Murray, the last shot was a "how not to sample"
The noise on the blade appeared when I reduced the image. I think my web-host reduced it further
The background is way too busy, the folds are distracting and there is no 'reason' for the knife to be there.
One of the best articles in blade featured a well finished knife with a matching poorly finished knife.
I thought that was a great learning aid.
Here is a shot that I took my time on. A more serious attempt, if you will.
The only PS work was to crop out the table top and drop in the logo.
Convex ground blades are really tough to light evenly. Next time a flat ground blade!
I shot this in my window on an overcast afternoon (today).
A little better?
BTW I made the sheath myself. It was the sheath that didn't want to get made, but that's a story for another forum