How we photograph our knives and products and why
it is important to you.
We have received several compliments for the photographs that
illustrate our products and knives and we thought some information about
how we photograph what we sell would be in order.
Each photograph is usually
made using
the item you will receive when you order it.
First we use a digital SLR camera mounted on a tripod that we focus
manually. We purchased the Pentax K10D camera new in 2007. It records at
3872 X 2592 pixels maximum and we use
this setting. Our testing has shown we get the best photo quality by using
the maximum image size setting even though we then reduce the image size
down to around 600 to 800 pixels wide to use on our site. The camera has
10.2 mega pixels and this is way to big to use on a web page. Because
we now produce large
backgrounds to give away free of the vintage knives we
needed a larger mega pixel camera than we started with.
Second we use three or more lights on stands
to light the product and a table to hold the item.
Third we use diffused
light for all knife photographs.
Fourth we use PhotoShop Elements
6 to
edit each image to a size that will look good and load relatively fast on our product
pages. We reduce the file size down to around 50KB to 240KB and the image
size to 600 to 800 pixels wide. This size has good detail and is easier
for you to
get a feel for the product.
Fifth we do not change the appearance of any item
we have for sell other than to make sure it has the correct color.
We do not make a product look better to help sell
it because we have
a hassle-free return privilege
which allows you to return any item for any reason within 14 days of
purchase. So it would waste your time and ours plus we would not earn your
trust and repeat business.
When we say we deal in
vintage and
hard to find knives we really mean it.
Each photograph is usually made using the item you will receive when you
order it. Many people ask us if we have more than one of the
items in the photograph and the answer is 99% of the time we do not. The
photographed item is the only one we have and when it is sold that is it,
we do not have and can not get another one.
When we say we deal in vintage and hard to find
knives we really mean it. Many times when we sell the knife we do not get
another one ever. But we are always looking for quality vintage knives to
add to the web site.
Kodak Digital Photoguide
- This is a very
useful book to use in your studio or in the field as it is about 8.5" X
6". It is loaded with lens info including depth of field tables; filters;
exposure; white balance; storage; sensors; batteries; flash and much more.
We carry this all the time out in the field and it is heavy duty so it
will stand up to much use. This is the new digital version of the classic
Kodak Professional Photoguide which we carried for many years in
our film camera bag.
How we photograph our knives article
above contributed by Byron Rogers
©Cutler's Cove All rights reserved.
Professional Secrets of Photographing Knives and Guns
Course By Doug Box
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