Ironwood's Pen Progression
- Thread starter Ironwood
- Start date
I had not seen this thread before @Ironwood so I had to get caught up. Great craftsmanship in the pens and photos. My wife loves collecting pens... not sure that it is safe to show her this page
I really enjoyed it. I will be back.
Cheers Danno, glad you enjoyed the thread. Pens are an interesting subject.
I finished this pen last week, I made 2 pens, so that I could choose one to enter into a competition. I entered the other one and cant post photos of it online until after the comp is finished, but I can post this runner-up.
Its a stainless steel rollerball with Dogwood ( Creek Wilga ) barrels.
Its a stainless steel rollerball with Dogwood ( Creek Wilga ) barrels.
Thanks Marilynne. I think I'll need a bit of luck, there will be some stiff competition .
I bought one of these cheap (AU$40) shooting tables off ebay to try out.
This is my first test shot. I put a flash underneath pointing straight up, and a 24" softbox on the left, and a white reflector card with a black stripe on the right.
I need to play around with the reflector card. I think it needs to be bigger or maybe try to get it closer to the pen. I would like to get rid of the black parts on top of the pen and down at the nib end.
But I am happy with how things are looking to start with, I am sure I can get some improvement yet.
This is my first test shot. I put a flash underneath pointing straight up, and a 24" softbox on the left, and a white reflector card with a black stripe on the right.
I need to play around with the reflector card. I think it needs to be bigger or maybe try to get it closer to the pen. I would like to get rid of the black parts on top of the pen and down at the nib end.
But I am happy with how things are looking to start with, I am sure I can get some improvement yet.
Scott Murray
Senior Member
It looks to me that the black is a reflection, maybe you need a big soft box or reflector directly above the pen filling in the shadows/reflection and reflecting only the whiteness of that surface. Looking good though mate.
I have tried a few different things this afternoon. I have gone to 150mm for now to give me a bit more working distance.
I only have 2 speedlights, so I have taken the one from underneath the table and put it on the righthand side shooting through a white umbrella.
I think this is an improvement over yesterdays effort. ( yesterday I forgot to take my white balance off the custom setting, so that didnt help )
Am thinking I will get another speedlight, I am not sure that I need the one underneath but another one will come in handy.
I only have 2 speedlights, so I have taken the one from underneath the table and put it on the righthand side shooting through a white umbrella.
I think this is an improvement over yesterdays effort. ( yesterday I forgot to take my white balance off the custom setting, so that didnt help )
Am thinking I will get another speedlight, I am not sure that I need the one underneath but another one will come in handy.
The black is actually a complete lack of reflection, the white/silver part below the black is the white cardboard sheet I had on the RHS of the camera being reflected, this is what I need to make it look like the chrome that it is.
Highly reflective metal is a difficult beast
.The softbox from above is something I will try. I have it on a regular lightstand, so I will have to work out how to suspend it from above ( maybe just handheld to try it ? ). If this works, I will buy a lightstand with a boom arm to make it easier.
Scott Murray
Senior Member
Maybe instead of soft box you need a white or grey material to be reflected back onto the pen. I am only guessing here and with out being able to try it out myself I cannot be of any more help.
Yeah, Thats why the light box was working because of the white interior, but it was making the pen look flat. Thats why I want to try this way to see if I can make it work. I have got some big white sheets of cardboard down in the shed, but its been raining heavy here all day, will have to wait for a break in the weather before I am going to get it, maybe tomorrow afternoon. I will persevere with it until I make it work, but......,I was hoping this might be a simple solution, whatever I end up using, I want it to be quick and easy to set up. If it ends up too much trouble and time consuming each time, I will go back to the lightbox. I have that set up so I can slide the door open, turn the lights on and take a photo, takes all of 2 minutes and I am done.
I think the photo in #134 is the best so far, just need to take care of that 12 - 3 o'clock quadrant somehow. I have some things in mind to try. Time for sleep now though.
I put my Nikon 105 G macro lens on today, this might be the ideal working distance for me I think ( I was ready to sell it too, hasnt been used for a long time)
I used just one flash in the softbox, on the LHS of the table.
The first 3 have the white card ( 300 X 350mm ) with the black strip in the middle placed on the RHS reflecting back onto the pen, I have used a large sheet of white packing foam ( 600 X 900mm ) to fill in from the top of the card to the back of the table.
I moved it around for each photo with varying levels of success.
For this photo, I removed the white card and just used the foam sheet, flexed in a curve from the front edge of the table up to the top of the tables back. The foam was positioned on the RHS of the lens and angled to try and get the maximum amount of it showing on the pen.
Any feedback is welcome, I would like to hear it.
I used just one flash in the softbox, on the LHS of the table.
The first 3 have the white card ( 300 X 350mm ) with the black strip in the middle placed on the RHS reflecting back onto the pen, I have used a large sheet of white packing foam ( 600 X 900mm ) to fill in from the top of the card to the back of the table.
I moved it around for each photo with varying levels of success.
For this photo, I removed the white card and just used the foam sheet, flexed in a curve from the front edge of the table up to the top of the tables back. The foam was positioned on the RHS of the lens and angled to try and get the maximum amount of it showing on the pen.
Any feedback is welcome, I would like to hear it.
Scott Murray
Senior Member
Looking good, I am liking all of them and will depend for you what you want in regards to the lines.