Help - photography !!
eyes
be able to help me.
I need to photograph a range of highly-polished gold and silver jewellery
for a friend. I have good close-up photography and lighting equipment but
need some advice on proven techniques to reduce reflections, eliminate
unwanted shadows etc.
There must be articles and links to such topics on the Web. Can you
provide me with some addresses or advice from your own experiences.
Some of the rings have tiny diamonds set in white gold. I find it difficult
to make these stand out in the image because they are set in flush with the
white gold and it seems impossible to get enough light into them.
Any advice or tips will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Laurie.
[CG]Lambiek
You can go to http://www.ganoksin.com
You must subscribe you there. (it's free)
Then you can find what you need.
I hope its help you.
sorry about my Englisch ; )
Vera Hein
Luke Roan
I have started photographing some of my own jewelry and have encountered
the same problem. One suggestion that I received is to create a tent
with white fabric or a white box so that the only things inside the box
is the jewelry and the lens of the camera. I have used a combination of
both and put my flash behind the thin fabric so the light is even more
dispersed. I also remember seeing a book or video on jewelry
photography in the Rio Grande catalogue they have a web site:
<http://www.riogrande.com>
Kris
Peter W. Rowe
<ey...@paradise.net.nz> wrote:
>>Hi, this is my first contact with your group. I hope the some of you may
>>be able to help me.
>>
>>I need to photograph a range of highly-polished gold and silver jewellery
>>for a friend. I have good close-up photography and lighting equipment but
>>need some advice on proven techniques to reduce reflections, eliminate
>>unwanted shadows etc.
Here are the basics: The main one is a "light tent"... You can innovate on
these. I know one guy who just props a white plastic trash can on it's side,
and his jewelry is shot with the lights outside the trash can, and the jewelry
and camera inside... I usually make a more versatile version from wood or metal
frames, with white bedsheet cloth "drapes", around back, sides, top, and some of
the front, leaving an opening for the camera to see in. These are ajustable.
Under the jewelry and behind it is your choice of backgrounds. Highly dramatic
black backgrounds look great but are harder to get your jewelry to photograph
in, as Exposures are more difficult, and portions of that black may reflect in
the jewlery. The key is to remember that the jewelry is a mirror. Anything it
can "see" will be visible in the photo. But you can use this too, to control
what is seen. Carefully placed grey, white, black, etc, cards, can put
reflections in the piece if needed to help define the form. Even a hanging
black cord to one side is sometimes need to darken an edge...
You can also use things like a "dulling" spray on the surface to make it matte.
If the jewelry is yours, and you are free to clean it, hair spray has been used
for this. So have a variety of other, easier to clean aerosols. I've got a
little mister that was designed to spray oil for cooking. It's fine enough to
mist a metal surface too, sometimes...
Remember too that your camera's meter will assume a scene to be an 18%
reflectance. That's a medium to slightly dark grey. If what you're actually
showing it is not, then you will have to compensate, either by adjusting your
camera's film speed to fool the electronics, or if it has exposure compensation,
or simply by using manual controls.
You don't actually need a fancy camera for this work. A through the lens 35 mm
type is needed, but much of the automatics on the current versions of such
cameras are not so helpful. Manual settings is just fine. It's very helpful,
but not required, if the camera has an depth of field preview lever, to stop the
lens down so you can preview depth of field, and then release it, opening the
lens back up to get the most critical focus adjustments. A good macro lens is
nice if you have one. I like my Vivitar 100mm macro. Others are also good.
Otherwise, if you need to get close, try a lens reversing ring, which mounts the
lense backwards, or extension tubes, which gets you closer to the subject than
most ordinary 50 mm lenses allow.
For lighting, while you can use flash, I find it much easier to use photofloods,
or quartz lamps, which because they stay on, give you more time to adjust the
shot and see how the lights will affect the results. the image will change a
great deal with the lights on, than what you saw just in the tent without them.
Use at least two lights. In all cases with such lamps, watch that the lamps are
far enough from the fabric not to char it. They get very hot. You can easily
set a bed sheet on fire if a 500 watt photoflood is a half inch from that fabric
and left on for a while. For this reason, don't just leave the lamps on. Turn
em on to check a shot, then off again while you move em. This also saves lamp
life, since these bulbs often don't have a long life. Keep track of how long
they've been on. discard them after the state life is used up. They won't have
burned out, but their color temp will be wrong.
General conventions is one light above and to the right, only slightly in front
of the object. This is your main light, and if you use different size bulbs is
usually the bigger one. It simulates, through the tent, diffuse sunlight. The
second and any additional lights are fill lights. The second would normally be
to the left, to the side and much more in front, but still going through the
fabric of the tent to diffuse it. From that basic starting point, for each shot
you can play with the lights to get what you finally like. Often, with jewelry
that has stones, or needs a bit of bright highlights, it can be useful to let
the fill light slightly peek out from the edge of the curtain, so while most of
the light is diffuse, a bit hits the object directly. This won't be enough to
give you lots of glare, since most of the light still is diffuse. But it can
now be avaliable to pick up highlights. In some cases, with stones, you just
can't get them bright this way. Then use a bright small flashlight, or lamp set
up as a tight spot. Little halogen bulb penlights are useful (like the
maglights type). These can put just the right amount and angle of light to pick
up the bright reflections in a stone, or discover the fire in an opal, etc.
Be sure the camera is mounted on a good tripod, and use a cable release. You'll
want to be shooting fairly slow speed film, so the grain is as fine as it can
be, and in order to have the greatest depth of field possible (so everying is in
focus, front to back), you'll usually want to shoot with the lens stopped down
as far as it will go. I often shoot at about f/32 or so. With these small
apertures, it's common to have exposure times in the half to several second
range with, say, 100 speed film. Film types themselves vary a good deal in
color balance. For these shots, you'd use either a tungsten light balanced
film, or use an 80A filter on the lens. For some films and processing labs, you
could just tell the lab you shot daylight film and used tungston lights, and
they could adjust it when the print the prints. But it's better to actually get
the color balance correct on the film, and if you're shooting slides, it's
imperative.
It's also, especially when you're new at this, to bracket your exposures. When
you have a shot set up right, shoot several frames, varying from a couple stops
underexposed to a couple stops overexposed, according to whatever metering
method you're using (taking the meter reading from a Kodak 18% grey card is
sometimes the best, but is not the only way to accurately meter these things)
Metal and jewels can sometimes fool you, and you sometimes will find a shot that
is technically over or underexposed by a stop or so to be more attractive than
the one that perfect. Plus, bracketing the exposures allows you the freedom
to not have it quite perfect in spite of your best efforts.
Good jewelry photograph is not quick and simple until you've had considerable
practice. Expect to take as much as an hour setting up and photographing each
piece. some single shots can take that long, or more, if you're really picky
about backgrounds, lighting, exact angles, etc. So give yourself the time to do
it right.
Also, keep in mind, when composing the shot, that you're trying to shoot the
jewelry. Not demonstrate the art of still life arranging. I see an awful lot
of shots where there's too much "set design", and not enough thought about
showing the jewelry itself. Some setups get so complex they make it hard to see
the jewelry itself. Often, simpler backgrounds will better show the jewelry
than will complex, flashy sets. One of my favorites is the setup we were
taught at school, which is a piece of transluscent mylar or acetate, suspended
over a black, or white background, or better yet, a sheet which grades from
black at the top to white at the bottom. it's diffused under the mylar, so it
appears just as shadow at the top and light at the bottom, without any real
"image plane" to the background. The jewelry is suspended a bit over the myler,
either up on some support or hung, or whatever. The result is a shot where the
jewelry appears hanging in mid air (since there's no texture to see on the
mylar, you can't actually see it in the photo, only it's diffusing effects on
the graduated sheet under it), while behind the jewelry, diffused lighting
grades from shadow at the top to bright on the bottom, which creates the
illusion of great depth. Very effective. Can also grade from black to color,
or white to color, etc, but be careful not to get garrish.
>>
>>There must be articles and links to such topics on the Web. Can you
>>provide me with some addresses or advice from your own experiences.
Steve Meltzer wrote a book on crafts photography, which is available from
several sources, including Rio Grande, or amazon.com. And the Orchid archives,
at Ganoksin.com, have some discussions, including a nice article by Charles
Lewton-Brain, that should help you out.
>>
>>Some of the rings have tiny diamonds set in white gold. I find it difficult
>>to make these stand out in the image because they are set in flush with the
>>white gold and it seems impossible to get enough light into them.
The smallest aperture on your lens will help here, to make things as crisp and
focussed as can be. Also, try that trick with the penlight, mentioned above.
Professionals will have a whole seperate photo lamp set up with a "snoot", a
long narrow tube with sometimes adjustable baffles it it, that let the
photographer precisely deliver just that little extra bit of highlight lighting
to parts in need...
Hope this helps.
Peter Rowe
Luke Roan
This is very helpful Thanks! But I am wondering what do you use to
suspend the jewelry. I haven't tried it yet but someone had told me to
use thread that was the same color as my background but I don't see how
that will work. Do you use fishing line?
I also have a question about flashes vs. floods. I have been using a
flash, just one, and I position it outside the tent in front and to the
lower left and things look good. Do you think if I used two flashes and
positioned them the same as the floods I get a better look or do you
prefer floods because you can position the lighting better?
What do you think?
Kris
Jack Nelson
<ey...@paradise.net.nz> wrote:
>I need to photograph a range of highly-polished gold and silver jewellery
>for a friend. I have good close-up photography and lighting equipment but
>need some advice on proven techniques to reduce reflections, eliminate
>unwanted shadows etc.
>Some of the rings have tiny diamonds set in white gold. I find it difficult
>to make these stand out in the image because they are set in flush with the
>white gold and it seems impossible to get enough light into them.
When I photograph amber I set up two lights at 45% on either side of the
piece and then use a hand held spot and move it around until I bring out the
colors. This might work for bringing out the highlights on the diamonds.
Jack Nelson
--
___________________________________________________
Latin American Imports: Folkart and Amber from Latin America
http://www.mexiculture.com/amber/raw_amber_home.html
Apartado Postal #307
San Cristobal de Las Casas
29200 Chiapas, Mexico
Tel: 011 52 (967) 80101 (from USA) Fax (630) 839-4180 (in USA)
Peter W. Rowe
<roanfr...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>Peter
>>
>>This is very helpful Thanks! But I am wondering what do you use to
>>suspend the jewelry. I haven't tried it yet but someone had told me to
>>use thread that was the same color as my background but I don't see how
>>that will work. Do you use fishing line?
>>
Several things work. Sometimes, the jewelry isn't suspended, it's supported
from underneath. The deal with using frosted mylar is that in the end shot,
it's essentially invisible as an actual surface. So if you're using a
horizontal setup, the mylar can itself sit on a piece of glass, forming a
surface your jewelry can just sit on, or be supported in some position on by a
bit of clay, sticky wax, or my favorite, that (either blue or yellow) tacky
stuff the local drug store/Kmart sells to put posters on the wall without
marking the wall... This works well for smaller items like rings. For larger
pieces, the set up usually is that I hang the mylar vertically, a bit in front
of the color graduated sheet, and then the jewelry itself is hung in front of
that. Again, I use either of two methods, depending on the piece. Some things,
like necklaces etc, are hung on the thinnest possible monofiliment fishing line.
It almost disappears in the final shot, so long as you're using at least two
lights, which means the line casts no shadows. The other method I use is that I
made a vertical "easel", on which the mylar and "colorflow" paper sit or are
hung in front of. This easel has a small clamp in the middle that holds a
horizontal wire of my choice. In use, I can make a small wire bracket to which
the jewelry will clip or affix, such as brooches or pins. The jewelry is at the
front end of the wire, and the wire (coat hanger, or whatever) is shaped however
needed to support the jewelry in the desired position at it's front. The other
end of the wire is then poked right through the mylar and colorflow paper and
held by that bracket. Because the wire is arranged so it's pointing directly at
the camera, with the jewelry in front of it, it is not visible to the camera.
Again, with more than one light source, and the diffusing effect of the mylar,
there is no shadow from the wire.
>>I also have a question about flashes vs. floods. I have been using a
>>flash, just one, and I position it outside the tent in front and to the
>>lower left and things look good. Do you think if I used two flashes and
>>positioned them the same as the floods I get a better look or do you
>>prefer floods because you can position the lighting better?
>>
Two light sources will give you better results. A single light, even with the
tent, is a bit too directional, and you'll end up with shadowed areas, as well
as distracting shadows of the piece. In almost all profesional photography
(studio shots, not out in the real world, of course), you'll find the practice
of using main lights and fill lights. Whether to use two or three depends on
the piece and your budget. But two over one is almost always an improvement.
With flash lamps, one of the easiest is to get one of the little "slave" flash
units, which have a sensor on them that simply fires the slave whenever it
senses the other flash fireing. That way you don't have as many cables running
around, and moving the slave around to the best position is easier. With flash
lamps, while everything is cool and easy to use, you have the disadvantage that
you cannot see what you're going to get before you shoot the exposure. If your
flash units are the more costly type with "modelling" lamps included, this may
not be a problem. But considering that we're often using very small apertures,
making it hard enough to see clearly what we're going to get when the lens is
stopped down (the most accurate way to judge depth of field, and since this is
when things are most clearly in focus, it's also useful for judging the final
effect of the lights. With a wide open lens, the normal preview mode, you get a
pretty good idea, but not quite the same. For that stopped down preview mode,
you really need the same intense lights that the film will need. With just
modelling lamps, you see mostly just a black viewscreen...
For the above reasons, both being able to better preview the scene and adjust
the lights for best effect, I strongly prefer either quartz lamps or
photofloods. The quartz lamps have the advantage that they last a long time.
You're not constantly replacing bulbs. But bulbs and simple relfectors are
cheap (even though the kmart versions, for less than 15 dollars each, claim to
be rated at only 100 watts or so, if you do as I do, and only leave the bulbs on
for the short times needed to set up and check a shot then take it, then turn
the bulbs off again while you mess with setting up the next shot, the bulbs are
only on for a few minutes at a time. In that use, even the cheap underrated
reflectors will do just fine. Couple that with the relatively low cost of the
bulbs themselves, and you have another reason I prefer photofloods. They're
cheap. My whole lighting setup, with three lights, is under fifty dollars, or
would be if I hadn't found some extra tripods to more conveniently support the
lights... For that, you can only about buy one good quartz lamp or flash slave
unit...
The biggest advantage, though to flash units is that they are daylight balanced.
So you don't then have to mess around with tungsten films, filters, and all that
jazz. And Photofloods DO get hot and uncomfortable to work with sometimes. And
they're bigger than flash heads, so that too is clumsy.
Hope this helps.
Peter
>>What do you think?
pHd
PWR...@ix.netcom.com (Peter W. Rowe) ecrivait:
>Here are the basics: The main one is a "light tent"... [...]
You may try to shoot with a 135mm lens, or more, in a dark room, just
your lightings on. The reflection will be minimal.
Cheers.
---
pHd
---
<pHd's Gallery> Contemporary jewelry Art
http://www.multimania.com/phd/
eyes
Many thanks for your replies.
I am grateful for your help and the detail supplied. It is fantastic to
think that I could go away on holiday for the weekend (it's Sunday night
here in New Zealand) and find that people around the world have been leaving
messages of assistance in my absence - this Web is a wonderful thing!!
It was good to see that the query was of interest to others and that the
thread has probably helped more than just myself.
Anyway, I will put you advice into practice and see how it goes.
Thanks again.
Laurie
-----------------------------------------------
Jack Nelson <ja...@mexiculture.com> wrote in message
news:3771ea76....@nntp.ix.netcom.com...
Jeff - jewelrylife.com
>
>To the Group
>
>Many thanks for your replies.
>
>I am grateful for your help and the detail supplied. It is fantastic to
>think that I could go away on holiday for the weekend (it's Sunday night
>here in New Zealand) and find that people around the world have been leaving
>messages of assistance in my absence - this Web is a wonderful thing!!
>
>It was good to see that the query was of interest to others and that the
>thread has probably helped more than just myself.
>
>Anyway, I will put you advice into practice and see how it goes.
>
>Thanks again.
>
>Laurie
Laurie,
That really is the success of this group. Each thread, while started by an
individual, speaks to many many in here. A true newsgroup like this one, which
only survives under the meticulous supervision of our moderator, is a depot for
the exchange of ideas and opinions. While many NG's have fallen victim to SPAM,
this newsgroup continues to grow and thrive. Sometimes it takes a note like
yours to remind each of us what a service we have here. Where else can you get
the "instant" (11PM EST, 8PM PT <g>) advice and support from some of jewelry's
brightest figures? I thoroughly enjoy this group and its many diversely versed
personalities. While things may get "out of hand" once in a while, I get the
sense that there is an underlying respect for each person in this group.
Sometimes I have to sit back and try very hard to remember not to take this
group for granted. If it was gone tomorrow, I'd miss it!
Kudos to all who contribute their expertise and astronomical kudos to our
moderator PRW!
I'm getting that warm fuzzy feeling again!
-jeff