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It's been a while since I made a pipe, but hear is number four for your suggestions. Thank you and sorry for the rotten pics, I will try a different technique next time. I couldn't insert the image for some reason, but there's five pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84298193@N ... otostream/

buster wrote: I couldn't insert the image for some reason

here you go man:

Thank you

buster,

That's your fourth?! Nice job.

Firstly- as this is your fourth, GREAT JOB.

So as far as my two cents go, I'd say firstly:

-Watch your sanding marks, in the first bit I can see a couple dark scratches. Be sure to thoroughly sand with each grit before moving on to a higher grit paper. Honestly getting out marks is gonna take some elbow grease and some practice, you'll get the hang of it with time.

-On the shank to stem transition, from the bottom view my eye is lost and cannot flow along the pipe from stem to stern. While I think this stem is well done, I don't think it suits this composition. I think if you look carefully you'll see that
a.) The stem is actually a bit too long, by probably an inch, and;
b.)the taper and lip towards the shank are actually distracting to the eye.
To improve the overal flow of the composition, I think a delicate saddle stem would fit the bill quite nicely.

P.s. from the side profile I like the crisp lines you have going on your stem, I just think the area towards the shank and the length needs some rethinking.

On the other side of the coin, I see a lot to like about this pipe. What really struck me, was the profile shot. The graceful curve from the top of the bowl and along the underside is wonderful!

I look forward to seeing more from you!

I'll ditto the Yeti more or less.

David.

Yeti,

Thanks for your insight. Yeah, I've got to resand that stem, but I was excited about showing it. I agree about the taper in the stem and length. It's funny before I tried to bend it the length looked ok to me but after is when I noticed it looked a little too long. I'll probably just practice sanding on this one and smoke it myself. I was going for a delicate look though. How do you think the staining looks? I tried to do a contrast stain and not sure how I did. Could I have achieved this look without contrast staining or did I do ok? Ohh, I lied it's my fifth pipe (completed), and I have about 5-10 that ended up trashed.

It's actually hard for me to tell on your contrast stain, the white balance on your camera is set for daylight I believe, and it looks like you were photographing in white flourescent light, which really throws off the colors. For contrast staining, I'd say keep practicing it, Todd Johnson has an awesome post somewhere in this forum on how to get a good contrast stain... but yeah, if I were you I'd leave the stem as is on this pipe and move on to your next one. Just keep in mind the advice on the stem and try to incorporate that knowledge into your next one.

Will do and thanks again. Yes it was under a flourescent light. Is that not the preferred lighting? I need to make a cheap homemade light box.

The biggest thing for photographing on a lower end camera, is to make sur you set the white balance on the camera to white fluorescent. I photograph all my pipes under those bulbs with great results. http://yetipipe.blogspot.com/2012/05/pipe-8_31.html

A great and simple light box setup is this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TK ... 05_s00_i00

I use it in conjunction with two simple desk lamps with matching white flourescent bulbs. Take a little time to learn how to set your white balance on camera and use a tripod- your photos'll look great!

If you're going to spend $40 on the tent, might as well spend $100 and get this
http://www.amazon.com/Cowboystudio-Phot ... 19&sr=1-18
All you need is a camera, a tripod and this and you're good to go