Spalted poplar HF

[Tim Rinehart]

This spalted poplar is the first wood I ever turned much with. It was from a tree I had taken down several years before I started turning, and I made some awful initial pieces with it...not knowing how special it really was. I kinda took the attitude that it was rotten wood, but good practice. I didn't even know the word spalting when I started cutting up the pieces for turning blanks. Fortunately, I didn't get thru all of it, and sealed/saved away several pieces, though not particularly large. This was turned about 6 weeks or so ago...before I started on some home projects that have absorbed my time.

The photos don't do justice to some of the green heartwood and even pink undertones present.
A little over 4" diam, 3.5" tall and light as a feather. Too many coats of WTF to count, and buffed out, but again, pics don't do justice to the sheen. I may just have to take a local workshop on photography being offered this summer for 6 weeks. I think it may take my photos up a notch.

C&C welcome as always...and I should say a special thanks :) to Steve S who's body of work with SW forms has made this variation among my favorites to do and build upon with so much of the pieces I do.
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[Jon Prouty]

Awesome piece! Really love everything about it.

Are you using WTF on the lathe or off?

Thanks,
JP

[thomas prusak]

Love it . The form IMHO is perfect as is the wood.

[Jim Burr]

You nailed the form Tim...good little HF!

[Dennis Ford]

The form is as good as it gets. Nice wood too.

[charlie knighton]

very nice Tim, wood and form

[Bill Hensley]

Nice job, especially through the small opening. The wood has some nice character.

Your pictures look fine to me. The fact that you don't have any hotspots from the lights on a glossy finish is an accomplishment.

[Jon Nuckles]

Really pretty form and some great character wood. Very Schlumpfesque!

[Dave Haughs]

that's beautiful

[Rick Markham]

That's a super nice piece Tim, glad you saved some of it! I would say, definitely take the photo class, I took one this semester and learned an AMAZING amount of stuff (and it was fun too)

[Dave Haughs]

Be careful, photography is a bigger downward spiral than wood turning is and it can get a lot more expensive a lot faster! The two biggest issues I see with the photos are they are out of focus and the white balance is off if there is supposed to be green and pink tones in there. What are you lighting with?

[Tim Rinehart]

Be careful, photography is a bigger downward spiral than wood turning is and it can get a lot more expensive a lot faster! The two biggest issues I see with the photos are they are out of focus and the white balance is off if there is supposed to be green and pink tones in there. What are you lighting with?
Dave...I have no doubt on that being a big spiral! I was photographing in near darkness, with only a little natural light reflecting in. My exposure time was about 10 seconds...if that tells you anything and my F stop somewhere around 10, if I recall. Anything else...all Greek. I keep adjusting my white balance (changes for same setup but different piece) till it seems about right, then load into Photoshop to correct exposure/color.
Kinda like turning a bowl with a shovel head...may get a bowl and OK results, but better ways of doing it and coming out better!

By the way, thanks all for the nice comments on this piece.

[Bob Bergstrom]

That wood puts maple to shame. Beautiful stuff. Great job turning.

[David DeCristoforo]

My first thought when I saw this is "That's a "darn" fine looking piece!" and I'm sticking with that...

[John Keeton]

Excellent, and drop dead beautiful wood. I will go with David D. on this one - even before I edited his expletive!!!;):D

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece and beautiful wood.

[Nate Davey]

Beautiful form, Tim and the wood is awesome. Would love to hear what you "pic" up from your photo class.

[Kathy Marshall]

Awesome piece Tim! I love the form, don't see how it could get any better and ditto John K on drop dead gorgeous wood!

[Michelle Rich]

terrific vessel

[Steve Schlumpf]

You probably already know that I love the form!!! Really nice! Beautiful wood! Always amazed at the different patterns and colors that the spalting process can create! Nice work!

As far as the photography... might try moving the light source slightly towards the front to lighten up the bottom portion of the form. JMO. If you can take a class - great! If not - just play around with your settings and find what works for you!

[Donny Lawson]

Poplar can have some beautiful spalting and the lines can be amazing. That's how it is in this case. Beautiful piece. I have alot of it spalting right now.

[Deane Allinson]

Wonderful form and wood. Photo/Side #1 is as good as it gets. Not exactly cabinet grade Poplar.
Deane

[Dave Haughs]

As far as the photography... might try moving the light source slightly towards the front to lighten up the bottom portion of the form. JMO. If you can take a class - great! If not - just play around with your settings and find what works for you!

Agreed and there is a wealth of info out here on the interweb too! Like anything practice and experiment!


Dave...I have no doubt on that being a big spiral! I was photographing in near darkness, with only a little natural light reflecting in. My exposure time was about 10 seconds...if that tells you anything and my F stop somewhere around 10, if I recall. Anything else...all Greek. I keep adjusting my white balance (changes for same setup but different piece) till it seems about right, then load into Photoshop to correct exposure/color.
Kinda like turning a bowl with a shovel head...may get a bowl and OK results, but better ways of doing it and coming out better!

By the way, thanks all for the nice comments on this piece.

tripod or no tripod? On the longer exposures, a tripod is key but another little trick if you don't have a remove shutter release is to put the camera in timer mode (like you're going to be in the photo) and take the photo that way. That eliminates the camera shake from when you push the shutter button.

Are you using full blown photoshop or photoshop elements? (just curious, not saying one is better for you just differs what I know about the app).

Sorry for my unsolicited input :) Photography is a lifelong hobby/passion of mine and a side job so I have a hard time not chiming in. It's actually something I feel like I can chip in with on these forums since when it comes to wood turning I but a peasant around here. Its another that the further you get into it the more there is to learn and experiment with.

Lighting gets tricky when you start dealing with reflective pieces :) But a simple way to light things like this is with a cheap store bought light box and two work or desk lights on either side or something like this:

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

A cheap grey card helps dumb down getting the proper white balance as well.

[Steve bellinger]

Wow that's a sharp lookin piece. Didn't know poplar would spalt so nice. might have to try spalting some.