Official Luthiers Forum!

I posted things backwards again.
The first set of photos (black background) are previous builds...BUT..I hired a PRO photographer to take a series of these guitars before they are gone....and 2 are now gone. I must say, the cost was worth it. He looked at things a bit more artistically than I did through a camera and only took him 1 hr.. I ended up with 100 shots of 4 guitars on a CD for $100.00.
Best $100.00 I have spent in a while.

The blue/Green background photos is my latest.
Here's a Cocobolo/Sitka L-00 finally completed. AS you can see...I ATTEMPTED to match the photo skills of the pro and fell VERY short. As soon as I finish my Koa L-00...he'll be back to take more photos. No use building a guitar and represent it with a $2.00 photo representation.

Kent Bailey

_________________
Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Very cool carving! Love those necks.
(the rest of the guitars look nice too)

Dave

Love the carvings , and I especially like the Maple Leaf Sound port !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Indeed, wonderful carving work, Kent.
Ever thought of doing that for other builders?

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Nice work! And good value on the photos. I just spent 150, got 25 shots total of 4 guitars. I brought 8 to the session, so half are missing entirely. If I didn't make so much money building guitars I'd be upset. Ahem....

Turn your flash off. That's usually what makes photos look bad. If it's too dark just adjust the lighting in the room. It takes a little while to get the hang of how much lighting and where, but hey, that's why the pros go to school for it. He did a really nice job too, and the guitars are awesome. Love the carving so much. Have you tried a dark brown wood rosette and then carved inside that? THAT would be interesting.

^ This. I'm no pro by any means, but I think 95% of the "bad" guitar photography could be solved with turning off the flash and/or using a tripod. I haven't tried it, but I've heard you can also tape a piece of white paper over your flash to act as a cheap diffuser so you don't get the harsh reflections and shadows.

_________________
______________________________
Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

A bit of Kleenex over the flash, even on a $50 camera will work wonders...

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

He used a flash for the whole session and had a silver reflective umbrella behind him. The Kleenex trick will be my next attempt to modify my crappy pictures.

And...to answer Stevens question. I carve for a living and I've carved designs in musical instruments for 30+ years. Ome Banjo Co. is my biggest client which sends me several necks and resonators every year. I have also carved for a individual guitar luthiers.

If you ever want something a bit different looking for a special project....just let me know.

Kent

_________________
Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Stunning as always, Kent!

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck