Hello All:
I have a digital camera and a computer graphic set up at home
(Kodak Digital Science-DC260 Zoom camera and I use it with my
MAC set up). I looked at all the cameras everyone has been
talking about before I settled on my camera. There are two
tricks I use to get great print outs of my pictures. I learned
how to light my work properly for the camera (it works kind of
like a video camera- too much light will kill you), and I clean
up my pictures in Adobe Photoshop. I remove hot spots this way,
adjust the color so it closely resembles the jewerly I was
shooting. I have gotten away with using my digital printouts on
cards and they look sometimes much better then the “professional
shot” photos.
Correct correction and retouch work is what all the big jewelry
companies do with their photos ( Sterns, Debeers, Yurman). I
just want to make it clear that I do not ALTER my images to look
better then they do in “real life”. I just try to get the
picture of the jewelry to resemble “real life” more. I am always
disppointed with how jewelry photographs. 99% of the time the
actual pieces look far superior to the photos. This way I can
make sure my colors are more realistic and make sure my piece
does not look flattened.
Photoshop is fairly complex program to learn ( I have been using
it for years and still do not know its full capacity as a
graphic program) but there are much simplier programs out there
to buy that will allow the user to color correct their images.
Thats my two cents worth.
DeDe