RifleWorx

[Guy Miner]

Hey, welcome aboard. I did a little Google search on RifleWorx - and in my ever so humble opinion you should:

A. Introduce yourself and your shop to the members of our site - you've had some good press. Apparently you're building some good rifles too. Show off your rifles and your shop. Tell us about yourself. Quote that article that talks about how well you build and shoot rifles.

B. Take some better doggone photos! Bubba, you're building some great shooting, great looking rifles. But your photos don't show 'em off properly. Imagine your rifles in front of thousands of rifle hungry gun nuts, looking like the photos below.

Set one up somewhere with a nice, uncluttered background. Not a driveway with your truck in the background. Not a cluttered shop photo. Your patio might be okay without the wet bootprints. Show us the rifle! Don't worry about necessarily getting the whole thing in every photo. Get it outside, where a hunting rifle really lives. It may sit in the safe 10 or 11 months of the year, but it lives in the field, if only a month every year. If it's a match rifle, show it on the range. If it's a hunting rifle, show it in the field.

Here's some examples, just of my own rifles, that show off a rifle. Your rifles may well be better. Even a whole lot better. But it doesn't show in your photos.

Plain Jane, factory built Rem 700 CDL. I think the rifle comes out looking pretty good:

Model 70 Coyote in .300 WSM. Looks good doesn't it? Good natural lighting and surroundings.

Same rifle, foggy, cloudy, rainy day with very different light:

Nighthawk custom. Just a quick photo I snapped while testing it:

My only real custom, the Green Machine. It consistently lets me shoot "high master" NRA scores and is always ready to go. Looks like it too:

Your rifles are better than these (well except for maybe the Green Machine :mrgreen: ) but these photos look better! Good photos will sell your product. Heck, send me one and I'll photograph the doggone thing! Probably shoot it too... :grin:

Regards, Guy

 

[gerry]

Like those first two pictures Guy.

Here is my favorite field photo a goat taken 3 years ago with my 264 WM.

 

[Guy Miner]

Now see, that shows off a rifle Gerry!

Two weeks ago I had the rifle. I had the goats, all I needed was a tag doggone it!

Guy

 

[gerry]

Guy, how tough is it to draw a goat tag in Washington state?

 

[Guy Miner]

Real tough. Thousands to one odds.

 

[BK]

Doesn't matter how many times I've seen that pic, it always makes me smile.

 

[rifleworx]

Thanks for the pointers -- I have never been very good at pictures. I suck at speaking or writing correctly but I AM one hell of a riflesmith - Time permitting I will try to spruce up a little but the rifles and there owners WILL ALWAYS COME FIRST!!!!!!!!!
You have some very good ideas that I will put into use. Thanks, Cole

 

[Guy Miner]

Cool. That's what I mean - you're making these GREAT rifles - but all us internet users only see the photos, not the real thing. A better photo can help a lot!

Regards, Guy

 

[velvetant]

Thanks for the pointers -- I have never been very good at pictures. I suck at speaking or writing correctly but I AM one hell of a riflesmith - Time permitting I will try to spruce up a little but the rifles and there owners WILL ALWAYS COME FIRST!!!!!!!!!
You have some very good ideas that I will put into use. Thanks, Cole

Cole
Yes you are one heck of a gunsmith, I was out this weekend getting 2.5" 3 shot groups @500yards with the 130 Berger H-VLD

Great pics everyone, Any pointers on how to get pictures like that.

 

[Guy Miner]

"Any pointers on how to get pictures like that."

Feature the rifle, not the background.

Concentrate on the action portion. Show the bolt, trigger, the scope & mounts. The barrel and butt stock can be left to the imagination if necessary. Unless maybe there's a muzzle brake or a custom front sight to show off.

The background is secondary, but something hunting or match related is helpful. I remember some photos on other forums where the guys were showing great rifles - but one was displayed on a bathroom sink, another one in a kitchen. Take 'em out into the hills somewhere and get a decent background that at least looks like the rifle is being used on a hunt. Or if you take it indoors, put it on a bear rug, or an elk skin, or something hunting related. If it's a match rifle, photograph it on a target.

Good lighting helps. "Good" can mean strong natural lighting - like on that sunny photo of my Model 70 with the laminated stock. It makes the stock appear to glow. Very nice. The stock really doesn't look that nice - but the photo does. Or a flat, dull light like on an overcast day - such as in the second photo of my Model 70. That photo was actually taken on a mule deer hunt last year when the fog & clouds rolled in and spoiled what would have been an easy shot at a nice 4x4 mule deer buck. I couldn't see the buck anymore, so I took a photo of the rifle. Bit of a shutterbug I'll admit.

Worth remembering that these internet forums are heavily dependent on the written word, and maybe even more so on the photography. If the best rifle in the world looks like crud in a photo, it will be regarded as so. An average, factory built hunting rifle can look great with a little attention to the photography.

I like what I hear about RifleWorx, even though I know little about the firm or their products. Anyone attempting to sell via the internet needs to showcase their products to best advantage.

I'm serious in my offer to take a rifle from RifleWorx and attempt to photograph it in a very flattering way. Might as well make it look as good as it shoots.

Regards, Guy

 

[BK]

I'm serious in my offer to take a rifle from RifleWorx and attempt to photograph it in a very flattering way. Might as well make it look as good as it shoots.

Might as well give it a whirl while you have it, too, right? :grin:

 

[C.Smith]

Another idea, pool your clients and see if they can get you photos of your rifles. Make it a contest with them.

Corey