Very nice Artie. I have trouble getting the pictures to do the finish work justice too. Of course my mounts still don't compare with yours...but...
Anyways, I find that taking them outside and using natural light is much better than any indoor lighting.
Also, Jon55nj from this site uses some sort of external flash that he can maneuver around until it lights the pic just right. May want to try something like that. The pre-flash on the camera triggers it, so I don't think it's specific to one camera.
He was able to take some nice pix of a mount I did for him like that. And that was in his basement.
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