posted on February 3, 2001 01:02:52 PM new
I finally bought my Sony Mavica FD73, great camera. What gives me the most trouble is taking pictures of jewelry with stones in it.
If I take the pictures in the sun I get too much dark shadow & in shade the stones look dull.
Anyone have any advice on what kind of lighting would make the jewelry look good & how to get the colored stones to show their colors.
posted on February 3, 2001 01:20:57 PM new
the best way to photograph jewlery or anything that may reflect is to photograph it against a black backround from an angle, this will minimize the flash flare, but if you can use a white backround with lots of good white light you can photograph without the flash, ex.... a white cardboard box with 2 lights above and to the side, this will help to eliminate shadows, and contrast the colors.....black backrounds absorb excess light and contrase neutral colors.
every 20 seconds in america a woman is giving birth:SHE MUST BE FOUND AND STOPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.................................................................
[ edited by photogeyk on Feb 3, 2001 01:29 PM ]
posted on February 3, 2001 02:48:06 PM new
You can also try an overcast day if you don't have equipment. Also some large white cards can provide cheap fill-in reflectors. Metals and jewels need to be evenly lit all the way around...anything that is not lit goes black.
posted on February 3, 2001 02:52:43 PM new
I photograph my jewelry without a flash, under fluorescent lighting. What really helps is to have a variety of colored background fabrics -- I like the silky kind. Different colors will absorb light and have a different effect on the jewelry's appearance; I usually try a piece on several colors such as red, blue, black, cream . . . and figure out which shows the piece to best advantage. Another tip is to be very familiar with your photo enhancing program; I use Adobe PhotoDeluxe and can help brighten and contrast.
posted on February 3, 2001 03:31:58 PM new
I have an Arc Soft disk & I thing you can use it for photo enhancing. Problem is I have no idea how to use it or how to find the information on the disk. Nothing seems to come easy to me....
I have several pieces of silky material to try to photograph with. I like that idea.
Thank's for the help everyone.
posted on February 3, 2001 03:54:30 PM newmcjane I think black matte material, such as velvet makes a great background for most jewelry, as it allows you to keep the iris wider and allow more light to fall on the jewelry itself. Another thing I've found is that deep blue materials tends to show off silver to its best advantage and deep red makes gold look great.
posted on February 5, 2001 07:59:01 AM new
I scan a lot of my jewelry... anyone else do that? Works great on some pieces and not so well on others. I find I can't get close enough to jewelry with my camera. Did pick up alot of infor here on this question..... the ole brightness DOES help me out alot too.
posted on February 5, 2001 08:29:41 AM new
mcjane - I've been photographing jewelry but I can't, for the life of me, remember what I do. I have halogen lighting set up high and a regular bulb in an adjustable desk fixture on my photo taking table. I also use my macro setting which I'm assuming your camera has also (I have the FD88). When you set the camera on macro, you move the camera back and forth to adjust focus as opposed to waiting for the camera to do it automatically.
I'm afraid I'm not being much help but if you go to eBay's Image (something) discussion board, there is a guy who is the Sony guru. Just look for the bull.
Also, it took me forever to learn to use the ArcSoft that came with the camera. I was then advised (arms waving and feet kickin') to download Irfanview which I've found to be a great photo enhancing system. You have to learn how to use a photo manipulating system. (Yes, I'm sorry, I hated it too!) You won't believe how wonderful a thing it is until you've used it. I'm still learning mine and get pleasantly surprised quite often with what it can do.
