Jewelry Lighting

[BoverC]

Hey everybody. I work for a jewelry manufacturer and he recently gave me the responsibility of shooting all his merchandise.

It's important that these pictures look immaculate, so I was hoping you all might give me your opinion on the equipment and set-up I plan on using.

I've never been responsible for making immaculate pictures. I've taken a few photography classes and have a basic understanding of the Art.

I'm planning on buying:

1 Canon 5d
3 Hensel 500's
Some Gray Cards
1 wire-connected shooting trigger

Regarding a light box... do you think I'm better off buying one or constructing my own? My main issue is I'm going to have to use wax to hold up the rings, so I'm worried about using cardboard as a bottom because cleaning it later will become a hassle. I don't want to damage the box once it's constructed, I need something reusable and clean, durable.

What tripod do you all think I should get? I need something sturdy.

Also, I'm not using a laptop, but I'm wondering... will i experience any sort of compression distortion because I'm using a flashcard instead of a cord connecting directly to the computer?

I think that's it for now, thanks for whatever you could offer!

~ Albert

 

[Sideburns]

You don't have to worry at all about compression, because you will obviously be shooting in RAW format. Right? lol.

You should definitely use a light tent. However, the bottom you use...use whatever you want really...if you ruin it, replace it. Make it cheap enough that after a few times it's no big deal to change it.

(a roll of paper, perhaps??)