Pictures...

J. Doyle

Dealer - Purveyor
Anyone that posts pictures of knives for any reason( like just wanting to show off your workmanship) but ESPECIALLY for opinions, reviews or critique....consider the following:

It is in your best interest to take THE BEST POSSIBLE PICS you are capable of. Blurry, poorly lit, weird angle pics won't cut it.

Consider posting more than one, and USUALLY less than six. One image is often not enough to show every aspect of even a simple knife. Conversely, try not to be redundant. Multiple images of the same angle or detail aren't really necessary.

Lay the knife down! In-hand images are fine in a few cases but really don't tell that much....and the hand often disrupts/obscures much of the rest of the knife. In hand shots are usually extreme weird angles.

Try to think what you want the viewers to see (or critique) then choose the camera angle or photo that showcases that the most accurately.

A good general side view that accurately shows lines, flow and proportions of the entire knife is a bare minimum guideline.

If you edit photos, it should be done in a way that makes the knife easier to see, clearer and ALWAYS as realistic to in person as possible. Editing should NEVER obscure/hide mistakes or details, or misrepresent the knife to be something its not.

There is a reason that there are professional photographers, but it takes no special equipment to take good clear, well lit photos.

I'd use a pro on every single knife if it was financially feasible. And while I am certainly no pro, I do, at least, try to always post clear, well lit, detailed photos that accurately portray the knife in person.
 
What image hosting does everyone use, that's free and easy?

The only way I can post through the forum is to take a picture 250ft away and then crop it, to keep the file size down. ;)
 
What image hosting does everyone use, that's free and easy?

The only way I can post through the forum is to take a picture 250ft away and then crop it, to keep the file size down. ;)
You can post directly from your computer by choosing insert image in the toolbar (or ctrl-P). I use the built in photo viewer in Windows 10 and resize it for posting online. That almost always small enough.
 
If you're looking for image hosting..... here's the one I use. https://imgbb.com/ It's one of the few free ones left.

Try to limit using the default uploader to the forums......there is only so much space on the server, and if you fill it up with images (which are generally very large sized files) it will force Tracy to either pay more (for more server space), or he may have to limit the size of image files, or how many images you can upload. Using third party hosting might be a bit of a learning curve for some, but it's doing Tracy a favor.

To piggyback on John's initial post..... QUALITY OF IMAGES IS EVERYTHING! There's an unspoken rule within the ABS that final/total critiques ARE NOT done with images (the are done in person). However, within the context of seeing knives in person, we don't always have the luxury..... so we'll have to do the best we can with images.

By the way....has anyone spoken with Tracy or his staff about possibly adding and new forum for images/critiques?? I'd be willing to do it via a sticky thread on my section here..... was just thinking that if it happens on the this one (the main forum), it will be clogging up the main forum. Just a thought.
 
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