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Old November 30, 2012, 11:46 AM   #7
carguychris
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Join Date: October 20, 2007
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 7,523
Quote:
Yeah I haven't been able to figure out a way to take a better picture. If I use the flash or have a light pointed at the gun it glares really bad like in the pictures...
You can take surprisingly nice pictures with a basic digital camera by using a fairly bright (but not really bright!) indoor location, mounting the camera on a tripod or at least some sort of improvised solid rest, manually turning the flash OFF, and shooting the picture using the timer feature. You don't need to use the 10sec timer like you would for a self-posed portrait; this is what the 2-3sec timer setting is for.

Unless the camera is really cheap, turning the flash off in indoor light will cause the camera to self-adjust and lengthen its exposure time. It's essential to use a tripod or rest because most people physically can't hold a camera still enough to prevent blurring during the long exposure.
Quote:
I don't know a lot about gun finishes so what exactly is tank blue? It just seems odd to me to have blue in the name of a color that is a very dark shiny black.
Bluing or "blue" refers to a chemical process, NOT a color. A variety of processes and chemicals have been used by different manufacturers over the years, some of which have been closely guarded trade secrets. The different methods yield different appearances to the finish, which is one of the main ways that a seasoned collector can spot a refinished gun; if a gun has been reblued using the wrong process, the color and texture will appear incorrect for the gun, even if the gunsmith who did the work did a "perfect" job.

This is one of the pitfalls of buying collectible guns. For instance, a novice may look a collectible gun with great finish and say "Wow, what a great collector's piece!", whereas Joe Expert looks at the same gun and gets immediate mental "REFINISH" warning bells because he knows that, during the time period the gun was produced, Gunmaker XYZ used a bluing process that yielded a soft gray hue rather than a deep plum hue.

Read the following thread and start paying close attention around post #10:

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=82823
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