Anniversary Pendant

DavidTO

My wife and I celebrated our 10th anniversary during our summer vacation, and I gave her a pendant for the occasion. I tried shooting it like I've seen Cat Hoffman do. I had some mixed results, and really learned how hard it is to make these kinds of shots look great.

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fredjclaus

Wonderful shots. How would you get more detail in the diamonds?


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DavidTO

fredjclaus wrote: »

Wonderful shots. How would you get more detail in the diamonds?

I'm not quite sure what I did wrong there.

black mamba

Shooting jewelry is an art form unto itself. I can understand your frustrations. Most successful jewelry photography will place the subject in a sterile and simple environment.....very much like you would see it properly displayed in a jewelry counter. A simple environment implies one that has no competing elements to detract from the subject presentation....the greatest drawback to the way you have presented the subject here. Additionally, absolute control of the lighting is essential to dealing with highly reflective surfaces....quite often the case with gemstones of various kinds. Even under ideal conditions, getting the jewelry piece to put it's best foot forward can be tricky. The two guys I know who excel at this kind of photography are both wizards with light manipulation and the delicate control of the environment....even when it has been stretched to include live models and other extraneous elements.

The pendant is a beautiful piece and I hope you can end up with a shot of it that satisfies you.

Tom

DavidTO

black mamba wrote: »

Shooting jewelry is an art form unto itself. I can understand your frustrations. Most successful jewelry photography will place the subject in a sterile and simple environment.....very much like you would see it properly displayed in a jewelry counter. A simple environment implies one that has no competing elements to detract from the subject presentation....the greatest drawback to the way you have presented the subject here. Additionally, absolute control of the lighting is essential to dealing with highly reflective surfaces....quite often the case with gemstones of various kinds. Even under ideal conditions, getting the jewelry piece to put it's best foot forward can be tricky. The two guys I know who excel at this kind of photography are both wizards with light manipulation and the delicate control of the environment....even when it has been stretched to include live models and other extraneous elements.

The pendant is a beautiful piece and I hope you can end up with a shot of it that satisfies you.

Tom

Thanks for the info.

I mostly just like seeing it on my wife. The pictures were just a way for me to stretch myself a bit, photographically. I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of control for the environment they're in. I wasn't interested in a sterile, controlled environment.

schmoo

These shots look great, coming from a non-jeweler. More importantly, does she love it?

DavidTO

schmoo wrote: »

These shots look great, coming from a non-jeweler. More importantly, does she love it?

She does.

Dogdots

I like how you having it set up with the moss and plants. But .. I love the necklace

DavidTO

Dogdots wrote: »

I like how you having it set up with the moss and plants. But .. I love the necklace

Thanks, Mary!

DJT

Beautiful... love shot #3

Will not be showing these shots to my wife..... she'll want one (diamond that is).

LiveLikeLizPhotos

Really pretty photos, I love #3 as well.

Andy

I'd rather see the pendant on your wife

DavidTO

DJT wrote: »

Beautiful... love shot #3

Will not be showing these shots to my wife..... she'll want one (diamond that is).

Hah! Thanks. The jeweler said that the stones are "past, present and future".

LiveLikeLizPhotos wrote: »

Really pretty photos, I love #3 as well.

Thanks!

Andy wrote: »

I'd rather see the pendant on your wife

I may have to work on that. The only shot I have of it on her was on a hike in the ADK, and it's a hot, sweaty cleavage shot that I'll not be posting.

DavidTO

It could be that the secret to great jewelry photography is the processing .