# WADDA YA THINK!!!!



## Old Griz (Mar 20, 2005)

Well I broke down and set up a photo box... let me know what you think of these compared to the old photos I posted.... The worst part was getting these suckers to balance on the piece of wood I used.. 
I used 100 watt daylight incandescent bulbs, but think I am going to change to daylight flourescents I have been told they work better without hotspots. The only thing done was cropping and letting Photoshop decide the AutoLevel, Contrast and Color Correction... I did not want to play with them at all... I think the white acrylic threw off the exposure on the acrylic photo... 

These are pics of some perfume pens I turned yesterday and assembled and photoed today... Acrylic, Bethlehem Olive, Cocobolo and Pink Ivory.. 
The cocobolo is from ILikeWood.. the only person to buy it from
The BOW is from a special deal they ran on some "B" grade.. this stuff has some wild colors in it.. even some real subtle pinks.. very nice stuff... 
<center>*Acrylics*</u>





*Bethlehem Olive Wood*</u>




*Cocobolo*</u>




*Pink Ivory*</u>



</center>


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## wdcav1952 (Mar 20, 2005)

Tom, you can't see it, but I am giving you a standing ovation!  The work is your usual awesome, and IMHO, this represents a big jump up in your photos.


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## WoodChucker (Mar 20, 2005)

WOW, much better! they look fantastic. Do you have a pic of your setup? Thanks for sharing!


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## PenWorks (Mar 20, 2005)

Very nice pens Tom, good pic as well. they all look good, but I like the bamboo looking one.


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## Old Griz (Mar 20, 2005)

I don't recall who I stole the idea from, but he is a regular poster here... it could not be simpler.. 
It is a Rubbermaid white kitchen garbage can that I put a white pillow case into.. the subject matter sits on the pillow case...
For the lighting, I used 2 $5.99 clampon work lights with 100 watt daylight incandescent bulbs that shine through the sides of the garbage can... I also set the flash on my Minolts Dimage 5 to the pre-TTL and fill flash setting and a -1.7 compensation to get just a little bit of reflection off the finish... that took a bit of playing to see what the best flash compensation was... 
I was looking for the thread with the picture of the set up and could not find it... 
NOW this is extremely important... DO NOT... I REPEAT DO NOT.. steal the existing garbage can from the kitchen even if the wife says OK... go out and buy a new one... and HIDE that one from her... LOL


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## WoodChucker (Mar 20, 2005)

Well it worked, because your pens look great! Thanks for sharing your setup!


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## smoky10 (Mar 20, 2005)

They all look great but I like the BOW and cocobolo the best. The photography is a whole lot better than my scanner[][:I].


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## btboone (Mar 20, 2005)

Good job Tom.  I've found that PhotoShop autocorrection darkens things down a bit.  I usually use the brightness and contrast control to do the same, but usually use a slightly lighter setting than it would pick.  I also noticed that when uploading pics to the site here that they seem to darken down a bit, so some of the shadow details get lost a little.  The first picture has some of those tendancies, while the BOW pic is lighter.  The lighting does make a big difference.


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## Daniel (Mar 20, 2005)

WOW Tom what a difference, and I agree with your assesment of the Acrylic photo with the addition of a couple more observations. you not only have a white object conflicting withthe dark objects. but even the dark Applicator jsut to the right is sending back alot of hot spots. you can see in the white Applicator that the photo did a better job af getting the light colors than the dark. but it didn't do an excellent job of that either. that is what kept me looking for more of a problem. still good photos as the extreme contrast is always very difficult to get. it menas a compromise in one direction or the other, overexpose and wash out the light colors while bringing ou the detail in the darker ones, underexpose and the dork ones become shadows but yo can see the light colors real clear. IF you really want the light and dark together you coudl take seperate phtotos of each then cut and paste the light one into the picture of the dark ones. but that is a whole other photographic adventure. the other photos are right in there.


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## Old Griz (Mar 20, 2005)

I agree, but I did not want to do any other intervention on these... The acrylics could have used some help, the other three are pretty much dead on... but a little tweak here and there could be done... I should have taken the BOW's from a different angle to make them stand out more...
Wanted to see what these looked like compared to the ones I used to do just using the camera and flash... I am real happy, even if it does take longer, it will make a big difference on my website when I get around to doing all my pens... WHOOPEEEE. that should be a day's work alone... 
 Man it is amazing how much I forgot about good photography since I stopped using my Nikon for this kind of stuff... LOL.. I have basically been using the digital for a point and shoot camera even though I know it is capable of much more..


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## Daniel (Mar 20, 2005)

I forgot,
 your comment about getting the pens to set still. there is a putty you can get from art supply houses that ou can stick to the back of the object to get it to stay put. don't use the sticky stuff that they sell at wal mart for keeping pictures straight ont he wall. it will damage the finishon your pens. the stuff at the art store ia a different formulation that will not stain or eat finishes. it's made for sticking on fine and valuable pieces of art. I have some stuff that is called Quake wax that does the same thing but is alot messier.


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## darbytee (Mar 20, 2005)

Wow Tom. The photos look great, and if that BOW is B grade I'd like to sign up for some of the A grade. Beautiful work as usual.


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## Sawdustier (Mar 20, 2005)

I wanna say WOW!! but that just doesn't seem to be enough.  Great work and pics.


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## wayneis (Mar 20, 2005)

Tom thats great photography, I'm impressed to say the least.

Wayne


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## KKingery (Mar 20, 2005)

Beautiful pics Tom!


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## opfoto (Mar 20, 2005)

Nice work on both the photos and the pens Tom.


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## melogic (Mar 20, 2005)

Tom,
Great job and thanks for the tip on the photo booth. My wife and I have a new white trsh can on our list for Wally world. Have you tried different color pillow cases for the background? I wonder how this would work. I already have the clip on lights, that's what I use all over the shop for direct lighting. I have the Blue light bulbs from GE. They are supposed to be a natural light source or something like that. By the way, my wife loved the perfume pens as well. Just gave her some more ideas for turning some. Keep up the fantastic work!


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## Rifleman1776 (Mar 20, 2005)

All very nice items, well done. Your lighting still showed some glare but I believe it highlights your excellent finish. Your choice of woods is good too. Nothing far-out exotic but always make good looking turnings.


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## PenPauli (Mar 20, 2005)

Those are just beautiful,  I was thinking of making them but my wife doesn't think they would sell.  Do you sell quite a few of those?  Again they look great.


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## TomC (Mar 20, 2005)

Real nice work, you have a lot of beautiful pens.

Tom


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## woodscavenger (Mar 20, 2005)

Tom, glad you are sticking around.  
Daniel, thanks for the putty tip, I had not thought of that.  I will put that in my photo accessory pile.
Tom, the clarity on the photos is much better.  I am able to see the details of the grain and the color much better.  Not to be critical but I wonder if you have too much contrast or a little to much white point?  It may be that I have not calibrated my monitor in a while.  If others see the same you may want to do a web search for a monitor calibration program, there are several freeware and internet versions that help you calibrate your monitor to photo appropriate colors, contrast, and brightness.  A couple of years ago I kept posting some photos online and thought they looke great but kept getting hammered on the online opinion segment.  I found out my monitor was way off so when I corrected for what I thought were camera setting problems, I was really taking a well balanced photo and screwing it up.  If I am way off base, just ignore me.

BTW I really like the variety of woods and shapes.  I am venturing into a few acrylincs myself.


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## Scottydont (Mar 20, 2005)

Awsome Tom! Thanks for posting the info.


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## Fleabit (Mar 20, 2005)

Very nice group of pens Griz!


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## swm6500 (Mar 20, 2005)

Those are very nice, I need to try the trash can photo box.


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## JimGo (Mar 20, 2005)

NICe job Tom!


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## woodpens (Mar 20, 2005)

Gorgeous, Tom. Simply gorgeous!


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## jwoodwright (Mar 20, 2005)

Great work and great photos.  Very impressive.


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## dougle40 (Mar 20, 2005)

Much better pics Tom .


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## Ken Massingale (Mar 21, 2005)

Beautiful pens, and a dramatic change in the photos, Tom.
ken


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## Old Griz (Mar 21, 2005)

Paul, 
They sell well for me during the holiday seasons as gifts.. these are for my indoor farm market booth for mid-April-June.. that will cover Mother's/Father's Day and Graduation gift crowd... I also package them with a matching pen, usually a DP Euro and sell the set for $75.. I put them in the Berea clear top double boxes, they are only $0.85 if you buy 50 or more... all my higher priced pens are sold with that box... 
During Nov/Dec I sold about 30 of them for $30/ea. I found that the nicer woods are the ticket as well as the varied shapes.. my best sellers are the BOW, cocobolo and Pink Ivory.. I am hoping the acrylics do as well.. 
I only buy my cocobolo from Bill Jacob (Ilikewood) on the group here.. he always has the nicest stuff.. I have never seen as good anywhere else.. he also gets some real nice antler at times 
SWHTM thought the price was going to be too high for my area (Western MD), but I believe in the concept of perceived value in pricing your better stuff... if the price is too low, the customer believes it is garbage... raise the price and it is gold... LOL.. I actually did better during Christmas season with my higher prices pens $50 and up. I could not keep antler and corn cob Cigar and Perfect Fit pens in stock at $65/ea 
I still have a bunch of slimlines and streamlines that did not sell at $25/ea, but I can't see raising the prices on them... will most likely use them as loss leaders.  I have a few customers that were buying 3-4 pens at a time during Christmas... those customers got a free slimline.  I figured my cost on the slimlines was about $2.50 w/o labor.. if they were spending $150 or more it was no big deal to give them a slimline... it made their day and I got repeat business when they told others...


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## lkorn (Mar 21, 2005)

Tom,
Beautiful work. Much improved photo's !!  
Could you send a photo of the photo setup, I really need to 'borrow' some of your ideas.[8D]

BTW- How far is Hagerstown for Thurmont, I'll be there the w/e after Mothers Day.
Thanks,  Larry



> _Originally posted by Old Griz_
> <br />Well I broke down and set up a photo box... let me know what you think of these compared to the old photos I posted


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## Old Griz (Mar 21, 2005)

Larry, Thurmont is about 18 miles away... you take Rt64 through Catoctin State Park all the way.. it is a nice drive through the park.  If you are coming to the farm market and need better directions let me know... 
Would love to meet you...


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## Old Griz (Mar 21, 2005)

As I said I can't take credit for the photo booth I stole it from Don... here is the thread with his picture
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4277&SearchTerms=photo,booth


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## tomwojeck (Mar 21, 2005)

Tom,

Your pens are incredible, and thanks for the repost of the photo booth link!

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where do you get your Pink Ivory from?  I have a neighbor graduating high school, and I'd like to make her something in a sterling silver with pink ivory.

Thanks,


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## Old Griz (Mar 21, 2005)

As far as I am concerned the only place to buy pink ivory is Ryan at www.woodturningz.com... make sure you buy the A grade and if it is for a real special project tell Ryan or Jason that you need it real bright... a real bright pink ivory will look great with sterling silver... one of the pieces I did for the perfume pens even had some curl to it..


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## driften (Mar 21, 2005)

I think you did a great job on the photos and the pens!


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## lkorn (Mar 21, 2005)

Actually, I visit there every year for a flyfishing weekend for kids. The "Brotherhoodof the Jungle ****".  They meet the w/e after Mothers Day every year. This year it's 13, 14 and 15 May. I may be able to breakaway for afew hours on Sat afternoon.  Or possibly Sunday.. I'll keep you posted.



> _Originally posted by Old Griz_
> <br />Larry, Thurmont is about 18 miles away... you take Rt64 through Catoctin State Park all the way.. it is a nice drive through the park.  If you are coming to the farm market and need better directions let me know...
> Would love to meet you...


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## mik (Mar 21, 2005)

Nice photos - I have to do something with my light box too!

Try as a background a grey colored non reflective material without grains - the correct colour grey is called "printers grey no 2". This does give any feedback to your camera and you can tune in on the subject. 

Question: Why is the BOW B grade, it looks pretty good to me [8D] - in fact better than any I have seen before, it looks hand picked? Did you have much repair work to do as you went along in construction, cracking etc?


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## Old Griz (Mar 21, 2005)

Actually Mik, I am not sure about the BOW... I remember them having a sale on what they called B blanks... I assumed it was the grade.. but the more I look at it the more I think it may have been their burl blanks... 
Absolutely no repair work at all on these blanks... no cracking or splits along the way... 
I have a couple of more of them that I am saving for some special pens... these were about average for the lot... I have a pretty good working relationship with them.. they usually send me really nice blanks when I buy... in fact they asked if they could use that picture on their website for advertising.. who am I to refuse .. LOL... 
As for the background, I agree... all I had around the house was a clean white pillow case.. LOL.. I have to get to the art supply store and buy some backing to do it right... at least I know I have the basics of the light box down pat now... I just ordered some trumpet shaped daylight flourescents that should make the lighting even better..


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