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Shooting jewelry

scottcolbathscottcolbath Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
edited October 28, 2008 in Technique
A gal I know who created her own silver and turquoise jewlery wants me to photograph if for her for use on a web page.

I've never done anything like this before.

All I have is my 30D and XT, a real nice Manfrotto tripod and what I'm guessing, is the best lens out of my corral, a Canon 85mm F/1.8. I also have a 28-135 IS and an 18-55 kit lens. I don't think my 100-300 or 400L is up for this task. :D

I have a cheapo Sunpak 144PC flash and that's it. But living in Arizona, I have tons of natural light which I could make use of.

What's a guy to do?

S.C.

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    angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited October 8, 2008
    Scott~

    Take a look at these ( http://tomwisephoto.smugmug.com/gallery/3678816_4u9zy#P-1-12 )

    I shot about four months after I got my D200. They are not the best but the gal was delighted as you can read in her comments. I shot these in a small room about 6x6 feet with lessee, I think two tungsten 60w bulbs and my 18-70mm kit lens. oh, and lots of velvet.

    cheers, tom
    tom wise
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    joglejogle Registered Users Posts: 422 Major grins
    edited October 8, 2008
    Pick up a cheap light tent of ebay. they come in all sorts of sizes and are perfect for product shots like this.

    Round-Light-Tent-KRLT-.jpg

    Then you can put the whole lot out in the sun so it lights up 3 sides. This will give you a very soft but still directional light. If you want it even softer. you can use a mirror or some other type of reflector to reflect light back onto the side in the shade.

    find some nice satin material to drape over a little stand for the jewelry if you want an interesting background, the staging is just as important as the lighting. though there's nothing wrong with plain white if that's what your friend is wanting. You just have to be very careful with the white balance so that your shadows don't have a funny colour, you might want to try several different shades of "white" paper.

    The lens choice won't matter too much as you'll probably be stopping down to any lenses sweet spot around f8 - f11. Closest focusing distance will probably determine what lens you use.
    jamesOgle photography
    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it." -A.Adams[/FONT]
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    scottcolbathscottcolbath Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
    edited October 9, 2008
    Tom, those pics are very nice.

    And I will pick up a light tent. It's one of those things I should have anyway.

    S.C.
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    scottcolbathscottcolbath Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
    edited October 9, 2008
    This looks to be a good deal. I think I'll grab it.

    http://cgi.ebay.com/30-12-STUDIO-IN-A-BOX-PHOTO-LIGHT-TENT-PHOTOGRAPHY_W0QQitemZ180291354055QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180291354055&_trkparms=72%3A1240%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

    S.C.
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    mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited October 9, 2008
    The light tents and multiple light sources are a must. Also so is some black felt. Some stuff looks best on white, some looks best on black. Usually the more transparent it is the more it likes black. Get a nice goblet or detailed votive holder or wine glass and see what I mean.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
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    a-baird-photographa-baird-photograph Registered Users Posts: 45 Big grins
    edited October 11, 2008
    angevin1 wrote:
    Scott~

    Take a look at these ( http://tomwisephoto.smugmug.com/gallery/3678816_4u9zy#P-1-12 )

    I shot about four months after I got my D200. They are not the best but the gal was delighted as you can read in her comments. I shot these in a small room about 6x6 feet with lessee, I think two tungsten 60w bulbs and my 18-70mm kit lens. oh, and lots of velvet.

    cheers, tom

    Where did you get the neck? Is there an online source?
    Body: Canon XTi
    Glass: 85mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8, 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, 70-300mm f4.0-5.6, Sigma 10-22mm f4-5.6
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    scottcolbathscottcolbath Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
    edited October 13, 2008
    a-baird-photograph wrote:
    Where did you get the neck? Is there an online source?

    I found them on Ebay. I'll dig up the link.

    (Edit)
    http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1311&_nkw=jewelry+display&_sacat=See-All-Categories

    S.C.
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    Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2008
    Some time ago I had to shoot jewlery for Nikolai's assignments.
    Then, I had a different way to look at these pieces of luxury.:D

    I think you do have great lens and equipment to shoot nice pictures as the Canon 85mm F/1.8. Assuming that it can shoot "almost macro" shots :D
    However I would try to shoot even with the 400 mm under a different point of view.
    The use of the 400 mm can be interesting if you consider that these lenses give very narrow DoF and "smash" perspective.

    I suggest you place your jewels on something completely different like inside fish, stones, beans (yes, beens!) or whatever.

    The other day I was in my kitchen and we were going to eat beans for dinner. The beans were in a bowl with water and the light was from above.
    I looked at them and I thought that it would give a nice photo with a jewel inside... :D

    To shoot jewels on artificial necks :D is common.
    On natural necks it is better... Well, that depends on the necks rolleyes1.gif Young necks are very atractive for example as other parts of the human body.
    Try something unusual. Dare to try something new. Insist. Insist.:D
    Use flash and bounce it for softness ...

    Just my two cents...
    220664854_R3WX6-S-5.jpg220702673_LqrYy-S-5.jpg220693813_TobSy-S-6.jpg
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
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    GJMPhotoGJMPhoto Registered Users Posts: 372 Major grins
    edited October 22, 2008
    The dark and light of it
    When you're shooting jewelry, or any metalic substance, the light tent is a great idea, but it's not enough. It's just as important to take away light as it is to introduce it. Carry a black card, a dark maroon card, and a dark blue card. Introduce them just out of the camera view and see what they do. The metalic subject will take on a more 3-dimensional effect. You can model the dimensions by adjusting the cards.

    If it needs to go on a product page or something else that has a common color scheme, you can use cards to match the prevelent color and the jewelry will very subtly reflect the color - making your art director VERY happy :)

    I've even used a multi-colored card (kind of a reflected gradient) when shooting a diamond ring to help pop a variety of colors into the sparkle.

    The effect is very subtle, but when you compare it to the same shot without the cards, it's amazingly obvious!

    - Gary.
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    scottcolbathscottcolbath Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
    edited October 23, 2008
    More great info. Thanks guys.

    S.C.
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    angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited October 23, 2008
    After all this said...I simply used tugsten lamps...60w homedepot! And I think my photos are quite nice....but have to admit to the meat being a interesting thought!....can read it now....Get your meathead to buy you bling...quaint~~

    Like the links to eBay jewelry displays~~

    tom...
    tom wise
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    Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited October 23, 2008
    angevin1 wrote:
    ....but have to admit to the meat being a interesting thought!....can read it now....Get your meathead to buy you bling...quaint~~

    Like the links to eBay jewelry displays~~

    tom...

    NON-Americans are more tolerant of "the Creative Unusual",,,,,,,and that shot of the fillet of fish by Antonio would have all the animal rights groups crawling all over you here......
    But it is good to try and insist on being Unusually Creative in this type of work.
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

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    Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited October 28, 2008
    I have worked on this photo which has been done quite some time ago.
    I wanted to show you :D
    220662797_3YVwP-L-6.jpg
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
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