Quick Improvements?

[Edrof]

Hello chaps!

I've recently been enjoying making little vignettes of my antique weapon collection and I want to share them for you professionals to critique. I'm using two cheap lights, no editing software and an iPhone 8.









Any thoughts? Please be harsh as I would like to improve. Would a 'proper' camera make a real difference and, if so, what kind of ballpark figure are we talking? These snaps are just for my Instagram account but they do lead people to my website too so I want them to be decent and interesting but, as you can tell, I know exactly nothing about cameras of photography.

(Also, the resolution is much better than shown here.)

Many thanks!

Matt

 

[EGuitarStar]

The composition of image 4 looks good to me, the colours could do with a bit more vibrancy on all the images.

What is good is the lighting, you've managed to keep shadows to a minimum and the exposures of the images are pretty good.

Before asking or thinking about a camera, you need to establish what it is you are trying to do with your images that your current gear is not allowing you to do. If you are publishing on online platforms and your clients/viewers are not interested in the photography side of things than what you have is a decent setup.

 

[Edrof]

Thanks for that reply, EGuitarStar - it's great to have some feedback from someone in the know. I don't really know what I want, except to get better. One thing that is a problem is that swords are very difficult for me to photograph in full-length shots as the details become fuzzy. One example:

 

[Minstadave]

First off I'm no pro.

Could you photograph the whole blade at an angle to get the hilt detail in?

Like this but handle first:

https://www.chkadels.com/Twisted-Tri-Blade-Baton-Knife-With-Nylon-Sheath-–--46307

The vignettes are really nice, they're well lit. Have you tried adding a bit of vignetting to bring the eye in and give that old fashioned feel?

Just a quick go on my phone (vibrance up, vignette and tweaked tone a bit to try and bring out the blade - no localised edits or anything fancy). It's a little dark looking at it but think it has a bit more impact and I like the colour on the blade.

I'd be pretty happy with that on a website. Don't think you need to upgrade your camera tbh.

 

[Russinating]

With this type of photography a lot of the techniques will be in the set dressing as much as the photography itself. I'm personally a big fan of classic photography rules - I know not everyone is - but I think in this context they'll really help as well. But because you're placing the items yourself, a lot of the implemenation will be in the placement.

I don't have any direct resources unfortunately but look up rules of thirds, golden ratio, leading lines, negative space and how to balance a composition. Some of the best examples and masters of the art are actually classical painters; depending where you are then a trip to an art museum wouldn't go amiss.

#2 would benefit the most from changes to the composition. I would straighten the book and shift it to the left so the left hand page is cropped off, and move the sword up so the handle extends outside of the book. That'll make the sword more of the focus and the book more of a backdrop.

I'm not a fan of square photos either but that's personal choice, but it constrains some of the more visually pleasing and easy rules like thirds and leading lines.

Certainly nothing wrong with using your phone either, and these are a really good start.

 

[Drollic]

I'd learn how to do basic editing on photoshop or similar. If it's mainly Instagram, it will be the editing and composition with these kind of pictures that will give the biggest impact.

 

[Edrof]

I'm surprised you've all said the quality is okay - I was expecting an upgrade to an actual camera to be the next step! Thanks for all the comments. I've looked into composition rules like the golden ratio and leading lines (et cetera) and it's all really interesting. Up to now I've mostly been doing it all by feel They take around an hour each to do - a surprising amount of work!

I've been mucking about with GIMP so I might bring that into play too. I wish I had more free time to dedicate myself to this properly.