Attribution is organic to the picture, etc.

When I first saw this picture I thought, "damn, that is a fine looking shootin' iron". This morning I was talking with a friend who is much more knowledgeable than me about these matters. He 'splained to me why it looks, and is, so good.

Allow me to paraphrase:

1. All the contours meet on the sidewall.

2. Look at how the underside of the grip blends into the sidewall, especially.

3. Now look at how the the lines, and the contours, continue into the wood. The metal and wood look to be part of the same whole entity.

4. Now, here is the crux of the matter. The photograph is set up with the lighting to show exactly the above. The slightest bit of high/low wood, or deviation in the lines, would be magnified in the above picture.

My take on this is that doing that rifle that way, and photographing it as was done, is the equivalent of Karl Wallenda walking the high wire, no pole, no net, in the wind.

LD

You might quickly explain to SDH and others with concerns how you imbedded the attribution in the pic above so that they may, in the future, feel comfortable posting the pictures that we all benefit from.

You're right BTW, simply wonderful work all around.

Lawndart............who is Karl Wallenda

Beautiful rifle and I agree with your views on the workmanship...but as a person with an extensive background in photography I must disagree with you when it comes to your analysis of photo’s composition.

Surface perfections and/or imperfections are much better highlighted by composing the shot at a much more severe angle to the rifle rather than at an almost 90 degree angle... and raking the lighting in from the side more would do a far better job of showing how the wood and metal meet than does the flat lighting used in that picture.

The wood “could be†higher or lower than the metal where they meet and you couldn’t see it in that picture.

Karl Wallenda was the patriarch of "The Flying Wallendas". This was a family of high wire/tight rope artists. They came out of the Austo-Hungarian Empire's waning years. Karl, the patriarch, was one of the pioneers of walking the tightrope far above the ground, and without a net. He died from a fall in 1978 during a walk in Puerto Rico at the age of 73.

More here: http://www.wallenda.com/history.html

LD

If you look at the highlights of the photograph which extend back from from the sidewall, you will notice that the angles in the highwall extend back into the wood. You are looking at real art in stockmaking. Lawndart is, I think, just trying to show us that the photograph shows more than just a good looking rifle and a photographer couldn't fake that with different lighting.

Hmm, looks somewhat better than the low wall I rebuilt into a 38 extra long 15 years ago. You would fall down laughing at my attempt at a scheutzen stock-gotta fix that before it comes up at my estate sale.

If you like this one, you should really see another of his low walls. A .22 with a patch box. I got to see it at the Minneapolis Art Museum a few years back. Pretty nice rifle.

Brent

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
If you look at the highlights of the photograph which extend back from from the sidewall, you will notice that the angles in the highwall extend back into the wood. You are looking at real art in stockmaking. Lawndart is, I think, just trying to show us that the photograph shows more than just a good looking rifle and a photographer couldn't fake that with different lighting.

Wink,

Don’t get me wrong, that is a beautiful rifle. My only point was that 90 degree (or close) camera and lighting positions are used to hide surface imperfections not show their absence.

“One-Eyed“ cameras have no real depth perception, and the only way to point out surface texture or any difference in height of adjoining surfaces shot at 90 degrees is to the rake the lighting in from the side and create shadows.

Side light me in a photograph and my wrinkles make my face look like a street map of downtown Los Angeles!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:

Side light me in a photograph and my wrinkles make my face look like a street map of downtown Los Angeles!

I can personally attest to that! ROFL! Sorry Rick.....just couldnt resist.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Soverns:

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:

Side light me in a photograph and my wrinkles make my face look like a street map of downtown Los Angeles!

I can personally attest to that! ROFL! Sorry Rick.....just couldnt resist.

Hey, Bill...I earned each and every one of those wrinkles and I’m proud of them!

Thought you had fallen off the planet or something brother...what you been up to? Did you harass Chic for some of the Tung oil?

SDH,

Pardner, the rifle is incredibly gorgeous...and I have not said otherwise.

The photo is great for showing the overall beauty of the flowing shape, design, engraving, and figure in the wood...which are best viewed from 90 degrees, or close to it, and with the softer bounce lighting that was used.

I got the impression from the original post that the poster believed that the specific composure of the picture/lighting would somehow have revealed any flaws in the wood to metal fit...and that’s all I was questioning based on my background in photography.

I have the distinct impression that this rifle could be lit and photographed from just about any angle without any flaws being visable.

SDH,

You speak of the golden mean- something I try to apply to my woodworking projects. I'd like to apply it to my gunsmithing/stockmaking attempts...

Could you go into a bit more detail on how you apply the golden mean to the proportions of a rifle???

Beautiful rifle. Not trying to hi-jack this thread but If you enjoy looking at beautiful rifles
and happen to be driving thru Oklahoma, stop in Claremore at the Jim Davis Gun Museum. Cost is donation and this guy had about anything you want to see. Private collection donated to the state.
Not hard to find, just ask anyone in town. I have been enjoying this collection for 50 years, long before it was donated to the state.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
My take on this is that doing that rifle that way, and photographing it as was done, is the equivalent of Karl Wallenda walking the high wire, no pole, no net, in the wind.

LD

Papa, NO! Papa, NO, eet's to vindy! Papa!

SBB

I don’t recall what the hell it is called, and not being a musician can’t explain it, but “classical†music is also based on a mathematical formula and uses certain ratios.

Rick,

Are you referring to the Fibinacci Ratio? Also known as the golden mean or golden ratio.

quote:

Originally posted by DavidReed:
Rick,

Are you referring to the Fibinacci Ratio? Also known as the golden mean or golden ratio.

If I knew what it was called I would have said so!

SDH,

I truly hope it helped because I'd sure hate to see you stop posting pics. Any chance we can get to see some of the really detailed versions?

Bill

P.S.- You also might want to think about a 1 pixel border. It usually seems to add that little bit of a finishing touch to a pic.

Hi SDH,

If the total number of pixels is about 100K, it should fit on one of these pages well.

I use Photobucket as a host. If I have a digital picture that I have taken, or a CD from a roll of film I have shot, I just resize down until I'm at 80 - 120 KB.

I like the slender look, but with 35" arms, meat hook hands and tall cheek bones....... there is a good reason I sold off my Mannlicher Schoenauers, especially the 1910 Take Down in 9.5x57 .

LD

SDH,

Those details are simply fantastic. The smooth transitions and the uniqueness that they possess are great. I'm interested in seeing anything you want to post.


Bill

An 8" picture width will fit neatly in most post "boxes".

The KB thing is a feature of the various image hosting sites. Photobucket seems to be the most popular. When you upload a picture there, you can click on an "edit" button. That will tell you the number of pixels or bytes (I forget which).