General comment/complain/whining, you'll agree I'm sure

[islandpiper]

Whether using film, or a digital camera, it is a piece of cake to take a picture of a horse.......or christmas tree........or space shuttle lifting off.   But, near as I can figure there is no good way to take pictures of bows!!!   Dang, focus one end and the other end is six feet away and out of focus.   No matter what you do, there is a bow shaped streak across an 8 x 10 print.   Only a 1 x 10 photo seems to work.  Then, it's sort of like the blind men "seeing" an elephant for the first time.   One found the side and said an elephant was like a wall, one found a leg and said an elephant was like a tree, the third found the tail and said the elephant was like a rope, etc.......    Shooting pix of the handle, or the mid-limb, or either end/nock , well......it just doesn't do a fine bow justice.   

I give a lot of credit to you fellows who have it figured out.  For me, making bows is easier than making PICTURES of them. 

End of rant........cheers, piper

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Yup....lots of whine......... ..bob

[islandpiper]

Can't whine here at home, i get slapped.   

piper

[islandpiper]

OK, got it figured out.   Just a little Photoshop and squeeze the bow till it's about as long as it is tall.  Yup, that's the ticket.   


piper

[AKAPK]

My Friend the future Art teacher told me if ya put white sheets of  paper on both sides of the object your going to photograph ( with lights behind the the white sheets) helps with shadow issues. if that is what you are having trouble with.

[Little John]

On a full draw pic hold the bow with no cant and have a solid clutter free back ground, I also think it is much better drawn with an arrow.    Kenneth

[islandpiper]

Actually, the only trouble is that the Length vs Width relationship of a bow is so overwhelming that the BOW ITSELF almost disappears in many pics.  Then, there is the issue of LOW VISIBILITY.  If we make bows that blend into the woods, or surroundings, for hunting reasons it ts harder yet to get a picture that shows them well.  And, of course, there are the full draw pics.....every time I have my wife shoot one, there he is: that gray haired, round belly guy I don't recognize. 

(Just mid winter crabbiness, I guess.  Tax season, time to do inventory, need a day off, all the rest.....)

piper

[TRACY]

Murphy's Law

[John B.]

Direct sunlight and an uncluttered background help a lot.  You can (almost) never have too much light on the subject.

[sailordad]

when i have problems getting the pic i want,i used to get my son to get his high $$ camera and have him take them for me.(cant do that any more )
and yes he said the same thing if ya want the whole bow to show up real nice(entire length) it is best to go outside under natural lighting.
he says it just work  better.something about the flash always lights up whats closest first (the tip of the bow closest to camera)so then thats what the camera will focus on.
i dont know if hes right or not,but when he explains it i just nod my head in agreement cause i dont have a clue what he's talking about when it comes to cameras

[Marc St Louis]

The best method is to take the picture from a distance where you can get all the bow with a straight on picture and then crop out what you don't need.  I find that all the new photo editing programs you get with digital cameras or with windows make this part much harder so I went online and found the old microsoft photo editor.  It works quite well for cropping pictures and is simple to use.

[dragonman]

I totaly agree, I just said the same words practicaly (except the stuff about the elephant) to my wife when I tried to photo my bows!!

[Gordon]

In general employ simple backgrounds that create a pleasing contrast between the bow and the background. Don't use colors that clash with the bow - warm earthtones are generally the best. Try to avoid backgrounds that have a lot of detail that will overwelm the bow - grass is a good example of a background to avoid. If you're photographing the bow in the open pay attention to any background clutter that might distract the eye away from your bow. I prefer photographing my bows (or anything for that matter) in the softer light of the morning or afternoon or a lightly overcast day - such light gives your bow more depth and better colors. Pay attention to exposure. If the bow is light relative to the background you will need to reduce the exposure so as not to lose the bow's detail (this is a very common mistake). Finally pay attention to focus. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to discern the details of a nicely crafted handle or tips from an out of focus photograph.

I hope this helps.

[sailordad]

In general employ simple backgrounds that create a pleasing contrast between the bow and the background. Don't use colors that clash with the bow - warm earthtones are generally the best. Try to avoid backgrounds that have a lot of detail that will overwelm the bow - grass is a good example of a background to avoid. If you're photographing the bow in the open pay attention to any background clutter that might distract the eye away from your bow. I prefer photographing my bows (or anything for that matter) in the softer light of the morning or afternoon or a lightly overcast day - such light gives your bow more depth and better colors. Pay attention to exposure. If the bow is light relative to the background you will need to reduce the exposure so as not to lose the bow's detail (this is a very common mistake). Finally pay attention to focus. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to discern the details of a nicely crafted handle or tips from an out of focus photograph.

I hope this helps.

see no wthat sounds like my son,and then i just nod my head and wait for him to take my pics.or atleaset i did till he went in the service.