Jeff's experimental cross cut Sycamore pens

[DaveO]

I received my goody bag of pen blanks that Jeff.. had cut on different biases than normal blanks are cut: 22.5°, 45°, & 90° to the grain (cross cut)
Here's the first victim in the experiment, a 90° cross cut curly Sycamore.



Other side...trying to pick up the chatoyance in the curl




And one as a photography experiment, trying a different background, same pen



I love turning this Sycamore, it turns like butter, takes a nice polish, and no matter how you cut it, it makes a sharp pen .
I would appreciate comments on the photography, I am trying to do better with what I have to work with .
Thanks, Dave

[clowman]

Great pen. I just got my goodie bag today, I can't wait to cut into one.

I'm definately not one to talk about pen photography, but I definately think the lighting and photo is better on the red background for the pen.

[DaveO]

Originally Posted by clowman

I definitely think the lighting and photo is better on the red background for the pen.

Thanks Clay, they were both taken with the same lighting, possibly different camera angles causing the flash to react different. The darker color background must have helped with the light diffusion
Dave

You didn't waste no time jumping on those blanks. I think I like the looks of the cross cut pens better than the rip cut. You guys amaze me how you can take a chunk of wood and make a pen out of it and nice ones at that. Another great pen there Dave. I like the pink background, although I shouldn't be giving advise on pictures. Thanks for taking that blank for a spin.

[cskipper]

DAve, those are really sharp! I love sycamore and the angled cut is very sharp.

[Monty]

Sweet looking pen! Looks like you're hooked for good.


Regarding the photography: if you're using a flash, then the white background in your top photo is causing the whole picture to be underexposed - kind of like trying to take a picture of a mirror. The camera sees the very bright white and compensates by underexposing the picture. Using a colored background is good, but a more neutral color might be better. No matter what, if you're trying to take a "keeper", always use a tripod. Or at least set the camera down on something steady.

[NZAPP1]

Nice work Dave I also like the red background and the angle cut sycamore

[sapwood]

Great stuff Dave and Jeff! The willingness to experiment with wood, turning, and photography is a joy to share. I can't wait to see the progress that evolves five years from now

Perhaps you and Jeff can build a laboratory workshop together

Roger

Originally Posted by sapwood

Perhaps you and Jeff can build a laboratory workshop together Roger

[SteveColes]

Dave, I took the last two shots you posted of the pen and let PhotoShop do an auto correction on them. Are either of them any closer to the "true" color?

[DaveO]

Originally Posted by SteveColes

Dave, I took the last two shots you posted of the pen and let PhotoShop do an auto correction on them. Are either of them any closer to the "true" color?

Steve, The pen is very true to color, but the red paper background in the second shot was a cherry red color, the other background was a piece of white printer paper.
Des that tell you any thing other than I suck at photography
Dave

[DaveT]

I can't offer comments on the photography but the figure in that pen is striking!

[Eaglesc]

Originally Posted by DaveO

I received my goody bag of pen blanks that Jeff.. had cut on different biases than normal blanks are cut: 22.5°, 45°, & 90° to the grain (cross cut)
Here's the first victim in the experiment, a 90° cross cut curly Sycamore.



Other side...trying to pick up the chatoyance in the curl




And one as a photography experiment, trying a different background, same pen



I love turning this Sycamore, it turns like butter, takes a nice polish, and no matter how you cut it, it makes a sharp pen .
I would appreciate comments on the photography, I am trying to do better with what I have to work with .
Thanks, Dave

I take a lot of pictures of pens and used to struggle with it. When I view pictures of pens I want to see the pen nothing more.Any extraneous objects in the picture are a distracion to the viewer and in some cases cause a distraction to the viewer.
I use a neutral background either light blue or grey.You can find pieces of felt at Wally world or Hobby Lobby less than a buck.
If your camera has a micr mode use it.Find out what the optimum focal lenght is.This would be the setting that has a flower icon.
For lighting I use a conventional desk lamp with natural light blubs.Use as many lamps as necessary in different orientations to remove shadow lines.
If you can take pictures near a window with a sunny exposure even better.
Fram the pen diagonally in the viewfinder.If your camera has a video out jack to view the pictures on a T.V. you should also be able to use that feature when framing the picture.
USe a tripod but make sure you know waht distance your camera takes the best pictures at before you buy one and make sure you can raie or lower the tripod to that height.
USe the HIghest resolution setting for the picture.You will get fewer pictures but I delete my card after each set of pictures so I don't down load more than one pen at a time.
Google up Windows power toys and g down load the image resizer.
I do not resort to photo editing software otehr than the image resizer when I take pictures.If you need to do that then you are not getting a true reproduction of the picture you took.
People who try to put "ARTSY" effects in their pictures turn me off from the pen.Crop and replacing the pen on a different background loses caritl and definition.The pen will look like a "painting" of a pen not a photograph.If you want to do that then just draw a picture of a pen and take a picture of that.
If you have enough light,a good background(neutral) and frame it correctly(diagonally to get the most pen in the picture) taking the picture necaomes an automaic excercise.There is no need for photo software or extraneous "stuff"
I can take a picture save it to my XP software, resize it and post it in under 3-4 minutes.
This is an example of one I uploaded on a different site in that time.
it isn't wood but it is turned.Note it is the same style kit, a slimline but I am showing you more pen and less clutter.

[DaveO]

Thanks Eagle, good tips. Now if I could only make pens like you, I'd be all set. You what they say about people who consistantly take bad pictures, it may not be the camera, it could be that they are just ugly

Dave

[Eaglesc]

Originally Posted by DaveO

Thanks Eagle, good tips. Now if I could only make pens like you, I'd be all set. You what they say about people who consistantly take bad pictures, it may not be the camera, it could be that they are just ugly

Dave

Dave-
I thought I read that sou were looking for tips.
If I misunderstood please accept my apologies.
Your pictures aren't bad, hey are clear, and sharp from what I can see.A little tweaking on the position and framing of the pen will show more pen and less background.
As far as trying to capture the chatouance,con't botehr the camera cannot duplicate what the eye see's in 3 dimensions.
The camera only see's 2.
Chatoyance is seen by the naked eye because light is reflected in the figure of the wood.The better the fnish the more you see the chatoyance.
I went nuts once trying to capture the color , chatoyance and grain in a piece of crotch walnut.
It cannot be done with a picture.