Need HELP with my jewelry photos

[DiamondLove]

I have a online jewelry business and just upgraded to a Nikon P500 camera and I need help with these pictures... I have played around with every setting for the past three weeks and I just cant get the desired look I'm after with the settings. I have two 65w warm white lights and a led light I use to brighten the stones. They are taken on a sheet of white acrylic board on a white leather ring display. I know this camera is capable of taking good photos and sometimes I fluke a really good one. The prob is every ring is so different, different colored stones and white/yellow gold so what works for one picture doesn't look good for the next. The first pic (peridot large green stone) is the look im after, it was taken with the user manual setting and these seem to be the best combo:
macro
brightness- varies but usually +0.7 or +1.0
image quality-fine
optimize image-vivid
white balance- daylight +1 or +2
iso- high iso sensitivity auto
metering- spot
flash- slow sync
everything else is set to auto or off

The Ruby and Aquamarine were taken with the same settings. The Emerald Oval pic, has the same settings but no flash.
I like the clarity of the Emerald Oval but the background looks too dark and grey.
The Ruby is too bright and has lost the clarity of the ring.
And the Aquamarine is has a grey background and the yellow gold and the stones look a bit muddy.

All of my pictures are this inconsistent and its driving me crazy.
If any of you photo pros have any suggestions, that would be a huge help!

 

[C. Brian Kerr]

I would invest in a light tent. Inexpensive and great results. Here is an image of a reel that I shot for a friend

 

[KmH]

You might want to look through the threads in the Commercial/Product photography forum.

 

[Derrel]

WHat I assume is automatically-applied, in-camera Noise Reduction has spoiled the ruby ring shot...that blurriness is the NR routine, eliminating noise, and also most of the detail. The HIGH ISO setting you have chosen is what is forcing the Noise Reduction to kick on...a low ISO is generally needed for product work, along with either flash, or a tripod to keep the camera rock-steady.

I think Photoflex's lighting school videos might be helpful. They show how to use some basic studio lighting stuff, and how to shoot with it.

Product Still Life Photoflex Lighting School Photoflex

 

[DiamondLove]

Thanks for the tips, yes I am looking into getting a light box but seems like I should at least be able to take decent pics with my setup now until I get one. I have adjusted the settings to ISO 160, and the white balance and brightness for the Ruby and Aquamarine ring. What do you think?

 

[tirediron]

The exposure is livable-with, but there's a lot more to it than just exposure. Everyone of these images is more-or-less identical, from above. In some cases you've got a green area in the background, in other areas the top of the ring tray is cutting through the ring... I would consider using a velvet finger, rather than this rather sterile, white tray. I would also give some consideration to other colours of background as the white is causing some of the gems to look rather washed out. Consider also purchasing the lighting bible to help with this.

Search under the username 'Bitter Jeweller' for examples of how jewellery photography should be done.

 

[Brett.kent]

Lighting jewelry is a specialty, like many others in the photographic industry, I would suggest if you ultimately want a professional result... hire a professional. As tirediron indicated there is a lot more than exposure that needs attention in these images. The suggestion of a light tent is correct and essential to jewelry photography. You will also need to control your ambient reflections caused by the choice of surface and reflective qualities. Velvet will help to absorb some of these and the use of the light tent will help with the light source based reflections. The composition of the images is the next thing that you could work on and try to make the shots a little interesting rather than simply placing the piece directly in the center of the frame.


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[Ornello]

I have a online jewelry business and just upgraded to a Nikon P500 camera and I need help with these pictures... I have played around with every setting for the past three weeks and I just cant get the desired look I'm after with the settings. I have two 65w warm white lights and a led light I use to brighten the stones. They are taken on a sheet of white acrylic board on a white leather ring display. I know this camera is capable of taking good photos and sometimes I fluke a really good one. The prob is every ring is so different, different colored stones and white/yellow gold so what works for one picture doesn't look good for the next. The first pic (peridot large green stone) is the look im after, it was taken with the user manual setting and these seem to be the best combo:
macro
brightness- varies but usually +0.7 or +1.0
image quality-fine
optimize image-vivid
white balance- daylight +1 or +2
iso- high iso sensitivity auto
metering- spot
flash- slow sync
everything else is set to auto or off

The Ruby and Aquamarine were taken with the same settings. The Emerald Oval pic, has the same settings but no flash.
I like the clarity of the Emerald Oval but the background looks too dark and grey.
The Ruby is too bright and has lost the clarity of the ring.
And the Aquamarine is has a grey background and the yellow gold and the stones look a bit muddy.

All of my pictures are this inconsistent and its driving me crazy.
If any of you photo pros have any suggestions, that would be a huge help!

Hire a pro.

 

[jcdeboever]

Hire a pro.

That's not cool at all. Besides, it seems helping people on this forum is a big attraction and keeps people coming back.

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[Ornello]

See post above mine.

 

[KmH]

It's been 9 months since the thread was started.
Digging this thread up to comment today was less than useful.

Or more properly stated for the OP:
If you want your business to continue and flourish, hire a pro to make photos of your jewelry until you learn enough about lighting and doing photography that you can make professional quality photographs of your jewelry yourself.
Many here at TPF will be happy to help you during your learning process.