turmaline and titanium

[christiand]

Hi everyone,

I'm just starting to take photos of jewellry.
I am a real beginner with this.
I am currently using a KENKO etension tube, 50mm f1.8 Nikon
and remote SB800.
I would like to show my very first two photos and and I'm very keen to get your feedback.

thanks,
CD



and

[PiroStitch]

Did you shoot these in raw? If so, play around with the levels so brighten the jewellery up a bit. Personally I feel their too dull and not very appealing.

I'd try to set up a mini light tent using fixed lights and place material over them to diffuse the lighting so that you don't need to use the flash. Then white balance so the light appears to be white, instead of yellow or whatever colour light you use.

Also because they are close ups, be wary of reflections. I've been warned about this before with metal objects In the first ring, i'm not sure if it's the cut of the blue stones, but you can see the reflection of the flash.

With the second pic, the angle isn't very appealing. May I suggest having your camera at the same level as the ring and show off the stone a bit more? Or stand the ring up and take it from a 30-40ish deg angle.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, it's just I've been looking at pics of jewellery for a while so was too accustomed to the brochures....

Have a look at the more uptown jewellery sites like georg jensen, etc to get some ideas.

Hope that helps

[Matt. K]

First off....your image composition is very good....you are close, filling the frame, and the items have taken on a very commanding presence. Depth of field is adequate. The colours are a little flat...but natural. I think the backgrounds are not working as well as a background should. You need to spend more time setting up complementary backgrounds in order to wring the most out of your subjects. A good trick is to buy a hot-glue gun....they don't cost much, and hot glue the items onto a piece of stiff wire so that they are about 20 cm away from the background. You can blow smoke or use dry ice for a misty, smooth background.
Hope this is useful.

[christiand]

Thanks a lot PiroStitch,

your feedback is exactly what I am looking for.
One question: how do you travel with a mini light tent and light ?
Would you use a mini halogen (50W ?) and a fold up or styrofoam
mini tent ?
Also thanks for pointing me to a site such as Georg Jensen.

Cheers,
CD

p.s.: have a lovely Christmas and also a happy New Year.

[christiand]

Also lots of thanks Matt.

I'm really getting great suggestions from you and the forum.

Cheers,
CD

[PiroStitch]

Christian,

Have a look at this[/url or [url=http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent]this

Basically build your own It's cheap and nasty but gets the job done.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays too.

[christiand]

Hi all,

I'm greatful about all the responses I got.
They open my eyes and horizons to a lot of useful suggestions.

I haven't had a chance to build a light tent as yet.

However I had a play with levels and this is what I did:



and



I didn't clean up the areas that need it and I an aware of those.

Cheers,
CD

[Dug]

Go to your local camping store and buy a square white 20Lt water container.

Cut the top off and a hole in the front for the lens.

Set your jewelry on a perspex stand or a seamless background

Cheap easy and it works.

What lights are you using?

[sirhc55]

Jewellery really comes to life when shot to black

[daniel_r]

Christian,

A bit of a late reply... but

Have you tried building an infinity curve to shoot against?

There's info here on how to build a cheap one.

Alternatively, you can take the ideas out of the info from the link above, and just use a bit of paper/cardboard held into a suitable curve for something as lightweight/small as jewellery. You can change the colour of the paper/board as you wish... and it's matte finish as well.

I easily built something very similar at work a few weeks ago out of a bit of A3 paper propped up against my desk and wall to get some images of computer RAM. Worked a treat for the set up time required.

[christiand]

Thanks again,

great advice and suggestions.

Have a great Christmas and happy, safe and healthy New Year.
CD