M1 Garand.

[Paul Mitchell]

I hope this forum isnt paranoia about photos of guns. Keep in mind any gun photos I do post are 1:3 scale models and do not fire anything. They are just desk ornaments. Such as this M1 Garand. The bayonet is an add-on printed on a 3D printer which I then painted. How I photographed it is another story.

[Isac]

Guns are a fact of life (and death) and they won't be going away any time soon. It's a shame to see the carnage caused by them when in the wrong hands. Apart from that, The "shot" is rather creative. A few sections of the gun could do with some PP to reduce the flash shine on the stock and forestock IMHO but that's a very minor thing. I'm thinking the gun layer can be placed on any background? You are allowed to tell us how you photographed it

[Paul Mitchell]

Well Im glad you asked. Here is a shot of my son taking a shot. I quickly put together a small frame and suspended the rifles from waxed thread. With the camera in place on a tripod I took the shot. Lifted the frame away and took another shot. In layers I just erased the thread and any parts I didnt want from the top layer.

[Paul Mitchell]

Here is another one.....an M16 with fixed bayonet.

[wigz]

Cleverly done Paul and quite effective. I'm wondering if there is any reason you don't have the background rendered more out-of-focus to provide better separation from the subject. I suspect these probably look better at a larger size than allowed on the forum.

[Paul Mitchell]

Chopping up photos for the convenience of the forum is a big deal. They do look better in larger sizes but it is what it is. There were problems with the shooting and my eyes are a big part of that problem. I couldnt see the details I wanted to see causing the two problems mentioned. The overly bright highlights from the flash bounce and the background being too competitive with the details of the gun. Both will be fixed in future shots. I have 18 of these sweet little beauties so I have lots of opportunities for improvement.

[K1W1]

I like the images and technique but I’m not sure that the background does anything for the subject regardless of whether it’s in focus or not. A less competitive and more neutral background would be better imo.

[MJ224]

Agree. And am not sure of the rifle being horizontal . I might have leant it against a wall or door maybe at 45 degrees or similar, with a more simple background colouring...

Interesting though, no-one else has done it...:-)

[Paul Mitchell]

Yes I agree with you K1W1. These were test shots. My frame to hold the rifles still works well. I just have to find an appropriate background that doesnt compete with whats hanging there.

[Isac]

You could try a neutral BG (or green screen) and the using masks, you could place the rifle onto any background. Did you use an off camera flash?

[Paul Mitchell]

I have a few YongNuo off camera flashes. To be honest I just never thought about using them. I have green screen but the software doesnt work on my latest Mac. I have to come up with the right background.

[Isac]

As long as you use a background that has a good contrast to the gun in the original photo it would be easy to hide it with a mask in PS then place any BG you want behind it. It could even be a grey scale BG to make the colours of the rifle really pop. I have done suspension images a long time ago and I just used a white paper as the BG.