A nice Remington Rand that I bought in Reno.

[John Holbrook]

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB6E95ACC-1BB1-4C26-B735-AA8376B6089A%7D/picture.JPG

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB7E520E1-23BB-4E50-8669-85CA32D63EB0%7D/picture.JPG

[clughog]

John, this one looks like it just came from the factory as well. That must have been some show! Congratulations!

[Scott Gahimer]

John: I like your background you're using in these photos. Looks like a nice pistol, too.

[Ric4509]

That is so brand new looking, John. That's a rare find.

[John Holbrook]

John: I like your background you're using in these photos. Looks like a nice pistol, too.

Hey Scott, the Colt show was great. The usual suspects were there, plus a few repeat offenders, ahem!

There were many "restored" 1937 and 1938 M1911A1s. Some were outright mismatchs that had been "corrected" to make the numbers match, etc....

As to my backgrounds, I have done a lot of experimentation and found that phosphated guns look better with greenish backgrounds. And blueish with blued guns. You should see the old ladies at the Cloth World giving me the eye when I am shopping for material for backgrounds.

Here is another example. The back ground is a place mat that I bought at KMart!

http://www.fototime.com/%7B4333712D-ABE6-4641-91B5-B7DA989A963F%7D/picture.JPG

[DGW]

Great photos John. I also enjoy photographing my 1911's. I may see you in the fabric department in Walmart then! Aheh!

[Auto Mag]

Mr. Holbrook, great looking pistol my friend!!! By the way, I have one exactly like the one you have..............the green place mat that is!!!! :lm: :lm:

[Scott Gahimer]

Hey Scott, the Colt show was great. The usual suspects were there, plus a few repeat offenders, ahem!

There were many "restored" 1937 and 1938 M1911A1s. Some were outright mismatchs that had been "corrected" to make the numbers match, etc....

As to my backgrounds, I have done a lot of experimentation and found that phosphated guns look better with greenish backgrounds. And blueish with blued guns. You should see the old ladies at the Cloth World giving me the eye when I am shopping for material for backgrounds.

Here is another example. The back ground is a place mat that I bought at KMart!

John: Sorry I missed your reply. I went to the Louisville show instead of the Colt show. I heard bits and pieces about the guns there this time.

I picked up a couple nice pieces at Louisville. A friend brought 28 .45s to the show to sell. I went through the 12-13 Colts before the show opened and made my selections. It was pre-arranged weeks ahead. So I chose the bird(s) in the hand over the ones in the bush. :)

I know what you mean about shopping for backgrounds. Same thing with me at out local Wal Mart. The green background on your 2.3M Colt is a real winner. It really lets your camera pick up the colors of the gun.

Would you mind showing me the blue background you're talking about with blued pieces? Thanks.

[OD*]

Scott, will you be at Louisville in February?

[Scott Gahimer]

Yes, we'll be there. Promoter says we're on the front wall this time with our display.
Also plan to be in KC this next weekend. If you come to either, be sure to look us up.

[OD*]

I'll do that Scott, we're planning on being there.
Will Mr. Clawson be with you?

[Scott Gahimer]

I believe Mr. Clawson plans to be at the show. He's always got a seat at my tables, but I suspect he'll be out on the floor much of the time.

[Paulinski]

Thats a very nice Remington Rand. Congratulations on nice find.

[John Holbrook]

Scott, here is an example of another "place mat" background...

http://www.fototime.com/%7B7C171A7B-A13B-4282-8C05-971427D44DD6%7D/picture.JPG

This example is a blue mechanics paper hand towel!!!!

http://www.fototime.com/%7B8217DEE7-89BD-47CC-BB3D-77BD1A338A2E%7D/picture.JPG

And yet another!!!

http://www.fototime.com/%7B49C1614D-437A-4396-A633-72E7D40F0009%7D/picture.JPG

This is wheat colored place mat background,,

http://www.fototime.com/%7B755E7D80-893C-4B09-8BB7-556F217C0B7C%7D/picture.JPG

[Scott Gahimer]

John: Thanks. I've tried a few different blue backgrounds, but had a hard time getting my camera to see the colors right. Personally, I've had better results using shades of tan/beige with my camera and lighting. This is probably the most difficult photo I ever took. After 2 or 3 days of fooling around, I finally got the shot I wanted. This background is just a cheap hand towel from Wal Mart.
http://i3.tinypic.com/86tzqt0.jpg

[John Holbrook]

Digital cameras are a different breed of cat than the old film type!!! I have shot one side, then turned the gun over and the color will be different!!!!! Same lighting and everything!!! Arrrgggggh!!!! :confused:

[Scott Gahimer]

I know what you mean. I guess it has to do with how the lighting we use hits the pistol and the background. Seems to be a lot more of a problem with blued guns.

[ulfman]

You guys have so right.Its the light and the reflection that counts how the result will be.I`m working as a pro photographer in europe and some times down i florida(fashion pict )..We are usely taking summer pict in winter time here in europe(strange).But god for me.warm wether and florida isn that bad.I cant stand the darkness.
Some times I go visit my relatives in reno Nevada.So if you need help don't hesitate when im there .Or maybe I can with my pore written english try to explain how to do it. hi ulfman

Hint ...

1. try to have as much white reflexing walls as possible .Try to make a small wall house around it..Then you get lights in the dark areas .

2 use white baking paper or some white paper that you can put the light on so it can shine thru.That makes the shadow smother.But be Careful so that the paper isn't a little blue. it can make the pict a notch blue.The placement of the paper will make the shades on the gun.

3 use what ever backgrund colur and you will bee pleaset .Its the reflextions you see

[John Holbrook]

Ulfman, thanks for the input, and your English is just fine.

Welcome aboard!

[rondawg]

The biggest problem is the automatic metering on modern cameras. The recognized standard for "correct" exposure of human skin is 18% gray reflectance, and the internal meters on cameras are made to measure ALL the light they see coming in, and average the exposure to 18%. By default, automatic cameras are designed to produce good pictures of the average caucasian face, since that's what the most people want to take photos of.

The problem is that humans see what they want to see, and cameras/light meters see everything. So, put a gun on a white background, and the camera is going to try and make that white into gray, and the gun (or whatever) is underexposed. Try taking a photo of somebody against a snowbank in the sunlight, and it'll do the same thing. Gray snow, and a dark subject. You'll get the same thing if your subject is near a door or window with sunlight coming in behind the subject. Getting the exposure correct can be tricky, "point and shoot" is rarely satisfactory.

Best way around it is to use a camera with manual exposure controls, use a photographer's "gray card", and take the light reading off that gray card with either a handheld light meter or adjust the camera's settings based on how it "sees" the gray card. Pain in the patoot though. Price we pay for "modern conveniences".

[ulfman]

You are so right(manual is best, most control).If you don't have a grey card ,then you can use a white one and overexpose 1 3/4 -2 steps.Ore just be lacy and use Raw on your camera.One more big Q ? is this blue in the older guns. I think buy using the blue background you get the feeling of how your eye sees it.But in reel world the best is gray 18 that gives you the right color. I read that you hade problems with diff in color and exposure ,when turning the gun.And thats exactly whats describe from rondawg.My advice is to use manual in that position or change the measurement reding in your camera to spot or central measure instead of "all field".That maybe works..
I will see if I can take a picture of a photo setting tomorrow or maybe friday that I can attache if some one wants.Or maybe just sketch it..If!!
God luck
Ulfman

[rondawg]

Ulfman makes a good point. If you have a camera that you can set to "spot" metering, or "center-weighted" metering, so that it's only measuring a small part of the entire frame, then you'll have much better luck at getting a perfect exposure. Unfortunately, most of us use the little pocket digital cameras that don't have these adjustments. I'm fixing to buy a new Nikon D40X, that'll make my photo-taking much better. What I'd REALLY like is one of these......<lust, drool>

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/misc%20stuff/NikonD2X.jpg

[ulfman]

Ulfman makes a good point. If you have a camera that you can set to "spot" metering, or "center-weighted" metering, so that it's only measuring a small part of the entire frame, then you'll have much better luck at getting a perfect exposure. Unfortunately, most of us use the little pocket digital cameras that don't have these adjustments. I'm fixing to buy a new Nikon D40X, that'll make my photo-taking much better. What I'd REALLY like is one of these......<lust, drool>

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/misc%20stuff/NikonD2X.jpg

Do you want mine??I can trade you if you have any god colts from 1941-43
:-))..

[rondawg]

Do you want mine??I can trade you if you have any god colts from 1941-43
:-))..
Thanks for the offer, but no, I don't have any war Colts. Would be a pretty fair trade though.