Jewelry - Lighting issues

dbarrett · Jan 16, 2005

I am a newbie to digital photography. I am trying to take pictures of my wife's jewelry for eventual posting on our web site. I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300 which takes great pictures, but I'm trying macro photography and I can't get the lighting correct.

I have two 100W lights with Phillips Natural light (blue bulbs) about 1 1/2 feet from the jewelry (to the sides). I have transleucent plexiglass in front of the lights to diffuse it. I am taking the shots in a closet and there is no other light source. Problem is that the various stones in the jewelry often come out different color than they actually are. The below photo shows orange stones, but the stones are a pink color with some white in it.

I try shooting a series of photos, changing the f-stop setting each time. What is going on?

Vmann · Jan 21, 2005

Without seeing the photos i'll give this m best. The lights still might be to close. Have you tried bouncing the light off the cieling or walls of the closet to present a more natural light. The other would be to just back the lights off. Also check your color managment if using PS or the like.

Sorry if not much help. Best of luck.

Big Mike · Jan 21, 2005

Welcome to the forum.

The problem may be with your natural light bulbs. Your camera probably has a setting for regular tungsten lights but may be getting confused by the slightly different color temperature of your bulbs.

You should use a custom white balance setting. Read your manual for how to set the custom WB. Most likely you have to place something white in your lighting and take a metering shot of that. This should give you more accurate colors.

Of course it should be fairly easy to adjust the colors with a good photo editing program like Photoshop.