I just got a Digital Canon Rebel XTI with the standard 18-55mm EF-S Lens. I took this picture last night:



After playing around with the zoom I had to stand back about 3-4 feet to get the whole gun to fit into the frame, but I would like a more close-up shot of the whole rifle. Do I need a wide angle or macro lens? Or is there something I can do with what I have?

And yes I know the lighting sucks, it was on my kitchen table with the light from our ceiling fan shining on it.

Andy

wide angle
20 /2.8 or 24 /1.4

Do you have any shots with that type of lens? By the way I just looked on B&H Photo, the 20mm / 2.8 was around $399 the 24mm / 1.4 was $1,089

Andy

Quoted: Do you have any shots with that type of lens? By the way I just looked on B&H Photo, the 20mm / 2.8 was around $399 the 24mm / 1.4 was $1,089 Andy

I wish.
A nice macro will give you nice detail shots but not the whole rifle at once

Macro lenses tend to allow very close focus, and coupled with a longer focal length, let you get very close to your subject.

Photographing entire rifles though is not really what Macro is all about.


Wide angle lenses help you fit everything in the frame, but don't exactly give you a natural perspective on your subject either.

I see that you used 18mm on that lens.  You can get wider lenses, but it is probably better to find a spot that allows you to work comfortably around the 35-50mm focal length.

Do you know how to set a custom White Balance?  You can use incandecent/tungsten as the preset or you can place a white piece of paper under the light and get a custom preset.  That will eliminate the "cave fire" color cast.

You want a very cheap, fast, and rather handy portrait lens?

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard AutoFocus Lens

For $70 it is almost a must have.  It can focus down to about 18 inches or so, and can be used as a macro in a pinch.
Since it's fast, it allows you to shoot far more available light than your kit lens.

Get you 50mm f1.8 before the 23 Jan...Canon announced a price increase of about $15 effective the 23rd.

7mm

White balance is your friend. Is this more what the scene really looked like?

Yeah Jax, that was kinda like it. Since I just got this camera last week I haven't had time to play with all the bells and whistles. I did however take all the photos in RAW mode so that I could adjust them after taking te photo. The Canon Digital Photo Professional software that came with the camera is pretty cool. I found where you can adjust the white balance after taking the shot.

I am sure it will just take practice and 1,000's of shots

Andy

ETA: I just placed my order with Adorama for the lens you recommended

The problem is not your lens but the size of your camera's sensor.  Changing lens sizes will only change where you stand, not the size of the rifle in the photo.

Due to the length of the rifle, the only way to keep it all in the frame and to get more detail is to use a full-frame sensor, not the 1.6/1.5/1.3 crop-frame sensors.

However, to maximize the photo space available, you could run the gun diagonally across the frame.

Are you saying I can't take gun pictures with my D2H and I'll have to buy a $5K body? That just sucks.