Photos for new gun shop

There's a fairly new local gun shop (hence their name on the photos) that make their own AR's here in town. My friend did their website for them and I ended up doing the pictures. I had never done anything like this before other than messing around with my own guns and was never set up to do a shot of a complete rifle. I was very upfront with them about this and to say these past few months were a major crash course would be an understatement! Although these weren't taken with a Canon (I know, blasphemous) it's because of this forum that I was able to even remotely achieve something halfway decent so I'd like to share them with all of you and please give me your honest critiques. I have realized the limitations of my camera now and am definitely looking into a 60D as I'm afraid a new passion has been ignited ! The camera used was a Sony DSC-H7 along with my amateur PS skills and other novice equipment. In all, they were pleased with the end result and I let them decide what they wanted to pay me as we agreed up front to do store credit. Looks like I'm getting a rifle built!

Man, for using the p&s you used, these are great, and have a good feel to them. Moving to a dslr and a good lens will certainly help with the aberrations give a crisper "feel", but these are good... especially the top one, where you've mixed up the scene and it all fits well.

Pics look good! My critique is on your "props"... I stared at the shots.. And something hit me as out of place... That thing is the belt-fed ammo around weapons that don't use it... Not a huge deal... But it's like taking a picture of a bicycles, and having car tires in the shot.. They just don't belong..

But.. Good lighting, good exposure.. And strikingly sharp!

Looks good.

That knife looks like a Spyderco but I couldn't find it listed anywhere. I think they have a patent on the hole design.

The photos look great, btw.

+1 on the belted ammo near a non-belt-fed semi auto. Thats blasphemy in the gun world.


But seriously, its a a good couple pictures for a P&S. Good bright lights made the shot. I dont like the placement of the knife blocking the handguard. A knife should never be covering a gun.

looks great. like that green one, whatever it is

JTX wrote in post #12687108
+1 on the belted ammo near a non-belt-fed semi auto. Thats blasphemy in the gun world.

Ha, didn't even recognize that! Then, I'm not very knowledgeable in the gun world.

Logicus wrote in post #12688389
Ha, didn't even recognize that! Then, I'm not very knowledgeable in the gun world.

It was a tounge-in-cheek comment really, but those of us who are into shooting sports know what I mean

Phoenixkh wrote in post #12686199
That knife looks like a Spyderco but I couldn't find it listed anywhere. I think they have a patent on the hole design.

For the knife, look up the 5.11 C.U.B. Master 2.0.

Jason

JTX wrote in post #12688714
It was a tounge-in-cheek comment really, but those of us who are into shooting sports know what I mean

Oh yeah, I understand... I will say, though, that for me, someone who is interested in, but not yet very knowledgeable about, firearms, #1 is an interesting composition with the Zombie-esque poke of humor that makes me say, "hey, I'm stopping in there after work next week to look around and ask some questions."

JTX wrote in post #12687108
+1 on the belted ammo near a non-belt-fed semi auto. Thats blasphemy in the gun world.


But seriously, its a a good couple pictures for a P&S. Good bright lights made the shot. I dont like the placement of the knife blocking the handguard. A knife should never be covering a gun.

I agree on the belt-fed ammo but the owner brought that in wanting to use it in some of the photos as he thought it would look good so I went with it. Being a gun guy myself, definitely a major faux pas but I wasn't really sure how to address the issue since they were the ones paying the bill LOL! The nice thing about it though is it does add another visual element that was easier to control than random loose shells scattered about. The drawback is people in the know are pulling their hair out and cussing the monitor!

Thanks for the tip on the knife as I never really considered that. Initially, the plan was to use items they had for sale in the store as props so people visiting their website could click on them in the picture to get more info or to buy. Hence my thought process to make certain items more "focal" in the pictures. I realize now that could have been just as easily achieved without sacrificing the integrity of the compostion.

Logicus wrote in post #12689979
Oh yeah, I understand... I will say, though, that for me, someone who is interested in, but not yet very knowledgeable about, firearms, #1 is an interesting composition with the Zombie-esque poke of humor that makes me say, "hey, I'm stopping in there after work next week to look around and ask some questions."

That's exactly what they were looking for...something to pique interest and using a different marketing approach. In the gun community and especially the AR sector, it's all about the Zombies!

Thanks again for all the nice comments and helpful tips as it's much appreciated! I really had a good time doing these and learned a lot while realizing I still have so much to learn. Like I said, it's opened a whole new realm for me and I can't thank all the forum members enough who take the time to share their tips and advice as it's really helped me tremendously!

One thing's for sure...good job with the exposure on that brass. Not an easy thing to do (especially in the first photo).

mfingar wrote in post #12690225
One thing's for sure...good job with the exposure on that brass. Not an easy thing to do (especially in the first photo).

Thanks Mark! That means a lot as I'm a big fan of your work.

I guess even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and again .

Logicus wrote in post #12689979
Oh yeah, I understand... I will say, though, that for me, someone who is interested in, but not yet very knowledgeable about, firearms, #1 is an interesting composition with the Zombie-esque poke of humor that makes me say, "hey, I'm stopping in there after work next week to look around and ask some questions."

Oh definitely, I agree