The grey visible in the supports is coming from the reflection of the top of the supports and possibly from the pen itself.
Definitely change them for something different. If possible try pushing a wire through a cloth and then enter the pen through the small opening at the tip. Of course you first have to remove the ink refill. You can then bend the wire to what ever position you like.
Also, your lighting is overexposing the pen and thus the image is "washed out" a bit. Try a smaller aperture or faster shutter speed. If using a digital - and I hope you are - bracket the exposures first changing the f-stops and then try changing both the f-stop and shutter speeds. You will find a 'sweet spot' in the exposures very quickly.
For instance, if the above shot is made at 125th second and f/4, close the f-stop to 5.6, 8, 11, etc. and then look at each exposure. Look for detail enhancements in the wood surface.
If the metal parts are too bright, well, then you have to start changing the proximity of the light source(s).
From looking at these shots Iwould say that your lights are way too close to either the pen, or, if you re using a light tent that they are too close to the fabric being used as a diffuser.
Either way, you must change the camera settings and the light source a bit to eliminate the 'washed out' exposures.
Repost your photographs with the camera settings and let's see where we can go from there. Right now I am just grabbing at suggestions to try and help you out. [
]