CSM101

Hi, when I play a little bit with the pics you can see, that all 3 holes in the tang are drilled. The rust doesn´t look right. And for a real Ujifusa I added another pic. I think that a third of the price would be okay. But maybe I am wrong. Greetings Uwe G.

At first sight I thought: gendai! Uwe G.

Hello Steve, sorry to tell you, but even with the best programms I cannot make any details visible. Please, try to get closer. The outcome doesn´t matter. I can work with it. Here is a result from me. Greetings Uwe G.

Hello Ilijah, your pics are not so bad and you know, how to use photoshop. Unfortunately you only have elements and so you cannot use layers. Here is an enhanced version. I can provide you with better pics, but please, don´t use a flashlight. Greetings Uwe G.

Morning Jean, this is, when it comes down to the collectors of the former GDR. They never had a chance! Research? English books? Japanese? Most of them don´t speak english at all. The Hara was not avaiable. Only Icke-Schwalbe. And whom to ask then? And today they still separate from the rest of germany. Uwe G.

Morning! A saint? Not even close! But when it comes to an order from a godan karate, then you know, what is good for your rib cage. And what not! I know a lot of collectors, who only have their gut feeling. And in this special case he is mostly right. I will see the tsuba end of september and the I will make some better pics. Uwe G.

Okay Masakage then. Dear Jean, The problems are: my friend doesn´t speak english. He doesn´t have a computer. And the seller is in the same category. They only make a guess about quality and price. And research is, what I have to do in the end. And I am not a tsuba guy either. But thank you once again Uwe G.

Okay, this should be a Tanaka Masakane. I found another topic with informations. You should think by now, that I am just another lazy bastard who only wants informations. But I am not lazy! First of all the tsuba belongs to a friend and so I don´t have a pic from the backside. I just got one pic emailed. Then I am busy with a collection that seems to be more like the usual Nigerian-Connection-scam. You know the deal: there are 40 Mio. US Dollar on an account and when you give me 200.000 EUR,we can split the sum. And suddenly there is a collection. Perhaps it is for sale, suddenly it is not, bu maybe yes. And I believe that the owner is not the seller and has no idea, that his collection is for sale. No kidding! Thank for the help and light at the end of the tunnel. Uwe G.

Hi, once again I have a tsuba pic with a signature. ??? Mune and kao. Can you help me with informations? Thank you Uwe G.

Hi Malcolm Is this more useful? Greetings Uwe G.

Hi, Henry First: I knew a german dealer who always put a white fluid to the signatures, so he could take better pictures. He was more in militaria and the swords he had it was no harm to them. When I see a guy with 0 or only 1 bit history it always gives me the creeps. Mostly it is the seller himself and he wants to push the price. Perhaps you can outbit him. But be careful. Sometimes short before the auction ends he will reject his biddings. Good luck! Uwe G.

Thank you for your help. Uwe G.

Hello, I have several kozuka´s and a matching blade and I would like to know, what´s written on it. Kozuka4 ist the front Has anybody an idea about the mon? Thank you Uwe G.

The german version: http://books.google.de/books?id=JXerop9 ... 9&dq=sanjo Uwe G.

Hello Ken, Thank you very much. To give you just another idea for display and light I have 2 pics added. The first is from the ´99 Fujishiro-Exhibition in Solingen and the other from 2002 "Selected Fine Japanese Swords" in Solingen, too. Uwe G.

PM sent. Uwe G.

Hello Veli, Do I agree? You will get a definitevely maybe. First of all I don´t bring the light to the blade but the blade to the light. I have a small table and I rotate it until I have that, what I want to see. Whether it is Hamon or Hada. Don´t forget, what the people had in old Japan. Only the sun and candlelight. That was all. And so I say that the sun is more than enough. As you can see in the most pictures when a flashlight is used, you have only a small part of the hamon then. To get a whole picture from a katana then would need 30 stichted single frames. And the outcome is more than questionable. But before you do something like that, try the Fujishiro-Way. Whatever blade he took a picture from, he only had a small part. Something between 10 or 15 cm. But he had all the details. Nie, Utsuri, Hada, you name it. There are two real famous pics. One is Yamadorige (or Sanchomo) and the other one is a tanto by Norishige. Try to aim a picture like that. A small part with all the details. When you have somthing like that, you can go for bigger parts. And someday you will have the whole blade. And by the way, the method of polishing plays no role at all. Greetings Uwe G.

The first reply was more about equipment and the right light. Now we go on with the right technique. The problem is: when you are too close you only see the details in a certain part of the blade and when you are too far away you only see the blade but not the details. Fortunately we are no longer in the BD*-times. So, the magic word to do it right is: PANORAMA The reason is very simple. You can be close and then you can stitch the pictures together. And then you will have all the details and the blade as a whole. I got 4 different computer programs for panorama pictures. The most important point is, that you have to stitch the pictures manually. All programms do it automatically. But the outcome is very different. A katana is suddenly 10 cm long. Trial and error at it´s best. PTGUI is the most advanced and only for professionals. Panorama Studio is good for landscapes. Then, of course Photoshop CS or Elements 8.0 and higher. Photoshop has Photomerge. But hands off. To explain why is too technically. So you just have to believe me. I use Panorama Factory. It´s the best programm, when you want to stitch manually. The rest is very simple then. Cut out the blade, change the background to black and you are on the same level as every Japanese sword dealer. To be honest, you are then still miles away from a Fujishiro-picture or now Ron Bingham. The only thing that helps is practice, practice, practice. And the right idea in a special moment. There is just another picture from the Masao. As you can see I stitched 4 pictures for 29 cm. I think, that`s the only way for a good picture. I wish you Good Luck and I hope it will help you to improve your pictures. Uwe G. * Before digital

Hello, Here are some basic rules for you and I hope it wll help you to improve your pictures. 1. A GOOD PICTURE TAKES TIME! And I don´t mean 10 min. or one hour. I am talking about a week or more. First the light. Normal daylight is more than enough. Don´t use any bulbs or flashlights. The blade will be too bright. You can see perhaps a few inches. But no more. 2. USE A TRIPOD! I recommend a Manfrotto 190XPROB. So you can take the picture right above the blade. Take a look at all those pictures from the Japan sword dealers. There is no angle at all. Or look at this: http://www.ronbingham.com/sword_photography.htm Or you just grab a Meito Zukan. There are pictures so beautiful I just want to cry. 3. MAKE IT BLACK & WHITE. The human eye can only see 32 different shades of grey. So it is easier than a color picture. As an example I have some pictures from a Minamoto Masao Tanto. I hope I could help you. Uwe G.