Photographing Nihontō

Ukigumo · 26 Jul 2025

I see some beautifully clear images of sword jihada and various hataraki on youtube etc. The photos I take seldom show these very well, admittedly taken with my phone's camera which is supposedly pretty good! Does anyone have any tips on photographing blades to accentuate the jihada and say various hataraki? Is it just a case of using polarizing filters or special lights? I do have a digital SLR somewhere that I could resurrect if needs be.

thomas · 26 Jul 2025

How to Photograph Knives Pt 2 - Japanese Swords

Ukigumo · 26 Jul 2025

Mendōkusaiiiiiiii!

I should be a bit clearer, is there anyway of photographing swords effectively that requires no effort or extra equipment beyond my kitchen drawers

thomas · 26 Jul 2025

I set up a portable mini-studio for my sake shots (which are far from perfect, as I don't want to invest hours in shooting). At the very least, you'll need a tripod, appropriate lighting, and a background.

Ukigumo · 26 Jul 2025

thomas said:
I set up a portable mini-studio for my sake shots (which are far from perfect, as I don't want to invest hours in shooting). At the very least, you'll need a tripod, appropriate lighting, and a background.

Yay! I have those things!

Ukigumo · 26 Jul 2025

thomas said:
How to Photograph Knives Pt 2 - Japanese Swords

I've never heard anyone speak so continuously in the 'vocal fry' range as Mr Sorrel! Not even the Kardashians!

Majestic · 27 Jul 2025

This should have a lot of good info.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/95-photographing-nihonto/

I bought about 2 meters of black velvet to use as a background when photographing swords, and its worked as well as I had anticipated. The thing is that swords are basically mirrors: they throw back almost all of the light that hits them. So you have to play around with angles and lighting. The black background absorbs almost all of the light, so it makes the contrast work better

Ukigumo · 27 Jul 2025

Majestic said:
This should have a lot of good info.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/95-photographing-nihonto/
I bought about 2 meters of black velvet to use as a background when photographing swords, and its worked as well as I had anticipated. The thing is that swords are basically mirrors: they throw back almost all of the light that hits them. So you have to play around with angles and lighting. The black background absorbs almost all of the light, so it makes the contrast work better

I thought about doing exactly that…2m length of black velvet! And when I've done with it, I can make myself a nice little cocktail dress

Photographing Nihontō

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How to Photograph Knives Pt 2 - Japanese Swords

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thomas

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How to Photograph Knives Pt 2 - Japanese Swords

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