plain backing for taking picture advice

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peter
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ok i am after some advice please
i took the following pictures on my cream duvet as i don't have anything white.
could someone please suggest what i would be best getting for taking this type of picture as obviously my duvet is not up to it.
i only did a quick clean up of the pictures but one of my main problems is it sinks into the duvet lol.
please feel free to give any other criticism/advice, im sure there will be lots but if i don't ask and show my pictures you cant tell me how daft i am and what i am doing wrong.
i used my nikon D7200 with a sigma 17-50 2.8
shutter speed was at 60th aperture was at F8 and i had a fake 910 flash on with plastic diffuser bounced off the ceiling.
i do have 2 other slave flashes cos i got them silly cheap and thought may come in handy 1 day (only say this so you know what equip i have)


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I haven't seen anything quite like that before - what is it?

Frankly, I'd worry far less about the actual background (because you can always cut it out in PP, even though that isn't what I did my tutorial) but give a lot more thought to
1. Control of the light (direction, angle and size)
2. Angle at which you photograph the subject - having the blunt end nearer to the camera doesn't always work well)
3. Supporting it, so that you don't have to lay it down flat. To be honest, supporting it well is the most difficult bit.

I did something on this a long time ago, which may be helpful.

Part 1 https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/combining-lighting-techniques-part-1/#.VjzTHisl-hF
Part 2 https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/combining-lighting-techniques-part-2/#.UAB4WZH5-So
 
it is a air rifle HW77 Dominator
incredibly rare only a handful in existence but i have just let it go.
thanks for the links but that lighting is just way over the top for me i just want to take some 1/2 decent pictures of my guns.
i am not looking to spend lots of money :(
 
I use some white foam board you can pick up for a few pounds at you local craft store, alternatively pick up some fabric off cuts both work well.
 
it is a air rifle HW77 Dominator
incredibly rare only a handful in existence but i have just let it go.
thanks for the links but that lighting is just way over the top for me i just want to take some 1/2 decent pictures of my guns.
i am not looking to spend lots of money :(
Thanks for that, I wondered whether it might be an air rifle, just seems to be very short in the stock and I don't see the point of the adjustable foreend, but then I'm the first to admit that I don't know anything about air rifles. I do have one, it's a very old Spanish springer that I use for rats on the farm, it does all that I need it to.

That air rifle looks to me to be much more expensive than the £250 or so that I pay for most long range cartridge rifles, which I'm much more familar with:)
You don't have to, if you follow Gary's advice that's 90% of the work done without spending a penny.

If it's just lying down and shot at an odd angle it doesn't matter how good your background is.
As above... the titles of those articles is "Combining techniques" and they include links to the various other techniques covered separately.
I use the "right" equipment because I can, and because it's easier, but if you understand the principles involved you can manage with an absolute minimum of equipment because care, knowledge and skill always trumps gear.
Apart from the fact that you've shot it from entirely the wrong angle, and from the wrong position, your biggest single problem is the ugly specular reflections (reflections of the light source) that really don't show the quality of the item. This article, on controlling specular reflections, is your starating point and if you read it you'll see that it involved just one light https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/controlling-specular-reflections/#.VjzW6ysl-hE
 
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