Engraved Centafante

[Ray Cover]

Here is Frank Centafante folder I finsihed yesterday for a customer.

The tail lock was a challenge to design for since it is only on one side. I Figured I had to come up with some kind of background that would make the area look engraved without having to cut scroll apart to cover that tailpeice. I had seen some floret backgrounds that Jim Small has done and it gave the me idea for this background. I did not cut my blocks into florets but I think the quilted look comes accross fairly well.

Your thoughts?

Ray

 

[KSnyder]

Ray,
I like your style,very elegant and not too fussy.
should be a very happy customer.
Kent

 

[Joe Mason]

Nice Ray, I like the scroll pattern.

Joe

 

[drmgcm]

Very nice Ray, not too complex, nice and elegant, my kind of style.

Regards

Danny

 

[Sam]

Nice work. A little levels and color adjustment in Photoshop really makes these photos come alive.

 

[Ray Cover]

Thanks guys!

Hey Sam,

If you tweeked them post them. I don't know enough about photoshop yet to know how to deal with levels and such. I can add contrast and sharpen things a bit but thats about it.

Ray

 

[ron p. nott]

hi ray .. very nice job on that knife i have done a few of them in the last couple of months i like how you havdled the back ground .. thanks for showing .. ron p.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Very nice Ray. The scroll has a nice banknote look and the background seems to accentuate it.
Mike

 

[Jim Small]

You done good Ray.....!
Jim

 

[ddushane]

Now That's what I'm talking about! Sweet Job!

 

[Marcus Hunt]

What does that tailpiece cut like Ray. I love Centofante's knives but I hear that those tail buttons are HARD! What graver steel do you use to cut them?

 

[Ray Cover]

Thanks guys.

Marcus,

THis one did not seem particularly hard. The thing that irritated me about it is the vibration. It is hard to wedge the thing up so it does not vibrate. But I did not think it was all that hard as far as being heat treated.

Ray

 

[Gargoyle]

Hey Sam,

If you tweaked them post them. I don't know enough about photoshop yet to know how to deal with levels and such. I can add contrast and sharpen things a bit but thats about it.

A bit off topic, but:
Some basics on jpgs and internet images. JPEG is a "lossy" format. That means every time you save a jpg you lose some detail. Therefore, Take your initial photo and immediately save it in a "lossless" format, like TIF. Do all your work in that format, and always keep your TIF image as a backup. When everything is exactly like you want, save it ONE TIME as a jpg to post on the internet. If you need more adjusting, go back and tweak TIF image. If Sam takes Ray's JPG now and does more adjustment, the color and balance can improve but fine detail will deteriorate.

 

[Sam]

That's why I shoot RAW. I always have my original 'digital negative' and can tweak and manipulate as much as I want. Doing the same thing with a TIF is nearly as good as it's uncompressed. RAW files allow very precise and effective white balance correction and about 2 stops + or - exposure correction.

Ray's images are already highly compressed and there's not as much data to work with. They can be improved, though.

 

[Ray Cover]

Uh, what???????????????

 

[Ray Cover]

Ya know i have never like digital format.

When it comes to photography I am an old dinosaur. I am a pentax K1000 deciple and photographic armagedon came ( along with debachery and the downfall of the human race) when that model ceased to be made. I used to take very good photos with the old manual SLR cameras. I have even taught camera and darkroom techniques in the art department of the local college. Then some wise guy had to go and upset my apple cart.

I struggle a lot with the new digital cameras. Switching form a split screen focus to that little window thats too small to see is a pain. But I think my biggest problems are with all the various digital formats and how they work. Jpeg, tif, btmp, etc, etc, its just too much.

Ray

 

[Sam]

Nothing at all wrong with film. Abigail and I sold the last of our film gear and we're all digital now. I said goodbye to 30+ years of Nikon equipment and my beloved Toyo GX 4x5 view camera. For us, we're getting better results than we did with film. This can be attributed to the highly advanced sensors in today's digital cameras, better lenses, and of course Photoshop for editing. It just keeps getting better.

The various image formats are confusing at first, but they're not difficult to grasp.

 

[Glenn]

Sam,
What do you mean better lens? Better than my German lens on my old 35?