Foragers that went to Alaska

[Kragrifle]

Hi Dick
I?m still working on the book project we discussed several years ago. Could you give me some advice on your photographic technique?

[Dick Hosmer]

What camera will you be using? What program to edit with. I'm a Mac guy - know nothing about Photoshop beyond the fact that it will do almost anything artsy, but is expensive and has a steep learning curve. Used my old 10mp Olympus for both ".58/.50" and "More". Poyer pissed and moaned about the former and diddled with them extensively. I used them (as lightly edited with a simple Mac program called "Preview") for "More", which - IMHO - came out a LOT better. Could also have had something to do with conventional printing vs. the electronic copying of PDF files.

For my American Flyer train book, which is all in color, I used my Iphone8, which worked just fine. You've seen Ed Hull's beautiful photo work in MAA? Same iPhone as mine! My point being that you do NOT need fancy stuff to get decent results.

Overall shots are the trickiest. I suspended my rifles about 18" in front of an independently-lit white background using monofilament fishing line. This avoids shadows, but the lighting must be ample and uniform. I worked indoors, for various reasons, but outdoor lighting is better, though shadows must be avoided, so a bright but overcast day is needed. Problem for me because I have a lot of trees in the private area (required) to do the work.

For other shots, I constructed a "fixture" (photos to follow) which holds the gun by gravity and friction in nearly any position. Remember that you can take a picture with the gun upside-down and/or backwards - which can instantly be corrected with your software. In other words, the gun does NOT have to be photographed in the orientation in which you wish to present the picture.

There's more, of course - we should use email or 'phone.

[Kragrifle]

Thanks Dick
Still working so didn?t see your reply till now. I bought a nice Nikon and expensive macro lens only to come to realize the IPhone is easier and better. So will use mine and should be able to use one of the plug in devices to store photos, I will be scaling back on my office practice over the coming years and spend more time on books on the 1922 series of 22 cal Springfield rifles and the Lee Navy. Fingers crossed. Still have not found any interested publishers so will try to figure out Amazon.