Howdy All - glad ya'll enjoyed the look see....now for the questions.......
Okay, first, where can I get conchos like those sunburst types on the first rig?
Second, same question about thr ones on the BP belt pouch.
Forty Rod
Those are all Buffalo Brothers
www.buffalobrothers.net - the big one on the pouch is no longer made
Love your color of the belts. What thickness do you use? And how do you age your spots?
Also do you run a stitching wheel around the perimeter to give it that sewed look even though it isn't stitched?
Thanks for showing us what talent looks like.
Johnny Dingus
My coloring/aging is sort of a drawn out process and there is no single way of doing it - each piece has a mind of it's own!
For single thickness belts I use 8/10 oz unless heavier is requested. If lined I use 6/7 oz lined with 2/3 oz - most of my bark tan comes from Wickett & Craig
Aging spots is easy - dunk them in Birchwood Casey's' Super Blue (not their Perma Blue) - leave until they turn dark, drain off the Blue (save it even if it looks crappy - it can be re-used), Dunk in baking soda and water, drain and dry....If the aging gets worn off just use a fine brush and re-do. If you want some of the brass to show through rub lightly with 4/0 steel wool or a coarse cloth. To finish off rub the whole piece down with a LIGHT coat of your favorite oil/conditioner.
Yep - I use the overstitch wheel for deco - it shows up on quite a few 19th Century pieces.
As for talent - we all have our own - like the old US Army add used to say "Be all YOU can be" - don't EVER sell yourself short. FWIW I've years - gone through all the stages of learning my craft over the last 47+ years - I've hit the wall at times and couldn't make anything "right" or so it seemed to the point I just wanted to say the hell with it - I actually gave up beadwork about 10 years ago for I though good, now I LOVE doing it....But the "need" to do my craft wouldn't let go so I just kept sort of trucking on (taking a vacation from "it" can help though - stagnation happens to all of us).
Then after one such agonizing spell somebody once said about my stuff that "You have captured that elusive Zen concept of perfection within perfection." That made me smile because what had gotten me out of that dry spell was that I had finally (I'm slow sometimes!) realized that perfection is a journey not an end and like the Dine, only the Creator is perfect. Also like them I leave a small, but intentional "error" someplace (I don't count the real ones LOL!) to let my "spirit" free - while making things one imbues it with ones spirit and you don;t want to get stuck there so to speak........It's tough to explain, but I hope this helps and my main reason for sharing my work like this - it's not for self aggrandizement but rather that hopefull it will inspire some one else to find their own talent(s)..........I don't consider myself a master just an eternal student........
Dalton all my photos are taken with what would be considered real Mickey Mouse set-up by the pros. I use a light tent sometimes, but mostly reflected light.
The source is several (4-5) chicken brooder lamps (those cheap aluminum clamp on shop lights) with 100-150 daylight 5500K CFL bulbs (the only use I have for those things
). My set-up is in a corner of the room which has white walls and ceiling which I use as reflectors - one of these days I'll break down and get some regular umbrella reflectors.
Because of time constraints and possible bad weather I do everything inside with drapes drawn so I'm always using pretty much the same light source. I try to use mostly "flat" backgrounds (suede works good) without shiny stuff as much as possible - i.e the ole K.I.S.S. principle
My current camera is a 10 year old 3MPX Sony point and shoot I traded for - nowadays you can buy much more camera for around $200.00 or less (for instance the Canon PowerShot A470 is a great 7MPX camera with an MSRP of $129.00). I'd like a good SLR but for the price..........
Best advice is learn your camera (read the manual and then experiment!!!!), use the best lights you can afford (4 brooders and 4 bulbs should run you around $80.00), and get a decent photo processing program. Adobe Elements is a good one as is Arcsoft's Photostudio - both were under a $100.00 bucks the last time I checked or Irfan View is a good solid freebie. FWIW I have the high end Adobe Photoshop but it is NOT necessary - nice but for the money saved I can buy a lot of leather.
I shoot using a tripod and use the self-timer - helps prevent the shakes. I get the best shot(s) possible - the ones that will need the least amount of tinkering, and then go to the program - I crop to size, sharpen if need be, adjust color, brightness and contrast if need be. With my camera I de-saturate the color a bit and then play with the brightness/contrast to give it the mood I want if it didn't come out of the camera quite right, but IMO the less tinkering you do the better - too much and to me they lose vibrancy........
There's more real good advice elsewhere on photographing at
http://knifenetwork.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=26 and on
www.About.com - it's important how to learn to work with JPEG files (they are lossy files which means you can lose quality so you need to follow a certain simple process)
The downside for me - no matter how good something looks on "film" it's just not the same as holding it in your own hand and eyeballing it!
Hope this helps........
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Topic: What I've been up to..... (Read 37204 times)