Hi Janet, to make rings stand up for photographing I use the sticky
putty stuff that is sold in stationary, hardware stores etc to hold
papers and things to the wall - I can’t think what it’s called - it
used to be putty colored now mostly I’ve seen it around in blue or
yellow. ( go figure - I just did a search at office depot for of all
things - “sticky” and wound up at a product called ALL STICK - putty
colored sticky stuff.) Anyway a very small glob warmed up a little
between your fingers and set onto your shooting surface - press the
ring gently, wiggling onto the glob and 95% of the time it will stay.
Most of the time if I’m careful about it I can get it so you can’t
see the glob. When that doesn’t work or I was just sloppy - I
usually clean it up in photoshop with the rubber stamp tool. Michelle
There is a product known as “prop wax” you can buy at your
professional photography store. It’s a clear to whitish wax, works
very well for holding rings up.
We used this when I worked as an appraiser. We had a photo box
(wood) with the camera mounted on the side, ring flash on the
camera, piece of glass at an angle inside the box. Put the wax on,
take the picture, remove the wax. Worked really well, best of all,
it was always set up. Good for documentation, not good enough for
jury slides.
Elaine Luther Chicago area, Illinois, USA Metalsmith, Certified PMC
Instructor Studio 925; established 1992 @E_Luther
I was using the sticky putty, which works pretty well. It required
less cleanup when I was using a white background, but since I’ve
switched to a gray background, it really shows up more, so I was
hoping the clear Museum Gel would be less conspicuous. Well, that
didn’t work. Last time I shot rings, I cut two slits in the gray
paper background about 1/2 inch apart and inserted a paper clip
below with just the small end showing above. I fitted the ring
bottom under the paper clip, and it held the ring very well. The
bits of paper clip were easier to clone out in photoshop than a glob
of putty. Still experimenting.
Janet Kofoed
You can also use a mixture of kneadable eraser and modelling clay.
Carl