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View Full Version : i think i need a trip to the opticians



Emerald
23-09-2009, 06:05 PM
I have been making beads to go with some of the lampwork i bought and this is the first on of many, i thought i had got it to quite a decent finish till i photographed it and cropped it and all the solder splodges appeared and one piece of granulation upside down #-o

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 06:26 PM
i just had my glasses changed too - it has helped a lot but i think i could really do with a major tabletop magnifier

Lisa Quinn
23-09-2009, 06:32 PM
I had laser eye treatment in Feb, with brilliant results, the downside ........I have found out that because I am getting old I need to get some glasses for close up work in artificial light!!

Lisa x

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 06:41 PM
aww thats not what they say in the brochure :(

Solunar Silver Studio
23-09-2009, 06:48 PM
Oh no girls.....don't you go down that track.....[-X:'( I wear glasses and a magnifying visor with 2 lenses to do my work...mainly because I cant see!! It is a terrific shock when I take them off and see how small the chains I am making actually are to the human eye. Then - like you Jo - I take a photo with all the optical and digital zoom gizmos and all the mistakes are huge!! And I start thinking - "I can't sell that !!" But the fact of the matter is that humans do not have magnification capabilities in their eyes....the general public are not going to know there is a mistake and they are not going to be able to see it anyway!! If you didn't spot it with your glasses on then that is good enough!! Wonderful though technology is...it is persuading us that the world is viewed through a zoomed lens! It's not!!!

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 06:50 PM
Oh no girls.....don't you go down that track.....[-X:'( I wear glasses and a magnifying visor with 2 lenses to do my work...mainly because I cant see!! It is a terrific shock when I take them off and see how small the chains I am making actually are to the human eye. Then - like you Jo - I take a photo with all the optical and digital zoom gizmos and all the mistakes are huge!! And I start thinking - "I can't sell that !!" But the fact of the matter is that humans do not have magnification capabilities in their eyes....the general public are not going to know there is a mistake and they are not going to be able to see it anyway!! If you didn't spot it with your glasses on then that is good enough!! Wonderful though technology is...it is persuading us that the world is viewed through a zoomed lens! It's not!!!

Lmao thats very true - i guess thats our perfectionism coming out again

lesley
23-09-2009, 07:13 PM
Oh dear, I haven't been to the opticians since I started making jewellery last year. I'm short sighted and wear glasses but now find, when doing really close work, that I do that peering over the top of the specs thing.
Most alluring!

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 07:38 PM
Me three! I really must get some of those magnifying specs that Bee talks about. I did have my specs upgraded about four weeks ago but I still can't see well enough for the tiny stuff. Then you take a pic and the wrapping is all over the show and bits of wire are sticking out. Euch!

Solunar Silver Studio
23-09-2009, 07:41 PM
I vote we all go back to the box Brownie!!:Y:

Boo
23-09-2009, 08:38 PM
The bead looks fabulous.

I got some great strong close up glasses for jewellery. They're stronger than my readers and have an optimal viewing distance of about 8-10". They're deep half glasses, so I can see over them to see people and the TV etc, but peering down, I don't look underneath them. They've been fabulous.

When I look at photos of pieces, that are viewed rather larger than the piece will be seen in person, if I see 'marks' that you can't see with the naked eye, I do retouch them out. I think it's fair game if you can't actually see them through normal viewing.

Emerald
23-09-2009, 09:08 PM
well apparently i have a astygmatism so i dont think laser is a route i can go, tried to get contacts last year and it was a toatla no go my glases are getting thicker each year but i think its the visor route i will have to go#-o

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 09:20 PM
so, next question then. Who uses visors and what would they advise?

Emerald
23-09-2009, 09:23 PM
Good question Di it is something i have been trying to avoid but when i am doing close up work and then get in the car to drive my eyes are so fuzzy it scares me, can you imagine if i left the visor on lmao

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 09:24 PM
You should liaise with Geti and his ice lolly ;)

Emerald
23-09-2009, 09:28 PM
really dont think i want to go the Geti route, ice lollys in front of my eyes!

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 09:32 PM
Jo I'm not responding on the basis that whatever I say to that will get me barred

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 09:35 PM
Jo I'm not responding on the basis that whatever I say to that will get me barred

lmao we wont tell on you Di!!!!! SAY ITTTTTTTTTTTT:Y:

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 09:36 PM
NO! I am supposed to be a pillar of propriety and sobriety in these here environs

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 09:38 PM
NO! I am supposed to be a pillar of propriety and sobriety in these here environs

lol well pm us all then lol, and while you are at it - spit that dictionary out please!

Di Sandland
23-09-2009, 09:39 PM
had rather a good ring to it I thought 'propriety and sobriety'

bustagasket
23-09-2009, 09:41 PM
had rather a good ring to it I thought 'propriety and sobriety'

wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too posh for my poor ickle braincell :(

caroleallen
23-09-2009, 10:08 PM
I had my eyes lasered about 3 years ago and I had astigmatism. My distance vision is perfect but I do need help for close work. I wear glasses and a visor.

Solunar Silver Studio
24-09-2009, 05:54 AM
http://images.maplin.co.uk/300/n70fk.jpg
http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/prodimg/321304_1_large.jpg

This is the style I use. I have 2 sets. One in the 'studio' (shed) and one in my upstairs pmc 'workroom' (cupboard) - although they have a slightly different light design (which I never use anyway) and different names on the band. I know you can get them with a sort of strip shaped magnifier that hinges up and down rather than have the whole visor thing move - so that might be more lightweight but I think I prefer the larger lenses and the fact that you can put 2 sets of lens in if you want to alter the magnification. The band is adjustable - suitable for enormous heads like mine....right down to child size!

If you look a prat in a cap - then you will look like a magnified prat in these!! So don't forget you have them on when you answer the door to someone!! It also plays havoc with your hair if you wear it for a long time...you go flat on top with a ridge that runs round!!

They do take a bit of getting used to...and you develop a bit of a Quasimodo leer trying to see round the lenses ( you quickly tire of constantly flicking the visor up!!) Other than that...they are without doubt my most important bit of kit!!

My most recent set I got at Maplins (19.99) - but I got mine half price...so I was pleased with that! but I've spotted they do them in Hobbycraft (14.99)...I've noticed a few of you go there. (How long have they had a mail order set up??!!) And they are on the Wilkinsons site - but I don't know if that is just mailorder or if they are in the bigger stores too...
2-LED Magnifying Visor : Magnifiers & Microscopes : Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=219971) Rolson Quality Tools 2 LED Magnifying Visor - HobbyCraft - The Arts & Crafts Superstore (http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=321304)

Emerald
24-09-2009, 06:08 AM
i am just going to ignore those other two, thank you Barbara very helpful:)

MuranoSilver
24-09-2009, 07:32 AM
Thats' what photoshop is for, to remove dust motes and stray cat hairs
that you didn't motice when you took the picture :-D
The bead looks great to me!

Nic

Boo
24-09-2009, 08:08 AM
If you don't want to wear a visor, a compromise would be a magnifier light, that's what I use when my glasses aren't strong enough. I got mine from Maplins originally, but I don't think they still do them, but I think I saw it in Argos - mine was around £20 but was a birthday gift from my son a couple of years ago. Mine sits at the end of my bench and doubles up as the light source for my photos, as can be seen in this tutorial I've done:

A free table top photographic studio lighting set up (http://www.boo.myzen.co.uk/lighting.html)

It's a clamped angle-poise bracket type arrangement with a circular tube around a magnifier centre, which has a flip lid over it, so you can use it as a light when you don't need the magnifier.

Emerald
24-09-2009, 09:24 AM
If you don't want to wear a visor, a compromise would be a magnifier light, that's what I use when my glasses aren't strong enough. I got mine from Maplins originally, but I don't think they still do them, but I think I saw it in Argos - mine was around £20 but was a birthday gift from my son a couple of years ago. Mine sits at the end of my bench and doubles up as the light source for my photos, as can be seen in this tutorial I've done:

A free table top photographic studio lighting set up (http://www.boo.myzen.co.uk/lighting.html)

It's a clamped angle-poise bracket type arrangement with a circular tube around a magnifier centre, which has a flip lid over it, so you can use it as a light when you don't need the magnifier.

Thats what i need something clamped to the bench if i had free standing it would just get knocked thanks Boo will have a look for one of those x

Thanks Nic, i am off to polish it a bit more after trying to get some of that solder off x

Emerald
24-09-2009, 09:25 AM
p.s Boo that copper and pink is just scrumptious x

Boo
24-09-2009, 09:29 AM
Thank you kindly. It was antiqued after that - it was a commission for a 50th gift.

I don't do much maille, I love to see the results, but don't have the patience to do much - I find controlling the rings to be very frustrating - it's the only jewellery making that gets me cross - I mostly find it totally absorbing and therapeutic, for a person with a short fuse.

Solunar Silver Studio
24-09-2009, 09:40 AM
Boo - you are an absolute GEM! A true one off!! What an incredible lighting setup!!!! So Heath Robertson - I just love it!! I think I have all the main ingredients...it's just the fat balls I am missing!!! ...but I'm sure I can find a suitable alternative!!

I'd love to be able to photograph like you...I only have a point and go digital, which is not a lot of help...but I would never be able to afford a DSLR.:'(. So I'll just have to make do!!:Y:

Boo
24-09-2009, 10:28 AM
Thanks. I think. :cool:

Whilst I use a DSLR in my day job and for pleasure, I use a hundred quid point and shoot for my jewellery photos - it's just a more sensible tool for the job - it gives me a really good working perspective - as you can perhaps surmise from the tutorial photos, I don't have much space - so the point and squirt camera does much better in a confined space - I can use super macro mode from an inch or so away from the piece.

For the lighting levels and perspective, I get a much better depth of field from the smaller sensor of a digicam, so it's just the better and more practical tool for the job. But it took me many, many months of trial and error and frustration before I decided that. Hence writing the tutorials - there's one associated on taking the photos too - to hopefully save someone else from my frustration.

Taking photographs of hand made products to sell on-line (http://www.boo.myzen.co.uk/artisan.html)

My blog with various photography articles too: Boo's Jewellery (http://boojewels.blogspot.com/)

Solunar Silver Studio
24-09-2009, 10:41 AM
You are so generous with your knowledge..It is all very much appreciated!! :ta:[] ...you don't have a tutorial for manufacturing a bit of extra time in the day to read it all do you??:-D

snow_imp
24-09-2009, 02:56 PM
You are so generous with your knowledge..It is all very much appreciated!! :ta:[] ...you don't have a tutorial for manufacturing a bit of extra time in the day to read it all do you??:-D

LOL - Barbara, I keep thinking I really shouldn't be checking the forum from work or I'll get nothing done today! :confused:

Boo
24-09-2009, 04:36 PM
If I knew how to do that I'd keep it to myself and get loads more done.

Ominicci
25-09-2009, 10:26 AM
Yep, need that spell that hermione uses in Harry Potter so that she can do twice as many classes in a day.

I had my eyes lasered 2 years ago. It doesn't alway correct to perfection and I like to wear glasses when driving in dim light conditions and definately at night, as I am about -0.75 in each eye now (from -5.75). I had astigmatism aswell. The most amazing thing is waking up in the morning and being able to see straight away - I don't think I'll ever get over that!

I don't think I need a magnifier yet :-" . Don't forget Jo, that the pic of the bead yo have posted is probably about four times the real life size? Just imagine what anything looks like magnified 4 times [-X

Anyway, you have spurred me on to take a new look at bead making, as I love making lentil beads (from sheet silver), but haven't done any decoration on any yet - are they sheet silver rather than PMC?

Emerald
25-09-2009, 10:36 AM
Hi Nicci they are sheet silver, i have repolished it now and its on here now so no going back

mmm where can i post it know lol

Boo
25-09-2009, 10:48 AM
That looks fabulous, really compliments the glass beads and adds a lovely bright accent in the middle of them.

agent_44
25-09-2009, 11:01 AM
That looks great Jo, finished beautifully :)

Di Sandland
25-09-2009, 11:03 AM
Beautiful, Jo. :Y:

Ominicci
25-09-2009, 11:03 AM
That is gorgeous! Well done :Y:

Emerald
25-09-2009, 11:33 AM
Thank you my lovelys x

Kalorlo
25-09-2009, 12:16 PM
Jo: oh, thats lovely. And shiny! :Y:

Jayne
25-09-2009, 12:41 PM
that bracelet is v beautiful :)
J x

Emerald
27-09-2009, 12:33 PM
i sat and read Boo's :worthy: photo tutorial this morning and although i cant do it all i retook all my photos and they have come out so much better so thank you from me to Boo i know you have seen this before but look at the difference, i liked the first one but it had to much shadow, and i have just posted the slightly out of focus second one:(|

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 01:17 PM
Luv-er-lee!! Was that with the fat balls bucket??:-D
(Lordy, lordy... I hope you know what I am talking about or you will think I am quite, quite crazy!!):-O:rofl:

Emerald
27-09-2009, 01:18 PM
Luv-er-lee!! Was that with the fat balls bucket??:-D
(Lordy, lordy... I hope you know what I am talking about or you will think I am quite, quite crazy!!):-O:rofl:

no dont think i know what you mean ...you must be crazy:rofl:

Emerald
27-09-2009, 01:24 PM
sorry couldent resist yes Barbara it was but i have a photo tent that my dad lent me and i hadent got a fat ball bucket, i crumpled up some foil and then burnished it but i work on photos outside so not sure i needed it it was more to do the the camera and whiteness, so i decided to give up on a white paper, background found a bit of slate in the garden which the kids had drawn on you can still see a bit of pink lol and then Boo suggested if you where outside to change setting to cloudy so thats what i did i am really pleased wth the outcome:Y:

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 01:26 PM
:rofl:<:)-:-O...Who?? Me??!!! .....Nah!...just misunderstood!!:rofl:

For those of you that missed the link earlier...It is one of Boo's fantastic tutorials for photography on a budget!! Sheer brilliance! A free table top photographic studio lighting set up (http://www.boo.myzen.co.uk/lighting.html)

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 01:30 PM
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..you play wiv my mind - girl!!:-O

Anyway - It was still worth putting the link up again!

I agree with you - It really does look lovely! And I didn't notice the chalk!! ...but now you mention it...!!:-"

Di Sandland
27-09-2009, 03:17 PM
So you can get buckets of fat balls now then?

I've just come back from a car boot sale with a 150 quid magnifying lamp for thirty quid! As new being sold by a beautician so it has a lovely long arm, 3 to 5 times magnification and daylight bulb. We went to see if we could get some camera parts for the OH's new business idea :-"

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 05:08 PM
So you can get buckets of fat balls now then?

Apparently!
I think it adds a little intrigue to say you have taken your amazing photographs with the help of a fat ball bucket!! ..it amuses me anyhow! I'm easily pleased!!:-D


I've just come back from a car boot sale with a 150 quid magnifying lamp for thirty quid! As new being sold by a beautician so it has a lovely long arm, 3 to 5 times magnification and daylight bulb. We went to see if we could get some camera parts for the OH's new business idea

Nice one!!:Y:

I came home from our car boot sale with a screwdriver (50p) and one of those mini Ikea 20w halogen desklamps that articulates in numerous places...also 50p!! The screwdriver is OK as a screwdriver but the shank is a lovely crisp 6mm square... so it will make a great mandrel for square jumprings!! I'll be making some square chains next week! And I'm hoping the lamp will be good enough to go with the fat ball bucket! If not it is still a darned good bargain! :Y:

OOO OOOO look what I've just done!! I've split the quote!! HTML programming here I come!! WOOOHOOO!!!:dancing:

Di Sandland
27-09-2009, 05:10 PM
Brilliant mandrel - even my OH cracked a grin at that one!

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 05:13 PM
Are you going raking through his tool box now!!?? My larger square mandrel is the bar that goes through the door between door handles!! My mother taught me to 'make do and mend'!!:-D

Di Sandland
27-09-2009, 05:16 PM
wise and frugal too, eh? All his screwdrivers are bloody round. He's not totally happy about this development because he thought that, with number one son moving out, he'd get his tools to himself again.

:rofl:

Solunar Silver Studio
27-09-2009, 05:40 PM
Poor man!! I must say that this one is far better than anything we actually use to screw screws in!! ...but my dearly beloved is not getting his hands on this baby... It's MINE!!!!! :mwahaha:

Ominicci
28-09-2009, 02:22 PM
Excellent idea about the thing that goes through the door handles B! We will be replacing a few down stairs when we finish decorating the hallway...:Y: