@ Dots: no, it's resting on a black arborite surface. Part of my lighting practice was to attempt to make the backround and supporting material become very dark. Then I just adjusted the dark slider in post. I'm not too happy with the rendition shown here - it appears Photobucket does some image compression and that kills the detail. I think your idea of a 1:1 crop is a good one, which would suit the subject matter more - duly noted. Thanks for the comments!