The  Handgun  -  an impact shot that has  appeared  in  two 
photo magazines as an indication of technique.

The set up was very simple. A black background was used - I have
a fairly large piece of black velvet which absorbs almost all 
light giving a full black.

The gun - a replica - was positioned and focused on with the 
cam era on a tripod - to retain the correct point of focus.  The
smoke is cigar smoke blown down the gun barrel just before
exposure  and the light source a single flash connected to the
camera on an  extension lead.

Several  flash angles were tried to get the desired effect. 
Exposure was calculated manual using a set aperture for depth of
field and dividing that into the flash guide number.  The
resulting figure is the FLASH to SUBJECT distance - note,  NOT
necessarily  the camera to subject distance. It is flash to
subject that matters.