Any hints on how you take such awesome pipe pics? I have a decent camera , which I do not know half the functionality.
I just noticed this, and figured if I didn't respond it would look like I was trying to be secretive or otherwise ignoring someone.
I'm glad you like 'em, first of all. :D A big part of enjoying pipes is visual, imo. I spend a fair amount of time just looking at and handling my collection, and don't think I'd smoke nearly as much if pipes were all identical, like made out of ceramic or something.
As for how I take photos, it certainly doesn't involve fancy equipment or significant effort. A small light box, four full-spectrum bulbs, a consumer-grade digital camera, and a ten-year-old photo processing program called "Photocomplete" is it. Not even a tripod. Producing a dozen or so pics of a pipe takes 10-15 minutes total (meaning from switching on the light box to having the "prints" on my computer ready for uploading.)
I was a hardcore photo hobbyist years ago in the film era, though, with a large format darkroom, lots of fancy gear & etc., which helps connect the dots conceptually with today's digital stuff. Staging, composing, focal length, shutter speed, light types, and so on hasn't changed. Taking good photos without understanding what those basics/principles mean in "physics terms" and how they are interconnected would be difficult, I imagine. (Meaning being able to see what's wrong with a photo without knowing which variable to change in order to FIX it, would reduce everything to tedious trial and error.)
All of which means---I just realized---this isn't a road I should have started down here on a pipe forum. :lol:
OK. Bottom line suggestion time for anyone who likes taking pipe pics: Read about the PRINCIPLES of photography (online or get a book); and beg, borrow, steal, or buy a small light box and some designed-for-photography light bulbs. (Good static photos of small objects like pipes are IMPOSSIBLE without good light... it all starts there.) Then experiment and play around. Pixels are free.