A comparison of two early trapdoors

[Dick Hosmer]

Chuck, thanks but NO! The price of the new one will be so modest that anyone can (and should if they have interest) buy one. Their first copy should be dog-eared by now anyway.

Thanks largely to the input promised from Fred, plus info gained elsewhere, the 1868 chapter is going to be amazing - probably worth the buy on its' own.

I've been gradually working on the ms, and it looks SO much better in the slightly (12%) larger format.

[Fred]

42F4B43C-E827-4072-8872-9E9179C6B4D1.jpg
I think I have to download my photo’s through Photobucket so that they’ll be sharp.
These are fuzzy and look horrible compared to the sharp photos.

[Dick Hosmer]

Try sending me a couple of regular jpegs right out of your camera via email. The main thing you need is more light (better directed in some cases) and a PLAIN, light-colored, preferably white back drop. The backdrop should be some distance behind the rifle and independently lit - the idea is ZERO shadows on the backer. I have a certain degree of editing capability, if you can get them close to being right. The one thing I cannot do is deal with background shadows, or any sort of distraction (like a mesh patio table or a fence). Some of your "arty" color shots are visually stunning masterpieces, but, no good for illustrations. We'll make it happen!

[Edatbeach]

My “expert” photo setup: take outdoors in bright shadow or a cloudy days, to give diffuse light and minimize glare, bright spots and shadows. Place gun on a white window shade (roll up type), supporting it on two or three clear shot glasses so it’s off the background enough to eliminate shadows. Take photo upside down, I.e. standing on the top side of the gun, and looking straight down (this avoids a shot that looks up at the lower side of the gun if you are not looking perfectly vertical).

Close ups work similarly, balancing the gun on the clear glasses. Any visual remnant of the glasses is easily erased.

Works for my books and articles, and I just use my iPhone.

[Dick Hosmer]

Ed, as you know, I was most gratified to discover that you used your iPhone! I have no idea what made Stuart so negative - maybe he was having a bad week. I DO know that I worked myself into a corner and had to rush the photography - that will NOT happen again. I have a few more pieces to consider for MAA. Next try will probably be my LH-rifled carbine, then possibly the "pre-Officer's Model".

Do you stand on a ladder to minimize so-called "barrel distortion"?

[Kragrifle]

So let me get this straight -I have been trying to figure out how to produce great photos with an expensive (to me) Nikon camera and macro lens , and what I should have was just buy the latest IPhone???

[Fred]

Try sending me a couple of regular jpegs right out of your camera via email. The main thing you need is more light (better directed in some cases) and a PLAIN, light-colored, preferably white back drop. The backdrop should be some distance behind the rifle and independently lit - the idea is ZERO shadows on the backer. I have a certain degree of editing capability, if you can get them close to being right. The one thing I cannot do is deal with background shadows, or any sort of distraction (like a mesh patio table or a fence). Some of your "arty" color shots are visually stunning masterpieces, but, no good for illustrations. We'll make it happen!

OK Dick, I’ve no light table to use, but I’ve a white sheet that I’ll use on the kitchen table with overhead light and will see what happens. I’ll email them to you. Let me know if any of them are usable.
This rifle, serial number 6, is the only known 1868 with a single digit serial number in a private collection and so is available to us to study and photograph. I need to make the best photos that I can.

[Dick Hosmer]

You don't need a light table. Al Frasca does have one - saw it when I visited him 30 years ago.

You should see some of the Rube Goldberg setups I have used! I made a "third hand" that works GREAT for everything but overalls (which are the trickiest, but which I do not need from you).

Individual, disassembled parts are quite easy too.

[Dick Hosmer]

So let me get this straight -I have been trying to figure out how to produce great photos with an expensive (to me) Nikon camera and macro lens , and what I should have was just buy the latest IPhone???

Sad but true! My trusty old Nikon FM2 sits idle these days. While the results are probably superior at the upper range of professional photography, who wants to mess with film these days. I used a small pocket Olympus 5MP digital for both my TD books, but my iPhone8 for my latest, on prewar American Flyer trains. I will use it for all future work as well - it's "good enough". Take a good look at Ed Hull's stuff in MAA, bearing in mind that Stuart Mowbray is VERY particular.

[Kragrifle]

Ed used an IPhone? Guess he used an iPhone in his recent book?