Quality of photos

[Krystian]

Hello, 

 

I would like ask you abut quality and comments about pictures I make. Taking photos of blades is not easy to me and I wonder If you can see all that you might be interested in blades in those that I take. 

 

I know that I have to work on the sugata and kissaki. Please let me know what else I should improve. 

 

Thank you for all comments. 

 

Best Regards, 

 

Krystian 

[vajo]

Very good pictures!!

 

The look sharp and i see all the details on that nice sword 

 

I wish i could make such photos.

[Greg F]

Pretty good effort Krystian. Your pics are a lot like ebay nihonto seller high5 Japan.

 

Greg

[Michaelr]

Krystian, I think your pictures look great. If those pictures were used for a sword that was for sale and I was interested I would be satisfied with them.

MikeR

[Ken-Hawaii]

Good photos, especially depth-of-field. You might try lightening them up a bit, as a couple of them were fairly dark.

[Krystian]

Thank you for your kind words and comments. 

 

I made them dark to add a bit of contrast. A lot of people told me that blade pictures should always be on black background. But I prefer "gentler" white and was wondering If black background is a must, or white is also accaptlable. 

[16k]

Very good pictures, Krystian! Would you mind sharing your secret? I suck at taking pictures!

[Rivkin]

Can't pass an opportunity to fail at kantei. Mino, can't see the suguha in boshi, but still assume the earliest shinto. Jumyo or one of the kane-something names.

 

Kirill R.

[Ken-Hawaii]

I have no problem with the background, & hadn't heard about using black. I was trying to see the jihada, which is why I suggested some lightening. Since I can't see any, I agree with Kirill's Mino, but somewhat later in Shinto.

[Krystian]

Jean-Pierre there is no secret. Just a flash from the left side, white cardboard background and good lens. But in this case polish did 95% of the job. I could just photograph the blade as it is, whithout having to "hide" things like scratches, rust and so on while trying to show hamon, hada and hataraki. So this was very rare treat for me.

 

According to Japanese seller this is 15th/16th century Mino blade. It is 67 cm now and was shortend. 

[SAS]

My guess; late Koto/ early Shinto, Mino Kanetomo/Kanemoto something something.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Look at the mekugiana, Krystian. They're drilled, not chiseled, which indicates 1600s or later.

[vajo]

Ken its o-suriage and mune-machi 

 

For me it is a shortend tachi.

[Ken-Hawaii]

You're right about osuriage, Chris, but the lack of observable hada in Krystian's closeups points to later than Koto, plus all three ana are drilled. Do they offset tachi mei?

[vajo]

 

the shape goes more in the nambokucho period. But i'm not very trained.

[16k]

I would have gone with you Chris. Looks like an O-suriage tachi from Muromachi period. But Ken points a puzzling detail about the drilled mekugi ana (the last one being quite recent by the way), so I'm lost. And I see some hada (itame with some loose grain that might be mokume, hard to say for sure).

 

So, I have doubts and lack expertise but I'd say Muromachi. Of course, I'm probably 100% wrong!

 

EDIT: On second thought, probably too much tapering for Muromachi, so shinto is probably right, though it's not the usual Kanei or Kambun sugata.

[Rivkin]

The check of boshi for suguha would do much to challenge or support shinto.

 

My personal reasoning is following:

Subdued hada, while hamon is bright and well preserved. This excludes the chance of being tired and puts the sword into shinto or at least Momoyama category.

Also hamon exhibits nie concentrated around the outer edges, while the inner portion is quite uniform. No earlier than Sengaku.

Also the gunome-choji are well separated from each other. Kinju, Naotsuna and other peak-based hamons from Nambokucho would have been much more random in placement, more dense and with lots of sunagashi, more active than here. O-Kanemitsu would be periodic, but more dense and in nioi. Omiya can show peaks in nie like this, but more dense and a little bit more random.

So again something no earlier than Sengaku Mino.

Yet Sengaku production tends to be rough. Greater variation of nie. O-hada, which partially delaminates. Mokume-masame at places. Darker color. This one looks more pristine, more shinto.

 

Kirill R.

[16k]

Love your thought process Kirill! Instructive and inspiring!

[Rivkin]

Thank you!

 

Kirill R.