Bottle Stoppers

[Dave Halter]

I turned some stoppers to send to my sister in AZ. They are having a big neighborhood sale and she's going to try to sell these for me. The stoppers are turned from redheart.


This is also my first attempt at using a makeshift photo tent. It worked okay, but I don't think I have enough lighting for the size of the tent.

Dave

[Dave Halter]

More redheart stoppers

[Dave Halter]

Hickory and walnut stoppers

[Dave Halter]

Lastly Mara and anothe Redheart

[David Christopher]

Dave, those are some fine looking stoppers. best of luck at selling them ( they should go fast )

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dave those are all beauties. They should sell well. I sold over 35 of them from the middle of November to January. They are good sellers. Good luck and hope you sell them all.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work on all of your stoppers Dave! Best of luck with the sales!

[alex carey]

Nice bottle stoppers, I can't imagine someone walking right past them and not buying. Good luck.

[Scott Conners]

Great looking stoppers! I like the very last one pictured especially.
Your photo look quite good, the lighting is great. The reason everything is a bit too dark is that a camera's light meter tries to balance all scenes to 18% gray. When the scene has lots of white in it, it will be underexposed, as you've seen here. To fix it, look for a exposure value compensation (EV) setting on your camera. Giving the photo EV+2/3 to EV+1 1/2 stop compensation will make the background white and the stoppers properly exposed. You can also fix it in a photo editing program, but getting it right in the camera is easier once you figure out how. Great work!

[Dean Thomas]

Nice Job, David!! Good practical and attractive shapes. All are nice, but was struck by the Mara. Greetings to the family!

[Dewey Torres]

Dave,
Where do you get the mini medallions(?) for those?

[Jim Kountz]

Really nice stoppers!! You have some great shape and form going on with some of those, just different enough to be well .......different!! Good job!!

[Dave Halter]

Great looking stoppers! I like the very last one pictured especially.
Your photo look quite good, the lighting is great. The reason everything is a bit too dark is that a camera's light meter tries to balance all scenes to 18% gray. When the scene has lots of white in it, it will be underexposed, as you've seen here. To fix it, look for a exposure value compensation (EV) setting on your camera. Giving the photo EV+2/3 to EV+1 1/2 stop compensation will make the background white and the stoppers properly exposed. You can also fix it in a photo editing program, but getting it right in the camera is easier once you figure out how. Great work!


Scott,
Thanks. My camera does have an exposure control. It also has an "Evaluative" setting, but I need to dig out the book to see exactly what that does. The background I was using is a gray flannel paper. Should I use white instead?

Dave

[Dave Halter]

Dave,
Where do you get the mini medallions(?) for those?


Dewey,
They are acually enameled golf ball markers. If you google College Golf Store you can find them. They sell just the markers separately for $3.99 each. I think they also have a companion store that has NFL, NBA, etc markers, but I have never bought any of those.

Dave

[Dave Bureau]

How much does one get, price wise, for stoppers?

[Scott Conners]

Scott,
Thanks. My camera does have an exposure control. It also has an "Evaluative" setting, but I need to dig out the book to see exactly what that does. The background I was using is a gray flannel paper. Should I use white instead?

Dave
Oh! I thought you were using white paper, and getting gray results. With that in mind, many of the shots are perfectly exposed. The shot with the stopper in the bottle could use a tad more light from the front, but most of them are pretty darn nice. I still might give them a 1/3 to 2/3 stop exposure bump, but only on the darker ones.

[Randy Hoch]

Dave,

What kind of adhesive did you use for the medallions? Any advice on preparing the recess and/or the insert? I just bought some vintage buttons which should look great but I was wondering if I should use epoxy or what.
Your stoppers look great. Thanks for sharing.

Randy

[Steve Mawson]

These are really nice. I too would be interested in where the medallions are acquired.

[Dave Halter]

Randy,
I used epoxy on these, but I've used thick CA on some others. As far as the recess I turn a shallow cup in the top and then put a small shoulder for the insert to sit on. I read to do that somewhere. That way if there's any wood movement it will be less likely to pop the insert out. I don't know if it's really necessary considering the size of the wood piece, but it can't hurt.


Dave