More often than not it seems I am apologizing for my poor photography skills when I post a photo of one of my straight razor restoration projects. I rely on a window ledge and hope for good lighting. Even then it seems the shadow or glare on the curve of the blade obscures the lovely etching I tried so hard to preserve or it just did not show show off the blade in a good way. I have an iPhone, so I have nothing fancy in terms of equipment. What are your (inexpensive) tips and tricks for photographing your straight razors?
I’m admittedly do not have a photographers eye. But I have a homemade light box and an iPhone. I generally fix the white balance , reduced the size and am good to go. Example:
Rusty: Below are the plans. You can make it as nice or as crude as you want. I chose crude. These plans will give you some ideas and a small project https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.wikihow.com/Create-a-Lightbox-from-a-Cardboard-Box?amp=1
You guys inspired me. So, today, I did this. It didn't take long either. Here are some other pictures I took with it.
I have pretty good luck just taking the pics on my bathroom counter with my iPhone. I have a light box but don’t use it.
I tend to set up a studio light with a softbox for taking pics of objects. If I have enough light in the room, I will attach a light diffuser to my flash.
These are hand-made razors. The creator of these is Dariusz Koltowski. Very good delicate blades. Wysłane z mojego SM-G950F przy użyciu Tapatalka
I was going to suggest a light box, though that has been covered thoroughly. The next step up would be a lighting kit. I have this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078K81JZ1/?tag=thshde-20 Having the right kind of light bulb are important as well. They should be 5500K, which is a very white light. This may be more trouble than you want to go to for showing off restorations, though I thought I would share. Here are some pics I've taken:
It seems to me that photography and the impression of photography depend largely on the talent of the photographer. Now photo equipment has become available to a wide range of people, and therefore there are a lot of low-quality photos. Orlando photographer, who did a photoshoot for my family, made each photo-realistic where each family member was shown not just as an image but also as a character. Such talent is not given to anyone, and only being able to take pictures is exactly how you can call yourself a photographer.