Latest Effort

[Andrew McLurkin]

Sorry I haven't been around much since my last post! My wife is due with our fourth child the end of this month and our other three are all under the age of seven. Needless to say I've got time conflicts.

Anyway, here is one of my recent knives and my effort to capture it. Please let me know what you think.

[Andrew McLurkin]

Anyone?

[skipknives]

howdie,,I like it,,wish it was in my pocket,,i like the photo too,,
as far as giving any comment about the photo,,I can't see anything whong with it,,
Oh,,except,,maybe a spine view with the blade open,,that might be the next best thing to holding it in your hand,,
Skip

[skipknives]

howdie,,I like it,,wish it was in my pocket,,i like the photo too,,
as far as giving any comment about the photo,,I can't see anything wrong with it,,
Oh,,except,,maybe a spine view with the blade open,,that might be the next best thing to holding it in your hand,,
Skip

[Mike Turner]

WOW Andrew I guess no one likes it you should send it to me and be done with it . I have no idea how I missed this one very nice. With Don's help I will be making slippies myself soon.

[Buddy Thomason]

4 kids! We would've lost our minds and gone off the deep end if we'd had 4 kids. I hope everything goes well.

The knife looks to be very nice indeed. My thought is that the light is so even that the absence of much shadowing on the knife itself makes for a rather flat and uniform appearance. Perhaps a bit more contrast or tweaking of the lights would take care of that.

Also, I like the background even though it's pretty busy. However, 4 views of the knife AND a busy background is a bit much for my eyes. Others may feel differently of course.

I don't think the two larger insets add any new information but they really compete for attention, taking it away from the two primary views of the knife. With this knife and this background I'm guessing I would've been tempted to shoot only two views; one with the blade all the way open, and then the other side with the blade partially open - arranging them somehow in a pleasing manner (but not totally symmetrical).

Positives are that it's crisp and sharp with plenty of detail. And the color is very good. It's a very nice image despite my comments. The blade bevel and all the other details of the knife look great in the image and the fossil ivory is rendered beautifully!

[skipknives]

i guess my computer realised i like this one twice as much as others,,lol
Skip

[Andrew McLurkin]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I was wondering what someone other then me thought. Skip, I like the idea of a shot of the spin: I'll try it on the next one. Mike, I find slip joints two or three times more challenging then liner locks. Even though liner locks also have to be mechanically precise, there are more places to make a save then on a slip joint. I find myself sweating more when I'm fitting up a slip joint. It may be different for you.

Buddy, I noticed the slightly flat appearance also. I think it resulted from tipping the blade to get the edge illuminated by my front reflector. I think it made the flat of the blade to parallel to my diffuser. I really wanted the edge showing as it gave more dimension to the blade. There is also a swedge grind in front of the nail nick running to the tip that doesn't show as well as I would like. The image probably is a bit too busy. I was going for a real symmetrical look for this image given the lines in the knife. I don't know if it works? I'll try to post another version this afternoon just for comparison.

I don't know if you guys find stainless blades more challenging then damascus, but I do given the difficulty balancing the reflective qualities.

Just for additional information about the scale of the image, the knife is 6.5" over all with the blade at 3".

[Texas Slim]

The knife is fantastic and the photo is pretty good too. Yep, it's a little flat. Several way to take care of that, Buddy touched on a couple. I really like the background (what is the material?) however, maybe you could have softened it up a bit in photochop.

[Andrew McLurkin]

Is Less More? Here is a single exposure just for comparison. I reworked the levels, etc. to see if I could get more depth in the blade and bolsters. I'm not sure if it shows any real difference.

Any preference?

[Mike Turner]

Andrew,

I am just a newbie as for as the photo goes but this pic I find more appealing to look at. I would like to see one like Buddy suggested with the otherside of the knife inserted into this pic.

[Don Robinson]

Andrew, I'm no photographer but I like that knife a lot. A closed shot would be nice.

thanks for showing us.

I watch this forum sometimes just to see all the beautiful knives. And of course, I admire the photographers.

[Andrew McLurkin]

Thanks Don. I agree a closed shot would be a good choice. Working with what I shot of the knife previously here is another composition using the feedback above. Changes include two insets of the back side of the knife, drop shadows, and brightening it somewhat.

Better or not?

[Texas Slim]

Better.

[Mike Turner]

I like this better but I think it is to symetrical but that is a newbies thoughts.