Hi there,

This is my first post, I have been learning about photography for a few months now and really need some advise on "how to photography jewellery" anything from mens cufflinks, ladies bracelets, brooches, necklaces etc that kind of thing.

In my day job I am sometimes summoned to take pictures using our Canon 400D with lens kit...Despite only starting learning photography it can be very tedious when you are taking loads of pictures each day and then none of weeks and so on but ultimately not getting any better, this can be frustating especially when you only have a few seconds to take the shot before emailing to a customer / colleague.

So here is my trouble, we use a lightbox / lightcube that has 3 main controls i)ground ii)front iii)back and my photos of jewellery especially cufflinks come underexposed, blurred, you cannot even properly identify the metal  , the design or pattern on the front of the cufflink basically the shots I take require a lot of processing and in most cases this doesnt even work because of "colorburn" I think thats the technical term.... Ultimately the product is not seen properly its like what I have shot and what I am physically looking at are two different things,  take a look at what I am talking about:-

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7990/img1264ps5.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3318/img1267lq4.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8536/img1277yx7.jpg

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/2749/img1281rs1.jpg

I am still learning about the affects of aperture and shutterspeed so sometimes use a small FSTOP i.e. F5 or F10 and then sometimes use F29  or F25 etc we also have a lightbox at work but I never know how best to control the light..

Anyhow I am seeking advise and tips to improve the quality of my product photography, to not have to touch each image up alot, to get a real effect so I see on the camera the same thing I am holding in my hand whatever the type of jewellery maybe..So that metal looks like metal and patterns are easily seen, so even before anyone has seen the physical product after viewing the image and then the product its 95% similar...

Please help me in my quest and assist me to shut my M.D. up once and for all becuz currently its just not good enough but no help or advise is given..

Thanks in advance.,.

Cheers

Hi X,

I know very well what it's like when you can't get pictures to come right, especially if you are under pressure. But there's plenty we can do to improve these.

The pictures you have taken are, as you've said, very underexposed. Not sure what has happened at this stage. Can you tell me all your main camera settings for one or more of these? E.g. ISO, shutter speed, aperture, whether taken on auto or some other mode, exposure mode, flash or other settings?

I assume the lightbox has fixed lighting all round?

As for focus, I suspect the problem here is that your lens simply won't let you get in close enough. The kit lenses you will have won't let you get sufficently close for a full image of something as small as cufflinks. There are various options to address this point.

Ideally you'd persuade your boss to buy or hire a macro lens (a 60mm would do). You could stay further back and crop the pictures. Or get a close up filter. Or use a compact camera like Chris's, which has a good macro function.

There are some very good examples of this kind of work in galleries here which I think would be helpful to you - some professional shots in Tim W's in particular. But we can talk about fine tuning once we've got the basics of exposure and focus sorted.

Eileen

Hey Eileen,

Thanks for your reply and apologises for not responding sooner, I only just saw your reply today

Since my previous post and some research I am use the following techiques which has really improved my shots:-

a) use a light tent instead of the light box as I found the lightbox was not giving me good lighting although I could control the amount of lighting on subject it just made things worse.
b) Use 1 tungsten light the rays are going through the side of the light tent - the light tent is diffusing the strength of the light helping me with reflections etc and more important it helps when taking pictures of rhodium, mat rhodium or brushed metal, I can really see the difference between the different types of metal - i will upload some new shots within the next couple of days. - I would like to use a second lamp from the other side to see what effect this has on my pictures..
c) use a small FSTOP i.e. F3.5 etc no higher then F8 if I can help it - this I find helps clarify the type of metal being used and also makes the design on the front alot clearer.
d) use a higher shutter speed i.e. 1/60 +
e) set the camera to custom white balance, so dont have to worry about background too much as the background is the white I want :) this has helped a hell of alot...

Re: kit lens issue - since posting and implementing the above changes I found I have to process my images less, I do crop each one to upload to our internal system BUT more importantly if I cannot get close enough to my subject I dont worry because during the processing stage I zoom in and then save it so it makes up for not having a lens - TEMPORARILY ...

Since my intial post and implementing the above changes you will be pleased to learn my M.D. has actually admitted my shots are at a stage and level he expected from the jewellery I capture. This has encourage me and provided me with more confidence to try and improve even more, although I always try its just nice to hear that he is happy and content at the moment with my work considering this is not even apart of my daily job and I only got roped into it as I enjoy photography :)

As stated above I will upload some images shortly and if possibly I would appreciate if you could tell provide your opinions on whatelse I can improve on, of course I will tell you what I think needs improving also..

Thanks for all your help..

Hi X

I found this as I think it may help you with what you are looking for in the end result.

All the images use I Light tent to illuminate the subject in question.

Hope this helps.

cheers :)

thats really useful...I think that would be ideal to anyone who has a dark room, placing the subject on the pad and then adding light from where ever appropiate..

Unfortuately our office just doesnt have the amount of space for me to be able to do that and since I setting custom WB on the camera this has done wonders..

However I will show it to my M.D. and see if he will spend some money especially as he approves of my photos at the moment haha

thanks

Glad things are working out X.

Look forward to seeing your pics when you're ready.

Cheers, Eileen

Hi,

Below are some new composed images, I would appreciate your comments on them and also advise as to how to improve on them?

I acknowledge some of the background lighting is a bit out, some cufflinks are not 100% clear as the back of them are blurred and also on the front of the images perhaps you can see 1 design more on a cufflink more better then the other cufflink.. Things I realise a new macro lens would fix, but as previously mentioned as I have literally seconds before taking the next shot sometimes its hard to focus 100% as my mind is thinking about the other 30 pairs I have to shoot...

Other then my above observations I would really appreciate if you could help me improve them beyond what I have mentioned..if possible, perhaps they are as best I can capture with the kit lens, or alternatively are there more tweaks? I am finding I am spending less time processing which is a plus point as I just dont have the time unfortunately...

Please remember I am trying to capture an image that tells the person viewing the image what metal metal the cufflinks are made from, enables them to see the design clearly and also the fitting at the back, and finally try to have a clear, crisp image and background...not much I know ;)

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7358/10985hl3.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/946/10987tc3.jpg

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4984/12693zr5.jpg

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/3285/12701jz2.jpg

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4707/12715zf1.jpg

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/3430/12716gp8.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4472/12775ru5.jpg

thanks for taking the time to view the images, I look forward to your comments

cheers :)