Club Obi Wan

I have just finished a 32 plait brandy and tan 8ft collectors bull whip for a customer and thought I would post it . The ring is 18carat gold with silver accents 1 1/2 inches long. Unfortunately I could not get a good photo of the ring itself because of the shine. If anyone has any tips to eliminate this when taking a pic of very shiny objects they would be most welcome.On the back of the ring is engraved:"No man should think he can live his life without pain and be favored to the very end"Engraving and making of the ring was done by myself and a bit nerve wracking because when you have $1000.00 worth of gold sitting in front of you and you know if you make a slip it's back to square one and your going to have to pay for it,it makes you verrrry careful.





Kind Regards.
Bernie.

WOW!!! That's some skilled hands you got there. You always got great whips.

Bernie,

Absolutely AMAZING!!! Beautiful piece of work. Do you happen to know how many hours you have in this piece, not including making the ring?

As for the shine problem with the pictures, I read the other day about using a coffee filter over the flash for close ups. You may want to give it a try, I haven't yet. If you do, let me know how it works.

Again, great work! )

Regards,

Paul Nolan
MidWestWhips

Looks very nice! Thanks for posting the pic.

I usually try to take my pictures outdoors in natural light, without using a flash. To get a pic with no glare, I wait for a cloudy day, the clouds really disperse the light. That's what works best for me, though I'm sure there are some photographers lurking on this forum.

-Adam

About 50 hours went into the whip itself Paul and I'll try the coffee filter idea,just have to get one or something similar. I read somewhere that a lighting box is the way to go but as always the time has to be found to make one.I'll also try the cloudy day as well because your pics always turn out well Adam. Our biggest problem at the moment is getting a cloudy day because of the drought. If it doesn't break soon I can see it being a problem getting hold of good quality roo hides again.
I noticed the last whip that you posted Purewhips and you are doing some quality work there especially for the time that you have been making whips,great job.
Kind Regards
Bernie

Paul's onto something there with the coffee filter thing. If you put some sort of diffuser on the light, that will help immensely.

In days when I still did such things, I'd use a floor lamp, take the shade off of it, (you can also use a clip on work-lamp or those work lights that come on the big yellow stands you can get at about any hardware store,) and just use bent up wire coathangers to make a sort of frame, and then use scotch tape and clothespins to attach wax paper to it. The wax paper will diffuse the light well, and it's not likely to overheat and burn or catch fire the way regular paper will.

Even better, faster, and more reusable than that is a good tried and true technique that I still do for faking a $1000 photography setup, or to get that "Ingrid Berman in Casablanca," (Arthur Edeson is a GOD!) soft lighting effect for film and video, is to go out and pick up a few plain white chinese lanterns, (the round ones work best for even diffusion.) and put a 30-50 watt bulb in it. Put one on each side of what you're photographing to even out the shadows, (or use one 30 watt bulb and one 50 watt bulb to mimic the key and fill light effects of three point lighting,) and take your picture without a flash.

Removes glare, and makes your stuff look like a pro photographer came in and did it.

Hope this helps.

And by the way, Bernie! HOLY SHNIKIES! That is one gorgeous whip! I doff my Akubra to ya!

All the best,

-Dan

Thanks Dan,I'll give that a whirl. As luck would have it I received a commission today for a 64 plait whip so I'll practice up and hopefully get it to a stage where I can get some really good photos of the 64 plait whip to post.

Wow, Now that is one beautiful bullwhip Bernie! I love the pattern work in the platting, and I even like the colors...

Can't wait to see how that 64 plait whip comes out when its finished.

Dan

I can't wait to see it either!!!

That is some beautiful work. Even someone that did not like whips would have to admit that whip is a work of art.

I can understand being nervous engraving something that costly.

Beautiful whip ! I hope one day to own one!