How we photograph our knives and products.

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 but because we are now producing large backgrounds to give away free of the vintage knives we have sold we now need 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 3 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
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