Experimenting with light Help

[Jim P]

Hi all! Wondering if you could help me with some experimenting I am trying with varying light and what is best for getting a good photo of a sword and the hamon and the different shades of gray and trying to bring them out in color photos and can someone tell me the type of photos ?that I am seeing at Japanese Dealers sites e.g the full length ones that you can zoom in on and see good shades of gray in the color photos are they taken with a camera or some sort of scan of the sword ? eg,as in using a scanner as it is important to me to understand what i am seeing in photos of swords for sale and how the photos are taken. I have some photos to show that I have taken and how can i make them better ? it seems that you either get better detail as in pic 1 or you get less as in pic 2 trying to pick up the polish but hard to get both and at some sites i am finding it hard to judge the polish from the pics this is my first try with a better camera and a big thank you for the help with my last post thanks Jim -Melbourne, Australia. sorry pic 4 has a bit of a fiber on the hamon

[Hermes]

Love your sword, i think pictures 2 and 4 show it off well, i think your on the right track.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good Evening all,

 

This works with things from around the house......

 

1. Turn off camera flash and fix the camera so that it will not move. (You can tape it to a kitchen chair if you do not have a tripod).

 

2. Set blade on a Black non reflective Background longer and wider than the blade on underneath it. (Black Velvet works)

 

3. Place a fluorescent tube (Cool White 840 or Daylight) along the line of the mune about nine inches away from the Mune.

 

4. Position a long white card at a rising angle to the Ha, and about nine inches away from the ha with a hole cut centrally for the lens. (Card should ideally be longer than the blade by at least a quarter.) (Polystyrene sheet works just as well).

 

You should with a bit of playing about up and down with the fluorescent tube, get a burn white edge to the mune, and then by raising and lowering the angle of the white card you should get a gentle fall off of light across the angles of the blade which will show some activity in the blade. (There's no hard and fast angle, you will see when the angle is correct.)

 

If the colour is a problem set the camera to BW mode.

 

It's not a perfect way, but better than smashing light flat on.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[Jim P]

Hi James! thank you for your thoughts Its funny how we all see things differently I thought 1 and 2 showed more detail in the hamon so I was leaning to the grayer ones over the brighter ones what do some of the other members think ?

and to Malcolm thanks, and a big thanks to the members (you know who you are :D ) that have taken the time to help me in my quest for the best photos thank you jim

[Ken-Hawaii]

Jim, to add a bit to this discussion, take a look at http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/swordphotography.htm & http://swordforum.com/sfu/photography/poolside.html.

 

Malcolm has a good idea in using a fluorescent light along the blade, & I use a similar setup with a regular tungsten light on a stand, but stretch stocking or pantyhose material over the end of the light box so that I don't get those harsh streaks from the light-source. Try using a polarizing filter if your camera has the right attachment; you can always hold the filter in front of the camera's lens if you keep the camera on a tripod. I've gotten strobe flashes to work, but it's seldom worth the ime it takes to tweak things.

 

Ken

[Jim P]

Hi Ken :D Thank you for this link ( http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/swordphotography.htm) very good article it gives some of the basics, now all we need is a bit more on the closeups of hada and hamon .One of the best hints he gave is (Katanas have very reflective surfaces, both in the blade and in the saya. The steel tends to reflect light evenly if not directed in a proper angle so that it is illuminated yet it does NOT bounce the light back into the camera) and ken I will try (stretch stocking or pantyhose material over the end of the light box so that I don't get those harsh streaks from the light-source) with a tungsten light source that's one type of light I have not tried so we have tungsten,fluorescent,incandescent and LEDs which is the best for closeups? the photos that I was experimenting with had 2 different types of lighting the ones that have a gray look I used a led type torch and the others incandescent but LEDs maybe a better source because (leds will not yield high CRI (color rendering index values) and less color in the closeups of hada and hamon maybe a good thing. Keep Well Jim