Hi,
That is one gorgeous piece of wood. I really like the dark wood; to me that is much better than the light.
Comments:
If you want something to look "true" to shape in a photograph you need to do one of two things.
1) Have the camera pointed at dead center of the object. You have seen pictures where buildings seem to lean and get out of proportion. Say you photo a two story building from eye level---the top of the building will look narrower and like it is leaning backwards a bit. If you get a tall ladder and take the picture with the camera lens half-way between the top and bottom of the building it will not lean. The higher or lower the camera is from center, the worse the effect.
The same problem occurs, except horizontally, if the camera is off to the right or the left.
A camera with a lens swing and tilt will solve the problem without the use of the mythical ladder.
"But!" you say, "When I take a pic of my house, it looks a lot better from a 30 or 40 degree angle." That is true. A one-story building, especially with a pitched roof, does not show the distortion enough to matter (unless you are quite close and use a wide angle lens). A two-story building will start to show enough distortion to be noticed. A ten-story building is REALLY distorted.
Take a picture of a toothpick holder and the camera can be darned near anyplace. Take a pic of a tall vase and you might have a problem. Take a pic of a tall, slender object with straight lines and you have to be real careful with camera position.
If you have a camera with interchangeable lenses, you can probably purchase a lens mount with bellows that allow you to move the lens up / down and tilt the lens without moving the camera body. When the lens to camera position can be adjusted like that, you can position the lens so there is no apparent distortion of the object.
Wordy aren't I!
By golly; if I ever make anything as nice as this I will be so proud. And I will invite all you ladies and gentlemen to critique the heck out of it.
Enjoy,
Jim