colors from looking weird. If you don't set the white balance to indoor/incandescent bulb, when you are shooting inside, your pictures may turn out rather yellowish. And like what 6th A D said, if you can adjust the aperture on your finepix (I know I can on mine), set it to a small aperture or high f/stop number. Your camera will probably not allow for very small apertures though. I'm guessing f/8 at the smallest if your using a cheap point and shoot camera. That's all the advice I can offer, I hope it works.
Simian Agriculture
Simian Agriculture
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The grass covers the gun, why not lean it against a wall or a tree, or put it somewhere it would make more sense to put a gun.
Leaving it in the grass like that gives an impression that you dont really care about it. I know you just put it there for the photo, ofcourse, and so does probably most people looking at the picture, but subconciously the impression might be another.
To make things more interesting, you could also add some shells lying next to it, or if youve been hunting, maybe a dead bird or something
Leaving it in the grass like that gives an impression that you dont really care about it. I know you just put it there for the photo, ofcourse, and so does probably most people looking at the picture, but subconciously the impression might be another.
To make things more interesting, you could also add some shells lying next to it, or if youve been hunting, maybe a dead bird or something
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Dude. Let me get this straight.
You have a 16 gauge bolt-action shotgun?!
Badass!
One of mine:
Sunlight is your friend. You want something to make it look vibrant (if you want that effect), or something to make it look flat (if you want that effect). As it is, it looks like you were trying for something kind of vibrant, but the lighting just wasn't there.
You have a 16 gauge bolt-action shotgun?!
Badass!
One of mine:
Sunlight is your friend. You want something to make it look vibrant (if you want that effect), or something to make it look flat (if you want that effect). As it is, it looks like you were trying for something kind of vibrant, but the lighting just wasn't there.
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I would go with the "Rifle in the Grass" theme, but you need to add a emty uniform posed on the ground like the rifleman had just vanished.
Now that IS Art.
Now that IS Art.
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For when those pesky trench charging ruskies just wont go downRalfst3r said:Boltaction shotgun, awesome. Never seen that before tbh.
Nice gun btw.
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It's almost always better to take the photo when the object is not on the center of the screen but on the lower, right side. Then the photo looks much more natural and easier to look because we(yes, humans) prefer to look first to the right side.
That's why I always use the "grid" (3x3 squares) on my camera. The alignment may take some time but the final picture is well worth the pain.
That's why I always use the "grid" (3x3 squares) on my camera. The alignment may take some time but the final picture is well worth the pain.
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Rule of thirds: Google it.
I would say not to worry about it too much unless you're actually going for "art" photography.
I would say not to worry about it too much unless you're actually going for "art" photography.
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[CiA]Stiletto said:Dude. Let me get this straight.
You have a 16 gauge bolt-action shotgun?!
Badass!
One of mine:
Sunlight is your friend. You want something to make it look vibrant (if you want that effect), or something to make it look flat (if you want that effect). As it is, it looks like you were trying for something kind of vibrant, but the lighting just wasn't there.
dude get a sight hood.
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Not a photographer, but my suggestions would be to include the whole gun in the picture. It's not completely visible in any of the pictures and since it's the subject of the picture, I find it crucial to see every bit of it.
You also have some completely unrelated objects visible in two of the pictures, since the picture is focused on the gun, I'd leave the off.
The leaves are a good idea, but are slightly obstructing for some parts.
You also have some completely unrelated objects visible in two of the pictures, since the picture is focused on the gun, I'd leave the off.
The leaves are a good idea, but are slightly obstructing for some parts.
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