Nihonto Photography

[hxv]

Hi All,

 

My photography skills (nihonto or otherwise) are lacking, to put it mildly. Mariusz was kind enough to email me very helpful instructions on the lighting aspect, but I think my photography equipment are not sufficient. I have a tripod (a must-have for me) and a Canon Rebel Xti with a medium range lens, 17-85mm focal length. This lens has been versatile for me, but sucks when it comes to close-up pictures required to show hada and hamon. I seek advice on what type of lens the readership here use for their extreme close-up nihonto photography. Any advice, discussion, experience-sharing, do's and don'ts are much appreciated.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[Jiro49]

I would love to hear suggestions as well.. All I have heard is 60watt lighting is best??

[CSM101]

Hi,

 

we discusted it already: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10640

 

Hope, the link will work. Otherwise look for "Help us improve our photos".

 

Greetings

 

Uwe G.

[hxv]

Thank you for the great link - just what I was looking for! I book marked it

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[Jiro49]

Yes, much appreciated!

[Ken-Hawaii]

Hoanh, there are a number of other tricks you can use to improve your macro photography.

 

First, consider getting a macro setup. The least expensive is the closeup macro filter set, $11.49 at Amazon, followed closely by the Fotodiox macro extension tool set kit for $11.95. But I've had my best results using the Raynox DCR-250 super macro lens. All of these require a solid tripod & preferably a remote shutter release to avoid vibration for short depths of field.

 

Second & equally important is your lighting. A single-lamp LED bulb made a huge improvement in my results over a standard incandescent bulb or a CFL. I can't remember if I've ever used a flash successfully.

 

You can also find good on-line resources at http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/swordphotography.htm, http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?7458-Photographing-Swords-Lighting-Questions&highlight=photography, & especially http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?96903-Object-Photography-Guide&highlight=photography.

 

Do be patient, & take good notes on what didn't work, as well as what did.

 

Ken

[hxv]

Hi Ken,

 

Thank you so much for the extra info. I have a couple of questions.

 

1. Raynox DCR-250: Is this a standard lens that will fit a Canon Rebel Xti body?

2. What type of LED bulb do you use? Wattage? Specific model# would be very helpful.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[Ken-Hawaii]

Hoanh, I have a Canon T2i, so the Raynox should fit any Canon EF-S lenses; it's a screw-on/clip-on unit (http://www.amazon.com/Raynox-DCR-250-2-5x-Super-Macro/dp/B000A1SZ2Y/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1345157800&sr=8-22&keywords=macro+lens).

 

The lamp itself is a pretty generic flexible neck device- no sign of a manufacturer's name - & I'm using a Bulbrite LED2CTC (http://www.amazon.com/Bulbrite-LED2CTC-Chandelier-Candelabra-Clear/dp/B0030B3Q0W/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1345157581&sr=8-21&keywords=led+bulb). I also use a very tiny Nanolight flashlight from Streamlight (http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-73001-Miniature-Keychain-Flashlight/dp/B0011UIPIW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345157941&sr=8-1&keywords=nanolight) when I want to show a specific detail; it's amazingly bright for a flashlight one inch long!

 

Ken

[hxv]

Thank you Ken for the Amazon links. I shall give it a try. Will post results. I promise

 

Hoanh

[CSM101]

Hi Hoanh and Matt,

 

this one will take a while, but I hope, it will help you and others in the end.

 

First the camera: very good! Nikon, Canon or Sony are the three big ones and with one of them you are on the right side. I have a Sony Alpha 500. And because Sony bought Minolta, I have all the old Minolta objectives and I use, whatever I need. Mostly a Minolta 28-85. But I have an 50/1.7 too. And that´s very good too.

 

And for all the others here: NEVER EVER use the cameras in your iphone and mobile!

 

First of all, you have to understand the technical aspect. A DSLR can only make a low dynamic range photo. The human eye has a dynamic range up to 1.5 Mio when you look on a sunny day into a cellar.

 

A DSLR has a dynamic range from about 2.000, and a very good one maybe a dynamic range up to 5.000. That´s, why High Dynamic Range was invited. Photographers wanted to see in the photo what they saw in reality.

 

And now, we start the lesson.

 

It doesn´t matter, how good your camera is! You have to develop a digital photo. First of all: I think, that you only work with JPEG. But this is wrong. You should try RAW. Your camera has all the RAW-data. And with a RAW-converter you can easily make all the details visible. You can use the converter that came with the camera or Camera Raw. And this is in Photoshop CS *. Or Lightroom. You can use brightness, clarity, saturation, contrast and most important: dynamic! When you think, you have a bad photo, then you should read and try what Scott Kelby has written in "The magnificent 7" Very good and easy to learn.

 

Next point: you have to improve your skills. Especally with Photoshop. If you only have Elements, then you will never get what you want. You need layers, masks, curves and filters. And this is only in the Big Brother. But it costs a fortune.

 

When your photo has an yellow tone (or blue, red or green), there is white balance. And suddenly you have the correct colours. Later you can use curves for the details. Try it. The outcome will be magnificent.

 

 

And now something complete different... SWORDS!

 

 

Nowadays there are only two photographers, who make a decent photo from a blade. Ron Bingham and Fujishiro-san. I know, what Ron Bingham does and I don´t like it, because it is a very easy way. And I know, what Fujishiro-san does and I really, really like it. And I cannot repeat it, because he makes it the analog-way! But to give some figures: for a very good photo he makes between 800 and 1.000 shots.

 

 

The distance should be 40 cm. At least the photo should be sharp in the details. When you are too close, the photo is out of focus. Normal daylight is more than enough. I always see photos, where only a short part is visible and then comes only white, because of flashlights, bulbs and other things. The Japanese sword dealers use a scanner for instance. In the members area you can find a very, very good article how to use a scanner. But a scanner has it´s limits.

 

And then the sword. If you have a boring blade so will be the photos. The Masao I enjoyed. And I took about 500 shots. 480 of them very plain s**t. Sorry about that, but if you could see them, you would say the same. 20 were outstanding. And I could work with them. See above.

 

But two months ago I had an Yamato Daijo Fujiwara Masanori at home. And after 30 shots I skipped, because the blade as a whole is boring. Or not very delightfull. And without interesting details.

 

 

Okay, I knew a dealer, who added some details in the blades he sold. Such as kinsuji, chikei, an interesting hada and so on...But I hope this is not, what you want.

 

 

For a better understanding you should post a photo here and then I can give you the details and what to do.

 

Greetings

 

 

Uwe G.

[hxv]

Hi Uwe,

 

Thank you for the lesson. I already ordered the equipment. When I get some shots, I'll PM you for further instructions.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[Jamie]

I take the small nano light (that Ken mentioned) with me everywhere. I used it extensively at the SF show to view details of blades. I can see utsuri with it too, because it isn't bright like a bigger LED. amazing light for swords.

[Jean]

there are only two photographers,

 

Sorry, there is a third one, Uwe, Darcy Brockbank. The article where he provided his way of picturing Nihonto was fantastic.

[rkg]

Hoanh,

 

FWIW, the imaging equipment is surprisingly secondary if you've got your lighting and reflection control nailed - you'd probably be best served to start out by just getting a macro filter (I prefer the multi-element ones, but they're getting stupid expensive - For example the canon 500d filter costs nearly as much as one of their short macro lenses - the best single element ones I've seen are made by

marumi, and they're not terribly expensive), racking your 15-85 out and working on getting the lighting so it reveals what you want to see - depending on what you want to show, what you've got

may be good enough for you just doing that. Its usually better only to buy new gear when your existing gear is proven not to be up to the task (or is getting in your way).

 

That said, swords are super contrasty, so they're a challenge - if you're trying to print large you'll see every problem your lens has, which is why I'd usually go for a (modern) prime lens - for the close-ups its also helpful to be a bit further away from the piece so you have room to work on your lighting/reflection control (though YMMV on that depending on what you decide to do for your

lighting/reflection control), so I prefer a longer prime.

 

As another poster stated, you really need to be shooting in raw. If you want to actually upgrade your body, the live view feature of the newer units is Really Helpful (I pretty much always shoot

this stuff tethered unless I have no other option - its a lot easier to make out the fine details on a large computer screen), and I like the results you get from having the higher resolution a/d as well

(and then there's the sensor shaker and...). The other thing is that because of the high contrast issue, you'll find you need more resolution than you think to do a decent overall shot (diatribe about human vision resolution deleted).

 

On the lighting, it really depends on what you want to show - sometimes you need a point source, sometimes you want fake sunlight, sometimes you want a broad source (like a fluorescent tube).

 

here's one I shot to emphasize the hada/peer through the hadori (which was really over-applied):

http://www.rkgphotos.com/work_samples/p ... _tanto.jpg

 

There's a couple of other creepy things to consider avoiding - a lot of articles talk about putting swords on glass - NEVER do that - use plexi, and then use standoffs of your choice off of that. Also some guy put out a video a while back showing a rig that holds swords up in the air to shoot - I built up something similar, and it gave me the heebie jeebies to use - it was entirely too easy to have the piece slip and possibly do a point plant - I think its better to use a rig where gravity is your friend rather than your enemy, particularly where expensive swords are involved...

 

And finally, along the lines of the "give a man a fish" parable, you might also consider getting and reading this book - it talks more about the physics of lighting and is very helpful in allowing you to figure out what the lighting has to be in order to achieve what you want to show:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Mag ... Y52Q8S8PH9

 

Happy Shooting,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[hxv]

Thank you George. You guys have been so helpful. I have lots to chew on and lots new new things to try out. I definitely need a macro setup, though. My 17-85mm focal length is just not cutting it. I'll post pictures once my contraption arrives so you guys can help me improve my skills.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[hxv]

Hi guys,

 

After collecting my equipment, trying different set ups and different shot angles, I finally have some decent pictures to show you. Here is my list of equipment:

 

1. A sturdy tripod for my camera, a Canon Rebel XTi with an EFS 17-85mm lens and a Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Lens.

2. An Ecosmart 24W LED bright White (125W equivalent) on tripod.

3. A 30" diamater Photoflex umbrella on tripod.

 

I also have a Bulb Brite 15W-equivalent LED on recommendation of the readership here, but have not had to use it yet.

 

I set up the Ecosmart 24W LED to shine directly at the umbrella, which diffuses and redirect the light in the direction of the sword. Certainly, the pictures are heads and shoulders above what I could do prior to the new lighting set up (Ecosmart 24W LEd & umbrella) and the Super Macro Lens. However, I do feel that I'm missing something. Some of the pictures are either a shade too dark or a shade too bright. To get just the right amount of lighting, I may have to do 3 shots to get a good picture. I don't have a formula to get it right consistently on every single shot. There is always some amount of trial and error. I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

 

Here are the pictures without any assistance from Photoshop other than cropping & resizing the resolution.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

 

[Ken-Hawaii]

Hoanh, if you only need three tries to get a good image, you're head-&-shoulders over most of us! I've taken as many as 30 shots,while varying lights, exposure, & depth-of-field before I got an image I could live with.

 

If you're not already doing so, I suggest that you keep a written log of what you have tried & the results; that has saved me many hours of trying to recall exactly what it was I did to get a specific look-&-feel.

 

Ken

[hxv]

Hi Ken,

 

Thank you. I will keep a log of what worked and what didn't.

 

Regards,

Hoanh