Jewelry photo shoot....feedback??

[Freedbaby]

This is my second post and my first post of photos....I think I am ready to turn my pictures over to the firing squad!!

I am a month into photography so tell me what yall think. This is all stuff I shot at my office in a light box with three lights. Many of my pictures will be jewelry....looking to make them the best they can be w/o PP. Once I am good then I can consider some PP.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/22474714@N07/sets/72157603692681927/

 

[jlykins]

I love the idea. I have been thinking of doing this with my wife's jewlery collection. She worked at a jewelry store for about 8 years so she has a pretty good sized collections of jewelry.

The main thing that don't like about these photos is the backround. I would have done a black backround since most of the jewlery is white gold or silver. A lot of the detail is lost in the white. Just my opinion. Good clear shots though.

 

[Happy Hour]

Well don't take anything to offense. But if your using a light box? Did you forget the lights?Cause the shadowing is awful. for one, do you only have 1 light off to one side?That could be causing the loooong shadows off to the side. second would be the wrinkles in the sheets. (not my cup of tea) I think it looks less sloppy without it. Third would be contrast. Your using a white background on silver. White reflects back to your light meter allot of grey so if your camera is metering a grey background on a grey subject, well you get the point. Walmart or most stores sell a foam board in the office supplies section it comes in white blue yellow ect.ect. If you buy a few of these and tape them together you get a great light box and a nice smooth contrast for your background.

 

[AmericanJesus]

You need ALOT MORE lights, if not alot more lights then stronger lights.

 

[Wilson1990]

Nice photos

but what's holding this up?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2234/2184802291_e3a46c0402_b.jpg

 

[Freedbaby]

:er:WOW!!! I guess I got some work to do.

To answer some question so yall can further advise..here ya go:

jlykins- I tried black but it looked terrible....It looks like there was a lightning bolt that struck the light box right as the picture was snapped.

Happy Hour- I have three lights on for the box...it is bright inside, but you still think I need more? As for the backround, what color do you suggest? I really would like to have a picture where you cannot even see the backround. I used custom white balance but it still shows a bit off white. Seems to be the most frustrating part not being able to get white white.


Wilson1990- I used some jewelers wax to mount the bracelet. Seemed to work quite well.

Your feedback is really appreciated. Jewelry seems to be the hardest thing so far. Again I am striving to shoot a picture that does NOT require PP....I know yall didnt mention it but I was just reiterating.

 

[Happy Hour]

Happy Hour- I have three lights on for the box...it is bright inside, but you still think I need more? As for the backround, what color do you suggest? I really would like to have a picture where you cannot even see the backround. I used custom white balance but it still shows a bit off white. Seems to be the most frustrating part not being able to get white white.


.

Do you have the book 'Understanding Exposure"? If not you need to get it, to understand what your doing wrong. Do you have a white sheet or paper covering the entire box except for the front?

 

[JoannaWilcox]

You should check out this link on making your own macro studio.

The jewelry looks quite sharp and very nice..it's just the lighting and possibly the material you are using that needs to change.

Pretty good for somebody who has just started i'd say

 

[ghpham]

I think something need to be done to bring out the "sparkle" in the jewelry. Right now, it looks rather "flat".

 

[nicfargo]

Freed, what kind of camera are you using? It may be that you have too much set to auto settings which makes it hard to use off-camera lighting to get a decent shot sometimes...especially true of jewelry. Jewelry does not photograph well on automatic settings, manual is the way to go. But if your camera is not capable of this, we may have other issues to deal with first.

 

[Freedbaby]

Freed, what kind of camera are you using? It may be that you have too much set to auto settings which makes it hard to use off-camera lighting to get a decent shot sometimes...especially true of jewelry. Jewelry does not photograph well on automatic settings, manual is the way to go. But if your camera is not capable of this, we may have other issues to deal with first.

I have a Cannon Rebel XT and used my Tamron 17-50 F2.8 for these pics. I used the manual setting and I am over exposing the pictures quite a bit to get the backround even to look that good. I used a custom white balance that I set to the very back of the light tent.

I also would set something in the tent to block out some of the light on the side that I would sometimes get a glare on. I depended on which direction the piece was facing as to whether it was on the left or right. If I had the piece facing the front (opening) of the box then I usually didnt get any glare.

Any further help is appreciated.

 

[jstuedle]

Most jewelry images are a little closer than you typically are. To really show off the piece, I would think you would want it to be 50% of the frame or larger.

 

[Freedbaby]

Most jewelry images are a little closer than you typically are. To really show off the piece, I would think you would want it to be 50% of the frame or larger.

I am a little lost now....does that mean I need a different lens or that I need to crop them on the computer after??

 

[Happy Hour]

You don't need a different lens! just crop the picture so the jewelery is 50% of the picture.I believe that is what was being told? But don't go runing out and buying a new lens. your pics are fine just need some adjusting with light and backgrounds

 

[monkeykoder]

If you tried the black background with the cropping or macro lens you would get much better pictures.