Take a digital photo

Jewelry Discussion
1

I would like to know what you use to take a photo from a digital
camera to make it come out real clear in detail, it seems like there
to much light and it comes out fuzzy or not clear at all. Is it a
light box you set your piece of jewelry in? please let me know I
would like to put my jewelry on the web. thank you Beatnhart.
BnH :slight_smile:

2

First, you have to think about the camera you use. There have been
lots of discussions. Nikon 990 or 950 get lots of votes. The
question is does the fuzzy and light problems come from a poor camera
environment.

If the camera is ok, then you probably need to clean up the pictures
before putting them on the web. I use simple MS Photodraw (about
$100). I do lighten or darken if appropriate but the single best edit
is the “blur and sharpen” tool that allows you to clean up the focus.
Next most important is to make sure you have the right size for the
web - also a pretty automated function. Finally you have to get the
image saved in the right format. Photodraw and most others have a
wizard that will guide you through saving the image as a Gif or Jpeg
(with photos you want jpeg).

Then you need website software that will easily position you photos
on your page.

You can see my examples at www.worldwidegemstones.net

I am prepared to offer consulting help with some of these kinds of
tools if you would like. You can call or e-mail off line to discuss.

Lee LeFaivre
Worldwide Gemstones
888-622-9587

3 
    I would like to know what you use to take a photo from a
digital camera to make it come out real clear in detail, it seems
like there to much light and it comes out fuzzy or not clear at all.
Is it a light box you set your piece of jewelry in? please let me
know I would like to put my jewelry on the web. thank you Beatnhart.
BnH :-)

There are a couple things I can offer off the top of my head that may
help.

  1. If your camera supports “spot metering” try that. If not play
    around with the supplied metering options.

  2. Diffuse the lights. You will probably have piece in direct
    light, so you need to diffuse it to prevent blinding white spots. I
    have used two techniques. One is to put a layer of paper, gel, or
    thin fabric between to light and the piece. This takes some rigging
    because depending on the lights you may burn the diffuser if you get
    it too close. For rings and small stuff I have found that a medium
    to large frosted plastic bowl works great. Cut a whole in the side
    for the camera lens and move the lights in fairly close, but not too
    close or you’ll have melted plastic. DO NOT use your wife or
    partners cooking bowels. Buy your own and explain what you are going
    to do to prevent misunderstandings later!

  3. I have found that “daylight blue” bulbs work great. I use them
    for my digital and you can also do color print and slides with them.
    The other main light is tungsten lighting. These should work fine
    for digital and are great for slides, but if you can’t find color
    print film in 35mm.

Check out these sites for more info:

Rough photo booth is a quick display I
did. It is not great, but get fairly good results for me. Most of
the photos on my site were done with this setup without doing any
photo retouching. Shows how to do it on the cheap.

http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tree.cgi has some great information
from Charles Lewtin Brain’s book. Look under the topic of small
object photography. Read these then get the book.

Amy O'Connell Basic Jewelry Photography is Amy O’Connell’s demo on
photography. It is very good and based on Charles Lewtin Brain’s
book.

Photo set up to shoot jewelry is Abrasha’s photo setup.
a different approach, but it gets very good results.

I hope this helps you out.

Cheers,

Paul Ewing
Shining Moon Creations - Exotic and Fantasy Jewelry

4

I have found that taking the picture with the camera on a tripod made
the difference for me as far as any blur was concerned. I try to use
natural light when ever possible. But, I am still experimenting with
background material, any suggestions? Also I have seen pictures of
necklaces that look like they are floating in air. I would love to
know who that is done? Karran Uhr

5

First, you have to have a camera adequate to the task. Assuming your
camera has a close-up capability, you must understand that macro
(close-up) work is not as simple as a snapshot. Quality results
require quality input. First, you must have adequate light. There has
to be ENOUGH light to make the exposure, and your camera should be
able to automatically adjust to the light levels to make a proper
exposure. If there is not enough light you just get either no picture
or something very dim. Just as important is the QUALITY of the
light…for shiny objects such as jewelry we need diffused or "flat"
light, just like the light we find outside on an overcast day. The
light is bounced around and there are no harsh shadows. Direct light
from a light bulb, or your camera’s built-in flash is the worst
possible light source for jewelry photography, you need a light tent
or light box made of translucent material which will diffuse the light
so it imitates that cloudy day. Just as importantly, when you take the
picture, the camera needs to remain MOTIONLESS, so use a tripod or a
sandbag, if you are not using an external, off-camera electronic
flash. Your camera shpuld be able to automatically adjust for a near
proper exposure and should also allow you to adjust the shutter speed
and lens opening to fine tune the exposure. A good exposure will
require little or no adjustment, but there’s nothing like having
Photoshop handy. If there’s any interest, I am writing a handbook
about jewelry photography and will be marketing a series of small
accessories, including light tents ranging from very cheap to the
$600-800 range. It’s all about the light…

Wayne Emery

6

Hi Karran,

  1. Using Photoshop or some other image processing software, the
    primary subject is traced (“lassoed”) and the back ground is dropped
    out of the picture. Another background is substituted and the piece
    now appears suspended. Pretty easy with the right tools.

  2. The piece is photgraphed on a sheet of glass supported on four
    corners. the supports are out of the field of view. The background
    will then be out of focus. Polarizing lenses are used to remove any
    tell-tale reflections from the glass sheet, making the glass
    invisible. result is same as above.

  3. The piece can be photographed on a light box which is designed for
    viewing photo transparencies (slides)or X-rays. This gives a pure
    white background with no shadows.

Best to ya!
Wayne Emery