Tips for Photographing Your Beloved Spencer

[Two Flints]

Hello SSS members, Guests, and Visitors,

I DO enjoy seeing photos of your Spencer Rifles and Carbines be they originals or reproduction models.

I receive quite a few Emails from Spencer owners, which contain attachment photographs of their Spencers. But all too often, the Spencers appear too dark in the photographs to see any detail.

If you want to post photos of your Spencer the maximum size that you can post is 1024 x 768 pixels.  If you don't have access to an online photo service like Photobucket, you can send the photos to me and I will post them for you, and insert them in your typed post on SSS.  But, please don't send me 32 photos like someone did not too long ago.  Ten photos or less is usually enough.

When photographing your Spencer, place your Spencer on "ideally" a plain medium grey or light brown background, BUT NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use a white background. A white or light colored background will mess up your camera's exposure meter giving you a nicely exposed white background, but your Spencer will appear very dark, almost black, and any detail will be lost to the viewer (me)!

Hold your camera steady, keep your hands from shaking for a nice, sharp photo.  Rest your camera on some kind of platform, or use a tripod if you have one.  You want your photos to be IN FOCUS!

Try to use natural light coming in from a window, or outside, and in the shade if possible, and NEVER USE flash!

Take photos of the receiver area, the top, both sides, and bottom of the receiver with the action open and closed.  

Take photos of the barrel, front and rear sights, and any markings that you see on the metal or wood stock that you think may be significant.

I'm not trying to offend anyone by this post.  Matthew Brady and Ansel Adams received the same suggestions from me and their photography is outstanding

[Two Flints]

Take Nice Photos of your Spencer

[rbertalotto]

I have a 8' high fence in my backyard that faces due west. I drilled a few holes in the fence and inserted a series of wooden dowels. I always photograph early in the morning, just before or as the sun is coming up. But the best photos are on a cloudy day.

I ALWAYS use a tripod. If you have a good SLR camera, use an f stop above 5 to get great depth of field. At F5 or smaller, your shutter speed will be real slow so you MUST use a tripod and some type of remote release if possible.

As TF said.....NO WHITE BACKGROUNDS!!!  Dark grey is best to show up the brown wood of most firearms.







Unfortunatly, when using a photo hosting service, with limited rersolution, the pictures don't look half as good on these forums as they do in person.