Beginner to Product Photography asking for advice, C&C.

[FattyMcJ]

Hey guys,

Just getting into this genre, as per the request of my mother who wants photos of her jewelry for insurance purposes as well as for use in future sales of said items.

Here's what I'm working with...DIY lightbox with 3 clamp lights.



These are some shots I took to sell my Sony P&S...





How are these, so far? I found it hard to not blow out the corners of the black camera body...how could I fix this when shooting? Move the lights a bit further away? Shoot underexposed a bit?

Next, when shooting jewelry, the first couple shots I did of some rings were TERRIBLY out of focus. The kit lens just won't focus on something that small well enough. Any suggestions for a good macro attachment? (I'm unemployed so my budget is VERY limited)

And last, when shooting rings and necklaces, how do you pose them? I've seen shots on (example) QVC online and they have the rings propped up at an angle, but you don't see what they used to prop it up, like a ghost is holding it. I'm lost how to get that look. I can photoshop out something if need be, but I'd like to get it right in camera first.

Thanks for your help!

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[FattyMcJ]

To the top!

[LearnMyShot]

not too bad.....your shooting area is too small to control the light effectively....like the clamp lights! see my free website, I think it will help! LearnMyShot - learn how to photograph anything

[FattyMcJ]

not too bad.....your shooting area is too small to control the light effectively....like the clamp lights! see my free website, I think it will help! LearnMyShot - learn how to photograph anything

I like it! Excellent video, thank you for sharing!

Edit: WOW...your dog is very well behaved, she looks like a sweet heart! lol BTW, Lucy only has 3 legs? What happened, if I may ask?

[HalftoneStudio]

Good job for what you are working with. One note, when working with continuous lighting such as your clamp lights, be careful of other light sources bleeding into your photo. Take a look at your detail of the memory door. On the top left corner of the camera i see the warm light from your clamp light and then you have some bluish light, probably window light, hitting on some other highlight points. You can see the source of the bluish light also in your wide shot of your setup reflecting off the outside of the reflector of the left clamp light.

To help go macro "on the cheap" look for some extenuation tubes. While not ideal, it is very inexpensive with good results. You'll have to manually focus with the majority of tubes though.

Many times the "floating" effect can be accomplished by having the item placed on a piece of frosted white plexiglass which is lit from the underside. This eliminates the shadows and you can manipulate the "angle" by simply moving your camera position.

One last note, your toning seems a bit warm and a bit green.

Hope that helps.

[kundalini]

The wrinkled cloth background sweep is noticable in your shots. Go and get yourself a piece of white posterboard. That would cut down your PP time.

[Don Kondra]

Turn all the room lights off, cover the windows and use 5500k bulbs..

Shoot in aperture mode at + f8.

Post those results and we can help fine tune

Cheers, Don

[FattyMcJ]

Good job for what you are working with. One note, when working with continuous lighting such as your clamp lights, be careful of other light sources bleeding into your photo. Take a look at your detail of the memory door. On the top left corner of the camera i see the warm light from your clamp light and then you have some bluish light, probably window light, hitting on some other highlight points. You can see the source of the bluish light also in your wide shot of your setup reflecting off the outside of the reflector of the left clamp light.

To help go macro "on the cheap" look for some extenuation tubes. While not ideal, it is very inexpensive with good results. You'll have to manually focus with the majority of tubes though.

Many times the "floating" effect can be accomplished by having the item placed on a piece of frosted white plexiglass which is lit from the underside. This eliminates the shadows and you can manipulate the "angle" by simply moving your camera position.

One last note, your toning seems a bit warm and a bit green.

Hope that helps.

Wow, good call. I didn't even notice the blue/warm highlights. You're right, that photo was taken with the west facing window behind me at twilight, while the rest it was evening with no light in the window.

As far as extension tubes..

Vivitar | VIV-2x4-P Series 1 4 Elements 2x Macro | VIV-2X4-P

or

Vivitar | VIV-2x7-C 2x 7-Elements Macro Teleconverter | VIV2X7P

?

[gogodog2010]

People think this is easy stuff, but no. Every product has it's own personality for light, especially reflective objects so there is no one solution to the problem...Hire a professional and see how they do it. That's the best thing to do. I've been shooting products for 30 years.
__________________
____
David Griffin
David Griffin - learn how to shoot

[HalftoneStudio]

As far as extension tubes I was thinking of a manual set like these.

I didn't realize that they were discontinued though. I believe you can still find them on ebay or such though. They are glass-free though, being just a tube, and all they do is just change the focal point of the lens on the sensor.

The ones you listed contain glass elements, similar to a teleconverter.

Going with one of those, I'd choose the 4 element one. In general, the fewer glass elements you add the sharper your image will be.

[FattyMcJ]

As far as extension tubes I was thinking of a manual set like these.

I didn't realize that they were discontinued though. I believe you can still find them on ebay or such though. They are glass-free though, being just a tube, and all they do is just change the focal point of the lens on the sensor.

The ones you listed contain glass elements, similar to a teleconverter.

Going with one of those, I'd choose the 4 element one. In general, the fewer glass elements you add the sharper your image will be.

Perfect info! Thank you! If I can't find one of the one's you listed, I'll go for the 4 element converter I found.

[FattyMcJ]

Turn all the room lights off, cover the windows and use 5500k bulbs..

Shoot in aperture mode at + f8.

Post those results and we can help fine tune

Cheers, Don

Offer help and I'll accept it!

Took these tonight. Closed all the blinds and moved lights around. Still not happy with the focus issues, but it's getting better.

After a few shots, noticed the cloth base created fuzz...in #3 I used a piece of printer paper for the base. As kindalini suggested, I'll be getting some posterboard in a day or two.

1.


2.


3.
One front light, 2 sides...


4.
One front light + flash, two sides...


5.
Two front + flash, side/behind camera right


6.
Two front lights (no flash) one side/behind camera right...


7.
Same lights, messed with the aperture to 5.6 from 8...not what I was looking for, but I kinda like the soft look overall. Neat outcome from an obvious mistake. lol


Not a fan of the color of the flash, but I like the way it looks on the diamonds. Maybe a diffuser? I'll keep trying

Thanks for your time!

[Don Kondra]

The whole idea of the light box is to diffuse the light, the flash and front light defeat that purpose... and are visible in the stone/metal.

Another thing to try is place black reflectors on the (in)sides of the box and reflect the light off them onto the object. Say 1/3 to 1/2 of the height of the sides, then place the lights high and aimed at the reflector on the opposite side of the box... try this with and without the box.

Cheers, Don

[FattyMcJ]

The whole idea of the light box is to diffuse the light, the flash and front light defeat that purpose... and are visible in the stone/metal.

Hmm, indeed...but how does one create the "sparkle" in jewelry? When I had the lights all diffused, the rings looked dull and flat. I agree about the flash, don't like it at all, but I had to try.

Another thing to try is place black reflectors on the (in)sides of the box and reflect the light off them onto the object. Say 1/3 to 1/2 of the height of the sides, then place the lights high and aimed at the reflector on the opposite side of the box... try this with and without the box.

Cheers, Don

Alright, I'll give that a go!

[FattyMcJ]

To achieve 'sparkle' on diamonds we use a tiny LED torch and direct it at the stone. If you move the torch whilst looking through the viewfinder you can sometimes introduce some rainbow colour effects too. Just make sure the light doesn't fall onto any other parts of the jewellery or you'll get an ugly reflection.

We use the same effect on our 360 Swiftspins by fixing the light. It sparkles brilliantly as the jewellery rotates.

Fantastic! Thank you!

To the hardware store!...