My latest segmented turning & photography effort.

[Bill Wyko]

I've been trying to get better at my photography and I needed to take pics of my latest piece. A similar one to my last piece but I liked the pattern so much that I thought I'd just mix it up a little. This one is Walnut, Mahogany, Bocote, Maple & Gabon Ebony. It's turned to a touch over 1/8" thick and it's approximately 7-1/2" x 7-1/2". It was turned entirely using the Glaser 10V with an Elsworth grind. For me, that shape is about the most universal you can ask for. Makes life so easy. If you photo guys don't mind, let me know what you think of the photography. I'm learning more every day.

This was for my Dad for Christmas. 84yrs old and still going strong. God Bless him.
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2109/11908737/23952785/400279568.jpg

[Jamie Donaldson]

This is an excellent piece of segmenting Bill, but the image is slightly underexposed, which causes a loss of color saturation and contrast. I assume the background is white in color, and a camera setting of +1 in exposure compensation for a reflective background like this should yield a more literal rendering of the subject. I'm curious about the 2 darker circles in the field- could be dirt on the lens elements, as spots on the camera chip would be sharper? Your lights are located at about the same height, and you could improve the balanced highlights by lowering the light on the L side.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Bill, looks great from this end. And as you mentioned, I don't think anyone would dislike this shape. I admire segmented work but don't think I could pull it off in my shop, maybe someday.

[Steve Vaughan]

That's a very nice bowl. It's a beautiful shape, wonderful colors and grain. I'm not good at photog either, but I'm guessing the back should be 'whiter?' Great work nonetheless!

[Harry Robinette]

That is a beautiful piece. I really love the colors you put together I'm sure your dad will love it.

[John Keeton]

Bill, that is some really beautiful work!! Your joinery is superb, the color combinations very pleasing, and the form is very nice. I love the ebony rim and accents (kinda into rims right now!) Your Dad is going to love this piece.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks very much for the info and for the compliments. I just looked at the lense, it was quite dusty. It's hard to keep anything clean around here. I'll make some adjustments and try again. Someday I'll get this photography thing figured out.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Bill- make a series of exposures, and vary only the shutter speeds, not the f stops, and this is called "bracketing." Out of those images some will be overexposed with washed out color, and others will be too dark, but somewhere in the middle should be a keeper. I assume that you're not using that terrible "AUTO" setting!

[Bill Wyko]

No auto setting 8-), probably would be better than my manual stuff though.
Ok, here's another try. let me know what you think. And thanks again my friends. I still see the 2 smudges and it seems to be lacking in definition. I wonder if it's dust behind the lense. I'll remove it and check.

This seems a little better than the lower one. (That's it, I'm reading the instructions!)LMAO
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2109/11908737/23952785/400280073.jpg

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2109/11908737/23952785/400280012.jpghttp://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2109/11908737/23952785/400279923.jpg

[Jim Burr]

Dude!! You are a master of segments!!! If I ever hit Az on a trip, you are on my list of "Wanna turn like him" people!!! Just amazing!!!! And God bless your dad!!

[Dan Forman]

Bill - First, the form and segmenting are superb. Photo-wise, are the colors in this last photo of yours closer to real life than Jamies? There was a photo demo thread a few weeks ago that demo's several different lighting approaches on the same object Some photo technique demo's (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?178092-Some-photo-technique-demo-s) Of these, my favorites are the second (silver umbrella bounced light) and last (softbox strobe) setups. They were the best at taming highlights (which can be quite difficult to prevent), and seemed to give slightly deeper color to the object. With a darker form, you need to let more light in to the camera, so it helps to have a gray fabric drape, or graduated background so that it doesn't appear too bright in relation to the form itself, when the form is properly exposed.

That said, I don't yet have a graduated background or set of umbrellas (now officially on my list), so I struggle to deal with the highlights too.

Dan

[Brian Effinger]

Beautiful piece, Bill (as usual :) ). I think Jamie's comments are a good place to start.
Your second attemt is a little darker, but the colors still seem washed out. My only advice would be to play around with your camera's settings. Take many photos - electrons are cheap. When you have several different photos, compare them side by side.

[Bill Wyko]

What ever you did, your copy looks like the real thing.

This is an excellent piece of segmenting Bill, but the image is slightly underexposed, which causes a loss of color saturation and contrast. I assume the background is white in color, and a camera setting of +1 in exposure compensation for a reflective background like this should yield a more literal rendering of the subject. I'm curious about the 2 darker circles in the field- could be dirt on the lens elements, as spots on the camera chip would be sharper? Your lights are located at about the same height, and you could improve the balanced highlights by lowering the light on the L side.

[David E Keller]

Pretty piece, Bill! The bocote is a great choice for segmenting with its uniform striping, and it smells good too!

[Roland Martin]

As usual, your segmenting capabilities are impressive, your Dad will cherrish this one for sure.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Excellent turning Bill! I am sure your Dad loves it!

Can't really offer any more than what has already been said on the photography. Just keep varying the settings and find what works for your setup.

[Michael Short]

As always TOP notch work. I like the wood choice for this project. Great gift for Dad.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful turning Bill. Dad is going to love it.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Agreed. Really great piece and . . . Jamie's picture is the best! :D

I too am looking for his answer regarding what he did to "improve" it.

[Alan Trout]

Bill,

Very nice piece. I really like it.

Alan

[Jamie Donaldson]

Photoshop Elements 3 to the rescue! I'm phrugal, and try to keep things simple!

[Justin Stephen]

Nice form but I really love your feature ring. It's gorgeous.

[Dan Forman]

Photoshop Elements is your friend! I came up with this by simply increasing brightness and contrast in the "Enhance" > Adjust lighting > Brightness and Contrast.

217515

Upping the contrast just a bit often compensates for a loss in clarity that results from shrinkifying the image, increasing brightness corrects underexposure. Most pictures only need work in adjust lighting and possibly adjust color (if white balance is off). Simply work with the image until it matches wheat you see in real life. There is a free editing program called "Gimp", that is said to have most of the features that Photoshop Elements does.

Dan

[Gene Howe]

I know nothing about good photography and very little about segmented turning. But I know artistry when I see it and, your vessels are art!

[Michelle Rich]

I don't know diddles about photography, but I do know segmenting. great colors & great joints.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Bill,
Fantastic work. You've succeeded in making me a lover of segmented turnings, especially yours. I do have a question. You mentioned you turned the entire shape with just your Glaser bowl gouge. I'm thinking about how impossible that would be with a solid bowl. Is the fact that there is no end grain to deal with on the inside what makes that doable?
faust

[Robert McGowen]

That is some very nice work, Bill! I am sure it will be well received.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Bill, very nice piece of segmentation. I applaud your efforts to improve your photography. For most viewers, it's the only image that they will ever see and therefore perhaps just as important as the item itself. One small, very common error that I've mentioned to folks over on the Segmented Woodturners site is levelness. I see so many great turnings, and pretty good photos too, but the image is not level. The human eye is very good at spotting something that's not level. For what it's worth.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks Malcolm and thanks to everyone. I'm determined to get this photography thing sorted out. As far as turning a solid piece vs a segmented piece, I don''t think it would make that much difference. What's really fun about segmenting though, is that you are turning long grain all the way around so these beautiful ribbons start to peel off. In some cases I'd say they could easily be 100 feet long if you don't break them. With a sharp tip, they just shoot off the cutting edge and keep flowing. It really is a blast. I'll have to try a solid piece with the 10V one of these times. Now you've got me curious.
When I made this piece I cut up enough pieces to make 2 feature rings. I'm working on another one very similar to this one. It'll be for my SIL as a late Christmas gift.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Very beautiful, Bill.

[Don Kondra]

Nice piece Bill :)

Perhaps on your next photo session you could find some paper for a backdrop, that will eliminate the wrinkles.

Chances are the "dots" in the images are from dust on your camera sensor, not on the lens...

I always try to do as good as possible out of camera but Elements can do wonders :)

Very quick example...

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/donkondra tests/400280012.jpg