I have done something new in product photography- which I always thought I would be very good at, but finally got the chance to test. I was contacted by Eric, who has a collection of pre World War II era pistols in his collection. He wanted to get them photographed with care so that he can catalogue them in form of printed posters and photo albums. I always thought that I will be very good at taking photographs of antiques, collectibles or historic items in a very lavish detail and this was my chance to test that out.
It took me the whole day to take photographs of all the 16 pistols. This was incredibly hard as both profiles of every pistol were to be photographed, along with the top view, bottom view and view from the front of the barrel. Also, it was extremely important to capture the identification marks and proofs of authenticity in every weapon from the collectors’ point of view. So the photography setup had to cater to both product photography and macro photography.
I enjoy delving deep into history, especially warfare so the whole day was pure excitement as Eric educated me about the history of every single pistol. This was a unique look into the expertise of Eric as an expert on pre WW2 small arms. As for the lighting set up I used four lights to illuminate every side of the weapons. I had also gathered a number of different background textiles to create the luxurious field of the products including green and red felt. Here are some examples of some of the behind the scenes of these pistols.
