Unknown wood/ picture problems

I made this pen from a piece of tree that I was given by a client at my job. I don't know what it is, and I can't believe how hard it is to take good pictures of a pen. Would love feedback as to what kinda wood as well as photography pointers.

I just found that there's lots of info on photography on this site so don't really need to restart that discussion

My guess would be Ash. Looks like some I have turned. Nice looking pen.

Humongous said:

My guess would be Ash. Looks like some I have turned. Nice looking pen.

Click to expand...

I agree with Ash. It kinda reminds me of wood baseball bat grain.

As to how to take good pictures:
1. Because you quickly learned the difficulty and are seeking better picts, You WILL succeed. Too many settle for "just a pict".

2. Look though this forum for tips: https://www.penturners.org/forums/pen-photography.24/

and this forum for picts on what looks good and what does not: https://www.penturners.org/forums/show-off-your-pens.13/

And last, look at the picts in this thread to see what makes a pen stand out (not just the pen design, but the background, lighting etc:
This last one is LONG, but good eye candy.