Bead Photography Tutorial

Photography tip for shooting clear dichroic

After photographing  some Dichroic Scraps and I discovered something I wanted to share.

The Dichroic Scraps will be on sale in the Fun House so they needed some photos. The scarps were of dichroic on clear. I had a problem was when I was photographing them on white I was loosing all detail.

So what I did was place a black piece of foam-core out of frame to see if I could get a little contrast and something really cool happened. The color on the Dichroic Scraps jumps out.

Here is what append when I placed a black piece of foam-core behind it.

As you can see it made an amazing difference. So if you’re having problems photographing dichroic beads try putting something dark  next to it out of frame.

Are All 104 COE Blacks the Same?

I have gotten a lot of questions about what is the best 104 COE black glass to use, so I decided to address this recurring question with this blog posting. Read more

How to create a DVD cover in Photoshop.

I just wrapped up my Photoshop for Lampworkers DVD and just finished the cover artwork. I want to show you the process of how I created a cover. I thought it would be helpful to those of you who want to create your own tutorials, Ads or promotional graphics like fliers, ads or web graphics. My Goal for the design was simple, clean but not boring. Read more

Photoshop tip: Layer Masks

show you 2 techniques using the Layer Mask in Photoshop to enhance your Bead photography Read more

Increase Photoshop productivity with Actions

Here is a 6 minute walk through video showing how to use Actions in Photoshop. Actions are one of my favorite tools. It allows me to do a menial task once, copy what i did and do it to another image with one click of the mouse. Read more

More tips for using light modifiers.

My theory was more lights there were meant for better photos. Later I learned that is not the case. It’s all about how you use the light. Some times more light makes it worse. The photos would have too much contrast and hot spots. I needed to develop something that would allow me to easily set up and break down for any type of bead, pendant, marble or sculpture and any type of glass as well. I would shoot something like Dark Ivory a lot different than an opal or dichroic. Read more

Photoshop tip: How to make a seamless pattern from a photo.

How to make a custom seamless pattern. This technique is great for creating patterns for web banners and backgrounds. You can use any image to do this. I’m going to use a beads by Patricia Frantz. Read more

Update on Reactive Silver Glass

In my struggle to learn how to get the most out of  all those reactive silver glass colors that have come out on the lampworking market, I have stumbled on to some lovely combination’s.

I ask almost ever beadmaker I come in contact with, what do they do with the reactive silver glass colors?  Have they found any good combinations or ways to use this somewhat temperamental glass?

One of the best answers I have heard was “Make Twisted Cane out of it”!  I decided to do a bunch of experimenting around this idea.  I tried a lot of different combinations of reactive glass and discovered that it was better to use the lustering glass colors together and use the striking colors as a separate twisty group.  This system did work, but I have gotten some interesting results mixing both in a single twisty.

I really like some of the results I have gotten out of the lustering colors; they can produce delicate luster patterns or screaming bright almost mirrored luster patterns that are just wild to look at.  When I try to photograph the highly lustered beads, I am disappointed by the fact that this effect is hard to fully capture in a photo.

Another combination I discovered by trolling the different lampworking websites, is using CiM Sangrewith Double Helix Auraetogether.  This is a fabulous combination that yields amazing electric color reactions.  I made one twisty out of Sangre and Aurae, using it over CiM “Peace” and was wowed by the resulting bead.  This bead came out a luminous lustered blue between little squares of black edged gray, a totally unexpected result!

With further experimenting, I found that Aurae used as a decoration over Sangre and lustered in a reduction flame before encasing, yields a great reaction out of the Aurae. This combination brings out brilliant lustered blues from the Aurae which start’s out as a light purple transparent rod.  I find the transitions almost mind blowing, but that is what is so exciting about the reactive silver glass colors.

One other way to get interesting results from the Sangre and Aurae combination is to reduce a stringer of Aurae before you apply it to a dot of Sangre over dark ivory.  After the dot is flattened and reduced again, put a bump of clear over the top of the dot and the Aurae will make cream colored lines dance over the electric lustered blues of the Aurae.

I must say, that there is never a dull moment when I am working in the new reactive glass colors.  I hope that my recent findings are helpful and fun for those who try them.

I have included a photo of a bead I made with some of the Double Helix murrini that Frantz Art Glass gave away in customer orders a couple of weeks ago.  If anyone made a bead out of their free murrini, please send me a photo of how yours came out.

Photographing Small Beads is Easy

A solution for photography of small beads. Keith talks about a simple and cheap solution to. Read more

Bead Photography: Aperture and Depth of Field

What you need to know about Aperture and Depth Of Field for Lampwork Bead Photography. Read more