You should use some COMBLOC webgear!

east german holster. plus, you need a lanyard. otherwise, nice pic!

also, put the hammer down. i think that would look better.

looks good.  I use the orig grips on mine too

what process did you use to make it b/w?

For black and white, simply have your dog take the photos.

That looks like either Brit or Israeli kit.

Nice Bulgie.  What ammo are you carrying?

Quoted: Nice Bulgie.  What ammo are you carrying?

Hornandy 95gr XTP

Quoted: what process did you use to make it b/w?

digital Pic, just set it to be grayscale instead of color in MS photoeditor

Quoted: Quoted: what process did you use to make it b/w? digital Pic, just set it to be grayscale instead of color in MS photoeditor

send me the original (I'll IM you my email)

Grayscale conversion does not produce the best results

i do like this photograph, and i'm going to be hard on you for just that reason.

1--contrast:  the shot is very flat.  note the holster shadow from the mainlight--that should be black, not the muddy grey it is currently.  you have good high-end detail, but the low end doesn;t go all the way to black.  i suspect that the main reason for the contrast problem is exposure.

2--exposure:  the shot is overexposed, perhaps as much as 1 1/2 stops.  if you are using a reflected-light meter, such as the camera's TTL meter, you are metering for the holster, which i assume is darker than 18% grey.  without going to the zone system, a reflected light meter will only yield correct tonalities if it is looking at 18% grey.  bear in mind that the meter tries to make everything 18% grey.  as a quick fix, if the web gear is olive, that's pretty close to what the meter needs.  remove the holster and pistol and meter just the web gear, then lock the exposure.  replace the darker stuff, and shoot that way.

3.  depth of field:  you aren't shooting at a small enough aperture, which is why the bottom of the grip is soft focus.  it appears that you have the camera at an angle, which causes focus problems when up close.

the above is tech stuff.  now we'll get into some aesthetic issues, mostly related to eye direction.  this is super nitpicky stuff, and usually only commercial photographers worry about it.  so take it for what it's worth.

1--tangency:  when shooting a dominant object, one must create seperation between the object and the background.  one of the worst enemies of this is to have less-important items tangent to the dominant.  tangency arises when something is so close to something else that the two almost seem to merge.  take a look at the area below the trigger guard.  the first thing i notice is the web gear buckle.  it is very close to the stuff we're looking at, but it doesn't really fit with anything, so my eye keeps bouncing to it.  the highlight in it only makes this worse, for reasons that we'll get to in a minute.  the solution is to reposition the pistol so that the buckle is either completely hidden, or is far enough away so that there is a visual break.

look at the clasp on the holster--notice how close it is to the bbl?  so while you're looking at the bbl, your eye carries over to the clasp.  this is the opposite of seperation--you're accidentally taking the focus off the pistol, and carrying the viewer's eye to something completely unimportant.

another example of this is the angle of the mag.  you've got the right idea by angling it differently, but i'd like to see more--say, 15-20deg counterclockwise.  this would create a triangle from the muzzle to the butt, and then back up the mag to the muzzle.  the viewer's eye would then be carried around this again and again, increasing the impact of the pic.

2--eye direction (orientation):  this is the strongest part of your pic--we in the west read an image from top left to bottom right, so your orientation of the pistol is perfect.  the eye naturally flows across the gun.  now it just needs something to pull the eye back up to the top left, and re-angling the mag would do that quite nicely.

3--eye direction (tonality):  the human eye is always, always drawn to the lightest, brightest area of tonality.  this is scientific fact.  the eye is so sensitive to light that the dark-adapted eye can detect single photons.  as a photographer, you use light to call attention to things, but it can also call attention to unimportant things, reducing the visual impact of your image.

the biggest area of light tonality in the image is a large, soft-focus blob in the lower left corner.  if you don't tone this down, every viewer is going to look at it again and again.  this is where the "burn" tool on PS can help you.  just drop this area a few shades.  (and thank your lucky stars that you don't have to do it in the darkroom, waiting 3-4 min before you can see the results!)

4--eye direction (framing):  finally, there is a less clear-cut decision to make about the top of the photograph.  because the muzzle is so close to the edge of frame (tangency again), and the holster actually extends out of the frame, the eye is carried off the page, so to speak.  we definitely need more room above the muzzle, but the holster is an issue that isn't cut and dired.  some photogs will argue that it is valid as shot, while other guys will say that it needs to be completely in the frame.  i like it as is, but i did want to point this out for your consideration.

so where does all this crap leave us?  if you want a good pic, you've got it.  but if you want a truly great photograph that you can display proudly, you need to reshoot.  perhaps the reason that i've gone into such detail is that i see something special here, and i think you're selling yourself short if you don't follow through on it.  if you do reshoot, you'll have something that any commercial photog would proudly put his name on, and that's saying something.



[ETA:  i like the b/w over color.  you may wish to try tinting it, or even adding a 'film grain' PS filter, but i think color would take something away.  YMMV]

Quoted: 2--exposure:  the shot is overexposed, perhaps as much as 1 1/2 stops.  if you are using a reflected-light meter, such as the camera's TTL meter, you are metering for the holster, which i assume is darker than 18% grey.  without going to the zone system, a reflected light meter will only yield correct tonalities if it is looking at 18% grey.  bear in mind that the meter tries to make everything 18% grey.  as a quick fix, if the web gear is olive, that's pretty close to what the meter needs.  remove the holster and pistol and meter just the web gear, then lock the exposure.  replace the darker stuff, and shoot that way.

Quick-and-dirty metering method from j-school:  Use your camera meter on your hand and close down one stop.  St. Augustine grass (in summertime) reflects pretty close to 18% grey as well.

I don't think you can make it right until you convert to b/w via a channel mixer

Quoted: Quick-and-dirty metering method from j-school:  Use your camera meter on your hand and close down one stop.  St. Augustine grass (in summertime) reflects pretty close to 18% grey as well. www.peppersandsmoke.com/temp/makarov.jpg

forgot about the hand method--i shot fashion almost exclusively, so i was always using incident, with a spot to check for zone and repro latitude.

the grass tip is new to me.

been too long since i've done real shooting.  i'm really starting to miss it.    

Very "noir", makes me want to smoke a cigarette European-style.

Quoted: Quoted: Quick-and-dirty metering method from j-school:  Use your camera meter on your hand and close down one stop.  St. Augustine grass (in summertime) reflects pretty close to 18% grey as well. www.peppersandsmoke.com/temp/makarov.jpg forgot about the hand method--i shot fashion almost exclusively, so i was always using incident, with a spot to check for zone and repro latitude. the grass tip is new to me. been too long since i've done real shooting.  i'm really starting to miss it.

I was the opposite - I rarely set foot in a studio, so I had to learn to meter on the run.  I had a great photo teacher in college.  He and I would wander around campus with a light meter and try to guess the exposure for different subjects/areas.  We'd guess the exposure, then check it with the meter.  The grass method was great for shooting rugby games.  They always seemed to schedule those on days with rapidly-changing weather.

I miss shooting as well.  Now I do graphic design and sit behind a desk all day.

split screen:



still has some hot spots that should be burned

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: what process did you use to make it b/w? digital Pic, just set it to be grayscale instead of color in MS photoeditor send me the original (I'll IM you my email) Grayscale conversion does not produce the best results

+1, give it to  me and I have a badass photoshop plugin that will really make it look good

I am worried that you have round in the chamber and dont know it.   Wheres the eight round?

Quoted: I am worried that you have round in the chamber and dont know it.   Wheres the eight round?

empty mag in the chamber, the loose one is my extra.  Thanks for checkin though.