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Comment by Terry Waldele on May 11, 2010 at 2:36

Hi Derek.
Thanks for the advice. I'll try adding a lot more light, along with the tripod and self timer. Sounds like the formula I needed. Thanks again.
Terry

Comment by Derek Smith on May 10, 2010 at 17:58

Hello Terry,

I noticed your comment in the photography group regarding camera shake in your photos.

You are on the right track. Use a tripod, plus use the self timer on the camera so you are not
touching it when the shutter is triggered.

Also, if you can fool your camera into using a smaller aperture setting (small iris opening) you will gain sharpness there too.

Most lenses are a little soft when they are wide open, especially around the edges of the photo. I have expensive lenses and I can see a big difference in sharpness when the iris is wide open. f11 is the sweet spot for sharpness on most lenses. f11 requires lots of light!

This photo of the gorgeous inlay looks like there was a little camera shake, plus you are getting allot of digital noise because you are shooting in low light. If you set up your camera where there is lots of light, you will get less noise and a better aperture setting. (set the camera's ISO setting to 100 if you have that option).

Good luck, holler back if I can be of any help.

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 3, 2010 at 2:05

Thanks, Captain. Over the past several months, I collected all the information on inlays I could and studied inlay work by other knifemakers. So, I'm self-taught, but I have a lot to learn yet. In preparation for doing the inlays on this knife, I must have filled 5 or 6 pages of practice scroll work drawn freehand and 3 or 4 test inlays before I actually designed the pattern for this knife and executed it. Loved every minute of the practice, design and execution.

KnifeMaker Comment by CaptJeff Saylor on May 2, 2010 at 23:27

how did you learn to do that? it looks like you been doing it for years! very nice!

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 2, 2010 at 5:45

Thanks, Derek and Captain, for the kind words!

Comment by Derek Smith on May 1, 2010 at 23:18

Nice job on the inlay!

KnifeMaker Comment by CaptJeff Saylor on May 1, 2010 at 12:03

WOW that looks awesome Terry! great job!