The key to really nice shots is to use more than one light. Two is nice, three is best. And as mentioned if you get led panels you can dial in the temp (color) to get a really nice look. Classic stage lighting is to use warm (orange light from one direction and blue cool) light from the other. Your third light you use to create highlights. You also get softer shadows this way without having to mess with diffusers although LED panels often come with a diffuser. You can also use a reflector to bounce light onto an area that the lights might not be getting. And of course, the real key is shooting on a nice background rather than apartment carpet or wood paneling from 1972.
I’m not going into Depth of Field here (look it up) but that’s what really elevates even the simplest shot to a new level.
And as for composition, you do not have to have all of your gun(s) in the shot. Cropping part out often brings very interesting visual tension.
As an aside, I like how they mention you can do this rather inexpensively and show a $1500 mobile phone.
www.gunsandammo.com
