Help! I had a few questions how to get my photos right

[KmH]

could someone explain white balance and gray card. i still am confused about that.

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[NEWBIEPHOTOGRAPHER]

Christina do you really think so. I think for jewelry photography most people reccommed continous lighting. Do you still think the same after seeing my photos?

 

[MTVision]

Once again thank you everyone for the suggestions. You are probably right about the exposure. Here is a test shot i got with the new continous lighting soft box

f25 1/6 shutter iso 200

151 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
also i may have white balance issues.

could someone explain white balance and gray card. i still am confused about that.

It looks a tad dark - not much but the jewelry should really stand out IMO and it doesn't.

Your WB looks ok to me but I'm on my phone so I'm not the best judge!

 

[CCericola]

Christina do you really think so. I think for jewelry photography most people reccommed continous lighting. Do you still think the same after seeing my photos?

Oh don't get me wrong I like continuous light for product photography. In fact I did a jewelry shoot for a woman who made metal and polished stone jewelry and I used continuous light so I could really see where the light fell on the jewelry. I was just pointing out the the photograph you want to emulate was done with strobes or flash, That's why you were getting the results you were getting.

Because you are using different kinds of light you can't use the same settings they did. In fact I think you might be able to get better results with continuous lights than with flash.

Because they used strobes or flash they had to go to such a high F stop. Depending on the lens higher f stops can cause unwanted distortion. So even though their pics are good I bet they could be better.

Find the sweet spot on the lens you are using then meter from there and I think you will be very happy. For instance, my 50mm 1.4 is best at f5.6 and f8. To find the sweet spot I just bracketed shots of the same scene at all the f stops and looked to see which image was the sharpest and most clear. I'm sure someone has reviewed what ever lens you are using somewhere on the internet to give you a good idea of where to start.

 

[NEWBIEPHOTOGRAPHER]

i love the look of the pictures i am trying to emulate. no matter how good my pics get they are just not satisfying me. So it seems I will have to purchase the lighting system.

in order to get my pictures such as theirs and the f25 and 1/160 shutter speed which and what strobes do i need to purchase?

 

[CCericola]

I don't think you need to purchase anything. You have what you need. And the photos you like have obviously been adjusted in Photoshop or similar program.

 

[NEWBIEPHOTOGRAPHER]

this is my final picture after processing in light room .. still does not look as good as theirs. Are you familar with the type of strobe needed for jewelry photography?
finaltopaz2 (1 of 1) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[enzodm]

this is my final picture after processing in light room .. still does not look as good as theirs. Are you familar with the type of strobe needed for jewelry photography?
finaltopaz2 (1 of 1) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

try to enumerate the reason why for you their pictures are better. For me, this one is similar.

 

[NEWBIEPHOTOGRAPHER]

Thanks but depth of field is considerably less and the photo is exposed right but still very bright.
Here is my latest pics with a strobe light
final8 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

final5 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


good but still try and compare the one below with mine. There background is completley there but mine is disappearing from overexposing in light room

I cant get the bright white and proper silver look of the ring.

RING64534 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

RING70338 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
I got the strobe and light room and the settings are identical but what is the difference between our photos. What is the last element that I am missing? How can I get my pictures bright like theirs but not overexposed.