Louis Luttrell said
Mike and Steve-

I have a LOOOONG way to go before I can get a job with Pat Hogan’s visual arts production department!!!  Except for the camera, that is a very inexpensive photo studio arrangement.  The main advantage is that I have enough otherwise unused floor space to leave it set up instead of having to drag everything out whenever I want to take photos.

Seewin has something similar…  Those Torjim LED light boxes are inexpensive (about $90 a pair).  Steve suggested them to me…  The 4’x8′ layout table came out of a closed down manufacturing plant (cost $0), I built the curved “cyc” backdrop out of wood, Kydex, and photo paper (maybe $100), and the support for the overhead light is made from throwaway pieces of PVC pipe/fittings…  Those rolls of backdrop paper come in about a gazillion colors, I just use white to make it easier to make photo composites.

Like you said, the other advantage is being able to control the light.  That interior room is windowless (pitch black with lights out and door closed), the box lights are all the same “daylight” color temperature, and depending on the part of the gun I’m photographing, somewhere between one and all seven are turned on.  The two pointed at the ceiling are the ones that I move behind the camera to “bounce” light off the (white) ceiling so as to minimize glare from the stock reflecting back into the camera.  The biggest trick is using a digital SLR in full manual mode (no auto exposure) with a dedicated macro lens (mine is an old manual focus Nikkor)…  As everybody knows, trying to take pics of a gun (anything) against a white background with a cell phone is a sure way to create gun silhouettes…    You have to be able to manually set the exposure and “color temperature” in the camera to get what you want.  Of course a SANE person would just use a neutral background color!!!

It’s not hard (or even expensive) to take good photos, you just have to play with it!!!

Lou

  

Lou –

I appreciate the technical details of how your photo set-up came to be.  Very interesting.  I’ve pondered your entire set-up (including construction of your vault) and find it quite inspiring. I also think you are a modest person and have more intelligence and vision than you admit to

TXGunNut said
Funny you should mention RIA’s photography team, Lou. Kevin Hogan volunteered them to take the photos for the TGCA “Annual” (last one published 47 years ago) at a couple of our shows recently. From what I could tell the setup was very similar to yours but I know nothing of the lighting equipment. I’ve been trying to make out the “Robbins & Lawrence/US” ever since I first saw that old rifle.

I thought I had a few more boxes of loading components and tools still out in the “onsite storage facility”, yesterday I brought in twelve more boxes. Back to work! 

Onsite storage facility (Annex II) pics below. Purchased shortly after the tornado as original Annex was badly damaged by the tornado and subsequent fires. Some of the shelving units were reclaimed from original container during the salvage process and were used to store loading room stuff that did not require much in the way of climate control.

 

Mike

 

  

Mike –  Fortunately I am using my laptop.  All I have to do is pick it up, rotate 90 degrees left – and voila – perfect viewing

Shrapnel–way to go!  Tim

I think maybe only Steve would have noticed that, with his keen eye!

Nice job Shrap!!!

Anthony

Very nice! I like the carousel, I wish mine was that color. Good place to park a few when you’re researching, repairing or just want to look at them for a few days.

Mike

Chuck said
I would love to have one of the Burgess shotguns.  These have gotten real pricey.  I bid on one for a friend and was in it for $10K for a short time.  It sold for 15K.  My friend did not get it.

  

Was it a folder?

How about a photograph of the carousel to include the entire firearms?

tionesta1 said
A friend of mine made this carousel for me some years ago. He made the W out of cherry.

  

I built one of these years ago for Little John.  The new owner has a box on the top and uses it for mail.

John D. said
but I found an old ammo box and made A nice end table for my reading room:  

I really like this idea and plan to steal it!

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Maverick