Hedgehog, By Request

[akirlu]

Since Lucy said she wanted to see the hedgehog necklace when it was done, I've uploaded a couple of pictures to Flickr, and now I'm going to try to insert one of them into this entry. Wish me luck...!




Edit: Okay, that seems to work.

P.S. - Product photography is a bitch. I had to toss out most of my images for blurriness: inadvertent camera shake during longish exposures, as I was shooting without flash. And, truthfully, I just don't really love this Canon Powershot. Our Kodak just plain takes better pictures, but the macro-focus feature on it is broken. I'm very much looking forward to trying out the Panasonic Lumix Hal just bought, since the gyroscopic image stabilization is supposed to be able to compensate for camera shake. High tech, yo.

Comments

Lust

[ladyjestocost.livejournal.com]

Necklace lust. That piece is gorgeous. Can't wait to see it in person.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice! That is really good-looking.

I'm a Canon fan, but the Panasonic is really good. I had a Lumix DMC-something last year, but it didn't have any manual settings and I got frustrated with it.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

Shiny! Pretty!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I love the spiral thingies, but then I'm a sucker for spirals in general. So did I miss the explanation of why this is called a hedgehog necklace, or is it just so obvious that you have to be seriously dim to even ask?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Actually, calling it a 'hedgehog' may be a piece of idiolect I picked up from Elise Matthesen. Not sure about the origin. I've always presumed it was due to the fact that, in the process of making one, the artist has to leave a bit of the wire (in this case the spirals), crimped or torch-melted in place on 'top' of every pearl or bead, to hold those beads to the necklace, so there will always be a dense outer halo of poky bits. (Though, as it turns out, having tested the necklace, the spirals are not uncomforatable at all).

So I dunno that it's obvious, precisely, but it makes sense once you've handled one, I think.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Or if you want to waste money, you can use headpins.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

True enough, though it's particularly wasteful becauce it really only solves the problem at one end. You still have to come up with some sort of finial behind the other bead/pearl. So it seems to me you might as well use the same method at both ends, for uniformity's sake.

For that matter, I'm told that if one has a torch, one can make one's own head pins out of wire -- the head comes out spherical instead of flat, but I prefer that look anyhow, and at that point it's no more expensive than any other way of using wire. I meant to take a class in that technique at the local bead store when I could mesh with their class schedules, but I let it ride a bit too long, and the store up and moved to Oregon. Poot.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've read the plaint about the Lumix being entirely automated, but I'm not really that buf about photography at this point. If I want to get all hairy-chested about manual settings, I expect I could borrow Hal's Nikon gear and use (gasp) film.

Um, not that I'm accusing you of needing to wax your chest, of course. You Do So Know What I Mean.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

The necklace, or the camera? :) Knowing Little Miss Gadget-head, it could be either.

Re: Lust

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I wonder if Orycon has space in the art show still? Hmm.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

It's not that hard, you just need to practice how long to hold it in the flame. If you use fine silver, you don't have to pickle it.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, Mary Kay says it's very easy, as well. Hum. Perhaps I'll look into getting a cheap torch. Though I think I will want to set up that workspace *outside* -- so there may be a hiatus for winter. On the other other hand, what with the El Niño this year, we're supposed to have a mild winter. Hum.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Look at http://www.sciplus.com. They almost always have a nice cheap torch. The torch is small, you don't need to worry about using it inside as long as you have something fireproof under the setup.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the reminder! I knew American Science and Surplus were a good source for that sort of thing, but hadn't thought about them in a while. Do you recommend the pencil-torch, or the somewhat larger hand-held? Also, is there any way to tell whether your wire is fine silver or not? I mean, absent asking when you buy it?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, thanks so very much also for your general, ongoing, enormous generosity with hints and help on the jewelry-making. I've lost count of the number of ways you've taught me small but enormously useful things about this stuff. Not least the correct use of my bead crimpers. (The trouble with being self-taught is that I don't always figure stuff out from inspection.)

Also, I mentioned it elsewhere but if you haven't had a chance to try out the Lindstrom ergonomic pliers, *do*. They are such an amazing pleasure to work with, and make all sorts of small tasks both easier and easier to do well. I'm totally in love with the bent-nose and flat-nose pliers I bought, and already feel like they're worth the admittedly steep sticker price.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

The pencil torch is fine for making sphere headpins, but if you ever want to use a torch for something else, you should get the hand-held.

There really isn't a way to tell fine silver from sterling unless the sterling has tarnished. I buy my wire from http://www.monsterslayer.com and send them my scraps for a discount against my next order.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're welcome! I use Rio Grande's house brand tools, Bell, because they come small enough for my hands. I don't do a lot of wire work and so far, these are fine for me. I'll keep the Lindstrom in mind in case I start to do more.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Do you use a tripod? Does the camera have a remote or a delay? That's how I use mine for jewelry.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I haven't been using a tripod with the Canon, no. For the sort of setup I usually lay out when doing quick-and-dirty product photos, it would be a lot of extra hassle. If I were trying to get closer to studio-quality output, I would consider it. Although even then, something much more compact than Hal's big Manfrotto tripod is probably in order. In any event, if the Lumix works as promised, dragging out the tripod should be rendered largely redundant. From the sample shots I've seen, it does remarkably with eliminating camera shake even in much lower light conditions than I'm talking about.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's a good resource to know about too. Particularly for being willing to discount for scraps. I have a small bag that I keep adding bits of silver to, and eventually ought to do something similar with that lot.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're ever in the same place with Elise when she's committing jewelry, she's great about letting people try out her tools to get the feel of them. In fact, it's because Elise let me play with her pliers at Worldcon that I knew I liked the Lindstroms.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

I went this the necklace. This time. :-)

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

A cheap little tripod would fix the shake problem.

The real problem with macro is usually the placement of the actual plane of focus. The picture you have here manages to make it seem deep enough, so the advantage of a tripod might don't seem to have been needful.

It's a nice product shot, and as you say, it's a bitch.

TK

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

What you wand is the Manfrotto mini. It will hold (officially) about 3 lbs, but if balanced properly I've used it for a 300mm on my Nikon F3. It has enough height that a box can be set up and the placement pretty much made mechanical.

The worry I would have closeup,(esp. handheld) is that you lose control of just what's in focus, because it's not shake that's going to ruin the picture, but back and forth (as I have had proven to me far too many times, when trying to shoot insects).

TK

p.s. I forgot to mention that it's a swell bit of jewelry.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Elise is furious at me right now, but maybe she'll be calmer by Mincon.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Silver is up now, you might want to send it soon. I sent two 2x3" bags and got $42.35 against the order.