Winger, you're most kind. With me, its probably just luck. I incident metered away from the lamps, but still underexposed about 2/3-3/4 of a stop. I'm still easily fooled in my metering.
From what I've seen of the Mrs., bead stringing is not easy either - espec. the knotting done w/ pearls. And hand-coloring a print. Ohhh. If you had 30 yrs w/ carving & casting wax, I've no doubt you'd choke people up w/ the results. I let the lovely Mrs. know your thought. Thank You for your kindness. 'Hope your Christmas is superb.
This has the subject approach and wide-ranging tonalities found in the old 'Life magazine' documentary style photography. W. Eugene Smith comes to mind, finely crafted, nice work.