tom-szabo.com announces the release of a NEW earring design. The initial set is made of:

• 2 – Prehistoric shark teeth, approximately .6 Gms each.
• Tooth length: 11/16″ to 3/4″
• Mounting: 20 Ga. round silver plated wire
• Earring Wire: 20 Ga. round silver plated wire in a 2″ Marquis form

Tom Szabo recovers prehistoric shark teeth and other materials while scuba diving off Venice, Florida. These prehistoric items are found in 25 to 30 feet of water. The shark teeth in this pair of earrings came from his “haul”. Tom hand made this new design pair of earrings in this new design. His studio is located in Concord Township, Ohio, . More inventory will be made available soon.

The new design earrings compliment tom-szabo.com’s Ocean Sands line of jewelry. Ocean Sands jewelry also includes necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The featured center pieces are from prehistoric: shark teeth, manatee and whale bone from the Miocene and Pliocene eras. These eras date back 2.5 million to 26 million years ago.

The Ocean Sands line of jewelry can be seen on the website: www.tom-szabo.com and at https://www.etsy.com/shop/tomszabo. To purchase Ocean Sands jewelry, contact tom-szabo.com at 440-354-2535 or visit the website. Locally, Ocean Sands jewelry can be purchased at Craftsmiths in Perry Township, Ohio and Starfish And Coffee in Painesville, Ohio. This new set retails for $31.95 + tax.

NEW DESIGN, ST1.2 ER MA-2 S; Prehistoric shark tooth earrings (.6 Gm each, 11/16′ to 3/4″ long) on 20 Ga. Silver Plated Marquis wires.

The post New Design Earrings – Shark Tooth, Now Available first appeared on Tom Szabo: tom-szabo.com, Email: tom@tom-szabo.com 440-725-6504.

I use Google Alerts to send me web notices about photography topics.  One day a listing about shooting whites without shadows caught my attention.  I clicked on the link which took me to a Youtube video by Alex Koloskov.  Alex is a photographer based in Atlanta and creates some gorgeous photography.  You can learn more at: http://www.koloskov.com/.

After watching the video, it was obvious just how simple and effective Alex’s technique is. The beauty is in the simplicity.  At some point I knew I wanted to try his technique.  A client contacted me with an assignment that was perfect for Alex’s method.  I already had a 30 by 60 inch sheet of plastic to use, so it was off to the local hardware store (where they’ve known me on a first name basis for years!) to build a table. 

As most everyone who does home projects knows, often, there is a second and better design.  So I came up with a plastic PVC pipe table design.  Not fully seeing the approximate size of the plastic sheet used by Alex, mine was too large to allow heat forming over the kitchen stove.  It now sits in the corner of the studio with ripples and a burn spot!

That meant another trip to the local home center for another sheet of clear plastic.  That also meant the table needed to be modified.  So, off to the local hardware store again for more supplies. So design number 2 is shown in the photos attached. 

The PVC tubing table has glued joints.  By not gluing all the joints, the table can be broken down for easy storage when not in use.  Using clamps allows me to change the clear plastic sheet positioning to suit my needs.

In some of my first product shots using the table I noticed the frame reflecting on some of the product surfaces.  A coat of black paint on the frame fixed that issue.  So The photos included show the table and clamping system and a quick shot of a plastic hairspray bottle to show how the shadows are GONE!  Alex, a trip of the shutter to you for inspiring me!  Thanks.

Simple glued join construction.

Swivel support for table top.

C-Clamps retain plastic sheet to form a large radius.

Clear plastic table top on a PVC tubing frame.

Viola! – No shadows and a pure white background.

The post No Shadow Product Photography first appeared on Tom Szabo: tom-szabo.com, Email: tom@tom-szabo.com 440-725-6504.