Olive Wood

[Frederick]

Hi everyone,

I have some Olive wood which I thought has attractive figure and grain. This wood seemed very light and therefore not very dense,
I stabilised it yesterday and was amazed at the amount of air that was in this wood. The process did change the colour slightly.
I made this out of it, To enhance the grain I used some BLO but I think it darkened it too much, Anyway, this is what turned out.




I enjoyed doing this one and I am quite happy with it.

Cheers all

 

[yorkshireman]

Nowt wrong with that Frederick mate, looks good. You could do with better lighting for your photos though

 

[Frederick]

Nowt wrong with that Frederick mate, looks good. You could do with better lighting for your photos though

Ah thanks for this. I do have terrible trouble with taking photographs as I just don't have the equipment and I don't have a clue what I am doing.
Most photographs on here are just absolutely stunning with excellent backgrounds and suburb design. I will keep trying though.

Cheers

 

[fortress]

I’m not sure about the Darker Olive Frederick, I like to see it in it’s natural colour. But having said that, it is striking on that pen, nicely done. Note to self...shut up. Lol

 

[Frederick]

I’m not sure about the Darker Olive Frederick, I like to see it in it’s natural colour. But having said that, it is striking on that pen, nicely done. Note to self...shut up. Lol

Hello John,

I totally agree with you it would have looked a lot better if it were lighter. The BLO did make it darker but I think the cactus juice and the stabilisation process was the main culprit. I have a few blanks left so may try and turn them as is i.e unstabilised and see what happens, Perhaps I will just go for a straight wax finish and see if the initial colour holds.

Thanks for the comments, always appreciated.

Cheers
Frederick

 

[Penpal]

Love the pen judging by the rest blank it is impressive,I share the dissapointment when finishes darken timber. Olive has so many surprises.

Peter.

 

[sammy]

It looks like a very nice pen to me Frederick, well done.
George

 

[Bucks]

It’s still a stunning looking pen Frederick

 

[Phil Dart]

I like the darker olive. To me, it's what the end result is that counts and that's a great looking pen. I hope you don't mind - I've tweaked your photo a little. It's possible to throw lots of money at a photo setup, but it's equally possible to do it on a shoestring. All I've done is brightened it a bit in a photo editor. You have plenty of light - it's just that your camera or phone or what ever you took it with didn't realise you have plenty of light.

 

[Penpal]

Real time for a discussion on pictures,use of photo editors etc. Cheap or free ones,using an effective library. my biggest problem is remembering what I called pics in my library etc.

I met a guy yesterday whose new camera takes great numbers of pics in a brief moment or two ,chooses for you,combines several,using a world standard 60mm macro lens sharp enough to cut through the average pic making problems.

I remember clearly placing Chrysomelid Beetles in the frig to slow them down long enough to capture their brilliant colours,after all we do not have insurmountable decisions to make to give an adequate pic of a pen,or three pics to show around a pen.

Personally my system takes 5 minutes and I am happy with them. Tired of trying to help by showing etc,the feedback is always minimal.

By the way those Beetles live on the tops of tall Eucalypts and If you think picture taking a chore they have to go to extraordinary lengths to get samples of these,they also can switch off their brilliant colour to suit their mood,bit like girl friends I have observed. Our pens are more static and reliable. My focus is manual,the worst feature of the camera I use is the card is located under the camera so removal and replacement a nuisance,the card is around an inch squared quite small and fiddly.

Tomorrow I am a Steward at my Wood Guilds Annual exhibition and sales,I hope to take and show a few pics of others work with a twenty year old camera.The card comes out the side door and is normal size,the camera will be on its own flash and auto focus. I have to use my disability scooter for the session I will be there. My darling better half helps me lug it out and back. Cest la vie such is life.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[Frederick]

I like the darker olive. To me, it's what the end result is that counts and that's a great looking pen. I hope you don't mind - I've tweaked your photo a little. It's possible to throw lots of money at a photo setup, but it's equally possible to do it on a shoestring. All I've done is brightened it a bit in a photo editor. You have plenty of light - it's just that your camera or phone or what ever you took it with didn't realise you have plenty of light.

View attachment 37273

Hello Phil

Thanks for the help. Of course I don't mind you tweaking the picture, any help I can get is greatly appreciated believe me. I will see if I can find a free or basic picture editing program.
I think there is one that comes with Windows 10. Pleased you liked the pen, thank you.

Olive is such an attractive wood and I am really playing and experimenting with different finishes .
The only way I think I can keep the original colour and look of this wood is to just turn it and then wax it a few times.
I will see what that does.

Thanks for the post - always welcome.

Cheers
Frederick

 

[Frederick]

Hello Peter
I wish you the best for the exhibition and hope all goes well. The camera business sound very complicated to me and although I hate to admit it, i maybe a little on the old side to understand it all.
I like the idea for put the Beetles in a fridge to slow them down. That just would not happen here; to flaming cold anyway.
I appreciate the reply, always welcome.

Regards
Frederick

 

[AllenN]

Frederick, Phil is quite right. The reason that the picture comes out dark is that the camera sees white as grey. That is because in an ‘average’ picture there is not a lot of pure white. Now when you use a white background the camera does not know it needs to reset. As Phil showed you it can be corrected on a computer, but it is usually better to correct it in the camera when you take the picture. Most cameras have at least two ways to do this. It is called exposure compensation and is usually shown as a little +- symbol. To make your white actually look white you have to increase the exposure slightly ie + it makes grey into white. You might need to experiment a little to find the correct setting but once you have found it just set it that way when you take the pictures of the pens. There are more technical ways to describe this but I won’t confuse you. Now some cameras have settings like landscape, beach etc. If you have one of those and it has a setting for snow scene try using that ( often shown as a little skier symbol)
When it comes to correcting on the computer most picture or image programmes have an exposure adjustment slider. Usually if you open the image file it brings up some adjustment settings. They can be a bit crude which is why it is better to do as much in camera as possible. There are loads of free slightly more complex programmes around but it depends whether you are on Windows or Mac. Mind you there is also Google which has an app and doesn’t really mind which system you are on. Just remember it is far easier to do this than to describe it.

 

[wm460]

Great looking pen Fred.

 

[Steve68]

Stunning pen with a fantastic finish. Love it.

As for taking pictures Frederick I'm in the same boat. I don't have a clue what makes a good picture until I look at other peoples.

As I'm new to this hobby, whats BLO?