Mike - Frustrating, isn't it? Oh, I've lost my mind several times trying to make a good knife photo. But still, it's fun in kind of a sick way.
The last photo in the above post speaks volumes. The composition is improved; now the eye can more easily move around the photo. That'll get you more 'face time' with your viewers because people just move on (especially on the web) if the image presents any obstacles - without knowing or even caring why - click, gone. By the same token they'll pause and take a more relaxed look if you bow to the neurophysiology of seeing while composing, lighting and exposing your photo.
Also, while the dreaded symmetrical X arrangement is best avoided, the 'squeezed' or 'tilted' or otherwise altered X seems generally pleasing to most viewers. Tip bottom left is part of the equation too (of course there are exceptions but...).
AND... the same photo shows you why you need to move your lighting back so it hits the knife from the upper left, 'over the shoulder' if you will, and then place a small white card or piece of white foam board close to the knife either directly in front or to the right in order to bounce light back onto the tip, grind and edge. That's also how you can partially cancel out harsh shadows.
There can be many good compositions and lighting arrangements (I'm not talking about composite images - forget those for now), but it's truly hard to make the exceptions work without first knowing how to make the basic kife display poses work. I humbly admit I had to learn that the hard way, and still have to re-learn over and over... basics, basics, basics. Laziness and impulsivity coupled with lack of time are the constant enemies of my desire to make good photographic images.
So, don't be surprised if you actually get worse before you get better, as a result of actually trying to learn how to do this well. It can be frustrating but never give up and know that you too will someday be rich and famous like Coop and Terrill.
