Photography question

[Shari]

I have posted this on my camera site but no replies as yet. My friend who is a jewellery designer wants me to try taking some shots of her new jewelery line so that she can e-mail to clients. Before she has had this done by a professional photographer but I said I would try. I thought it would be simple - NOT. Her work is silver and this line has resin with small bits of bamboo and gold inserted in squares and circles. There are pendants, earrings and rings. I have been putting them in groups on black paper and trying some colored paper. I have used macro and tried zooming in. I get a glare, shadows on some, blur on some and bad light. I have tried under dining lighting and in bright daylight near the window. I thought it would be like when I take a macro flower and it comes out very sharp and easy to work with. Can anyone give me any pointers. The jewellery has to be large in the photo. Thanks anyone - boy I do jump from one thing to another don't I!!! Yep, I am taking on too much these days.
Shari

Thing is - after I had finished this part I wanted to ask about taking a pendant and combining it with a bamboo photo I took. I don't know if I will ever get to those ideas or if they will just be a dream!!!

[Ward Grant]

Shari
Jewelry can be tough, exactly with the problem with lights you described.
Many pros use a light tent or table to give uniform lighting. You can make one very quickly.
Find two lamps (I find goosenecks work best as they are adjustable) and put them at roughly 45-degree angles with the camera between them. Cover the head of the lamps with a small piece of white cloth or a handkerchief will help soften the light.
A small tripod for your camera helps tremendously.
Use some white paper or cloth for the background.
Using your macro setting sounds correct. Fill the frame and get close without cutting off the edges of the jewelry.

If you Google on "light tents" or "photographing jewelry" you should get a lot of ideas.

If you can't make a light tent, you might try a carport or outside shaded area to give you soft, uniform light. This helps cut down on the glare. Again, a small, desktop tripod or some type of support for your camera helps a lot.

Edit: Here is one site that shows a quick tent using some common items. The idea is to difuse the light to help avoid "hot spots".

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html

[Shari]

Thank you so much Ward. I will investigate further and try. We have a tripod for our telescope but of course its a tall one - I sure am learning a lot since I bought my digital camera. Thanks again.
Shari

[AngelicKim]

Shari, I have instructions to make your own light tent somewhere. I will see if i can find them for you.

[Ward Grant]

If you don't have a tripod, you can try a book or two or a bag of rice or beanbag. Just something to give support.
Depending upon how brightly the project is lit, you may not need a tripod or support. Just something to help reduce any camera shake.

[AngelicKim]

Here is a link to a page that should be helpful.

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html

[mom to 4]

Shari:

Have you thought about laying the jewerly on either a piece of black velvet or velveteen? It wouldn't be as flat looking as paper.....and the folds in the fabric might just add some depth.....

Feel free to completely disregard this suggestion.......

[Jodi Frye]

Apart from the fine advice everyone else has given you...take the jewelry outside onto a picnic table....put a couple of lawn chairs on the picnic table and drape a white or similar bedding sheet over the chairs so that the jewelry is like in a tent underneath...keep one side open for you and your camera of course.....or wait for a very cloudy day and forget the tent. Get one of those ' mini ' tripods and set up the shot and use the self timer. Don't worry about being ' right on top ' or ' too close ' to the subject cause you can do some cropping after. If you are wondering about why to use the sheet....it will prevent glare and distribute the light more evenly....BUT enough clouds do that too. Daytime light is the best lighting when you have no lighting equipment and fancy rooms to shoot in.


EDIT; could have sworn i read all the posts...obviously Ward and I are thinking too much alike :)

sorry Ward...

[GaryK]

C'mon Jodi

We used to call that making a fort. :D:D ..No girls allowed .. well at least until we were older. ;)


Shari

All great ideas and advice. I think Wendy has made a light tent from fabric and plumbing pipe.

[Jodi Frye]

Gary, ya...like a fort :)

Hey you laugh but I have done it and it works wonders,,,who needs to spend thousands on equipment...so what if your neighbours look at you funny ;) ..it will keep them wondering what is under the tent.

[Ward Grant]

...EDIT; could have sworn i read all the posts...obviously Ward and I are thinking too much alike ...

Jodi, always glad to share my thoughts with you, especially when they happen to agree. Makes me look like I know what I am talking about.

[GaryK]

Jodi

I wasn't laughin' .. just teasin'.

If it works .. it works ..makes no diff to me what it looks like. :D

[Shari]

Thank you all for your posts - I just found them. They did not notify by e-mail and I have been so busy. I found a site that told about scanning jewellery but that has not proved too successful. I will try to set up a tent this weekend. This is sooo frustrating. I thought - hey just photograph the item - NO. This is silver jewellery with resin insets and in the resin are gold, silver, bamboo and different textures. I must admit I am learning lots by reading and did not know my scanner had so many settings on it. The old saying is true - that you learn by trying and mistakes. If I get something half decent will post to show you. Thanks again.
Shari

[Shari]

Hey - I tried my camera on our tripod from our telescope tonight and it works. It is a great tripod and can be adjusted to any height. So - what other kinds of photos is it good use a tripod for? Remember I am a beginner. I don't know these things. AND here is a site I found on making a tent - which I am going to try tomorrow when I am fresh and full of vim and vigor to tackle a new project!!! Jodi we have not had overcast weather here all month - great for tourists but not for taking jewelery photos!
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html
Shari
Ooops - this site is the same one you gave me - thanks - and it has been very helpful.

[Shari]

Thanks again everyone. After reading your suggestions - I did figure out how to make a tent. I took the jewellery and the camera and tripod outside so I did not need lamps. This is one of the rings. I also went and took a photo of a stream nearby and this is the result. I still have to work a bit on trying to get the inside to show better. This is resin with bits of gold and silver inside and in some photos it shows better than others. I think this is something I will be learning and getting better at as my friend gives me more pieces to photograph.
URL=[http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1hjXJ0EgWpECjsCXQCGBTrGk7S0k0]http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1hjXJ0EgWpECjsCXQCGBTrGk7S0k0_thumb.jpg[/URL]
Shari

[AngelicKim]

Shari, glad you got the tent made and the picture the way you want. Some may say that the stones in the stream are distracting but I think it brings out the color of the stone in the ring more. Nice job.

[Shari]

Yes, thanks Kim, I agree. I have to try one with a faded background too or a black and white. That was my first and I was just excited I could actually get the shot and do something. I just did another one with a necklace and I faded beach stones behind and used my wacom pen with a grunge brush and got a neat effect. It is sooo hard to stop once you get going isn't it.
?
Shari

[Ward Grant]

Shari
Glad you got everything to work.
One idea on your background, if you have not thought of this already.
Place a contrasting cloth under the tent, place your jewelry on top and take your images. You could rest this outside on a small table.
Then take your nature pictures seperately. (I believe you wanted to keep the nature pictures to show the source of inspiration for the jewelry).
In Elements, you could remove the background easily with the magic wand and then overlay the rings on the various backgrounds. You could then apply filters and blurs to the background, depending upon the jewelry piece.

[Wags374]

I'm going to have to try my hand at making a light tent. I need better shots of the items I craft (very much like jewlery) of course if I did that I might get overwhelmed with orders and then I wouldn't have as much time to play around with PSE. :)

[Shari]

Ward, I did put the jewelery on a contrasting background. Then I selected one of the rings and inserted it into the stream photo. I have really never had any luck with the magic wand but thanks for the hint. I will try later.
Jane - I tried several tents and the one that worked best was just cutting a hole in a white garbage bag in the bottom and attaching through that hole with an elastic over my camera - which is on a tripod. Then you put jewellery on a table or wherever and arrange the bag on top. It worked pretty well. My friend has been paying $100. a photo from a professional photographer. I took the photos outside and on macro. I feel after I take my classes and understand a bit more my photos will be better. This was just a try to see if I could accomplish something. here is another one. The jewellery piece is not in focus but you get the idea.
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/17qrs9vUS0kReGDZej8q84Ay0SJSL1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=17qrs9vUS0kReGDZej8q84Ay0SJSL1)
Shari

[Ward Grant]

I like the hole in the garbage bag idea-simple, cheap and easy to make.