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I just got Christmas in April ... I just received my order of April Sale tops from Bob "Zootman" Cefalu. (Thanks Bob!)

I got two Sitka Spruce and one of the Doug Fir top sets and they are all superb quality. Fine grain, lots of silking in the spruce. Here's a picture of one of the spruce sets:

Dennis E.38461.2950810185

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D..

Thanks Dennis. Boy you take better pic's than I do. I have a hard time with spruce. Any tips?

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I'd say lots of silking, so much it almost looks curly ZOOT mam ZOOT

Bob, I find wood a challenge to shoot, especially the very light or very dark woods.

In this case the light came from a flash bouncing light off of a neutral white ceiling and walls. The ceiling light, combined with the secondary light bouncing off the walls created a very broad, even and slightly diffused light. Most camera flash is about the color of daylight, and my walls and ceiling are a very neutral white, so the color comes out pretty close.

Lighting is the biggest problem for most people. Most casual picture takers don't have bounce flash capabilities. You can move outside and use daylight. But daylight is sort of harsh, and if you shoot in the shade the color tends to be blueish. You could get around that by setting up a card table under a clothesline and throw a white sheet over the clothesline to form a tent. (An old white parachute would be even better.)

Let me know which camera you're using and how you're shooting pix and I'll email you some specific ideas for your setup.

It helps to cheat, too — I wiped the top half with alcohol before shooting — but everybody knows that trick.

I hope I can bring out the subtle pinkish colors and the "curl" when I apply finish to this set. It's engaged to be married to that waterfall Bubinga I bought last year. It makes my knees wobbly just thinking about it.

Or maybe that's just the alcohol fumes.

Dennis E.38461.8096412037

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Dennis I'm using a Sony Cyber Shot 5.1 mp As you know I don't have bounce flash capablities. Using some of those aluminum reflectors with incandescent light bulbs.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Anyone tried scanning successfully?

I just did.

Looks like it works swell for head plates. I had to adjust the color balance and the density but ... well, see for yourself:



Left head plate is Claro Walnut burl from Bruce Creps On the right side is Waterfall Bubinga from Zootman Bob

The scan method can produce scary detail, like this little section from the walnut scan:



You can only get a section of larger pieces in the scanner, but because of the super detail, it would be an ideal way to show a closeup of the grain. I'll try that next.

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Dennis,

Wow. Looks good. I'll probably use mine more often. My headstock template and mockup photos on my reply to the headstock design post was done on scanner. My 2.1 Mpix camera doesn't do closeups really well.

I have a box full of spalted maple and stuff. I'll try to scan that and see how it looks

Thanks again!