Picture Perfect Live Chat

by Jake on June 25, 2009

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Last night I participated in a live chat with Jen Kiaba and Timothy Adam.  It was very informative and I believe everyone came away with something to add to their photo skills toolbox.  You can read a transcript of the chat here.

Till next time -

Jake

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Photography, A Learning Process

by Jake on June 17, 2009

Cincopa video hosting solution for your website. Another great product from Cincopa Send Files.

When I started turning pens several years ago, I seldom even took a picture of my work. Of course, looking back, I wish that I had so that I could see the progress I have made over time. That is one reason why I made the recent changes to this site and started trying to blog about the pens and things as I made them. One thing it has done for me is to increase my camera useage, and with that my skills and techniques behind the lens.

While I still want to get a DSLR Camera, I am learning to improve the product I get from my little Fuji Film Finepix digital. It is pretty old as modern cameras go, but it seems to be doing a pretty good job for what I do. I am looking at lighting solutions to help with my ability to take quality macros of my pens. I have seen several tutorials like this one explaining the process for building a lightbox, but call me lazy, I went out and bought a plastic tub in white to serve as my light box. Now I need to start working with different light sources and bulbs to get the colors to come out the way they should.

Till Later – Jake
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Leopardwood Sierra Pen in Copper

by JakeJune 13, 2009

I really like to work with Leopardwood. It turns easily and has a very unique grain pattern. It is a wood that grows in the South American countries of Chile and Brazil. The trees can grow as high as 150′ and have trunks as much as 4′ in diameter.

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My how time flies

by JakeJune 3, 2009

I can hardly believe that it has been 4 days since my last post! I guess that life just keeps on going while you are doing other things. I started a new job last week, well, it is a temporary job, but still and all it is really getting in the way of me being in the shop and working on pens.

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Checkerboard Sierra Pen

by JakeMay 30, 2009

This is really a neat pen. The checkerboard body was made by cutting a black walnut and poplar blank lengthwise making 6 1/4″ slices. These were then glued up to make a 3/4″ thick blank of alternating colors. After allowing the glue to cure, this blank was then sliced into 1/4″ slices and each slice was turned 90″ to create a checkerboard pattern on all 4 sides then stacked, glued, and clamped.

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Desert Ironwood and Copper Pen

by JakeMay 28, 2009

Here is the last item listed on Etsy, a Sierra pen in Desert Ironwood and Copper. It’s really nice!

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Pencils Up! The Making of a Sierra Click Pencil

by JakeMay 25, 2009

Normally, I don’t make many pencils. Most people want pens and few are willing to pay for a pencil, even though the same work goes into one, and generally the parts for a pencil are more expensive than for a pen. It is a more complex device overall, so there are normally more small parts and mechanisms that go into it.

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Blue Illusion Cigar Pen

by JakeMay 23, 2009

I think I may be learning a bit about taking pictures of small items, at least I hope so. It certainly seems to me that the pictures I took of this Blue Illusion Cigar Pen came out well. I took them outside using natural light.

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Curly Koa Cigar Pen Completed!

by JakeMay 22, 2009

Yes! The Curly Koa Cigar Pen has been Completed! I will get it listed on Etsy sometime later today. After a complete do-over on the top finish, the result is very pleasing, well, at least I am pleased with it. I did realize what caused the problem in the first place though, or at least I realized what I did different the first time than I normally do.

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Finished with this Curly Koa Cigar Pen? I don’t think so.

by JakeMay 21, 2009

This just really has not been my week for finishing pens. I am working on a Cigar Pen in Curly Koa (a really pretty piece too I might add), and had finished turning it on Tuesday and started applying finish.

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