# Jewelry Photograpy Need Feedback



## Bgagnon127 (Apr 17, 2011)

Hi all,
Just looking for some feedback about these shots. Whats good, what's bad?


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 17, 2011)

Bgagnon127 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> Just looking for some feedback about these shots. Whats good, what's bad?



Darn, how do I get images on this post from an iPad?


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## Bitter Jeweler (Apr 17, 2011)

Get the Photobucket App, upload them, then paste the link here.


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 17, 2011)

Bgagnon127 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> Just looking for some feedback about these shots. Whats good, what's bad?



http://briangagnonphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Jewelry/DSC0909/1253767497_dCftXHV-M.jpg

http://briangagnonphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Jewelry/DSC0984/1253767552_3Tx8QJm-M.jpg


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## Gunner19 (Apr 19, 2011)

The jewellery doesn't appeal to me, honestly. Lighting can be much much better.

May I know if the photos are raw?


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 19, 2011)

Gunner19 said:
			
		

> The jewellery doesn't appeal to me, honestly. Lighting can be much much better.
> 
> May I know if the photos are raw?



Could you please elaborate, this general it doesn't appeal to me doesn't offer any insight. Subjective opinions with nothing to back them up aren't needed. Thanks.


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## o hey tyler (Apr 19, 2011)

He is wondering if the photo was shot in RAW I believe. The background could be brighter to wash it out completely rather than having it be a muddy gray. You could also open your aperture a bit, f/29 or f/32 is unnecessary and will increase the amount of diffraction.


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## Robin Usagani (Apr 19, 2011)

use of shiny base would help


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 20, 2011)

o hey tyler said:
			
		

> He is wondering if the photo was shot in RAW I believe. The background could be brighter to wash it out completely rather than having it be a muddy gray. You could also open your aperture a bit, f/29 or f/32 is unnecessary and will increase the amount of diffraction.



Hi Tyler,
Thanks for the feedback. Jewelry is tough, if I had to guess blowing out the background completely would result in a lose of detail in the jewelry so there must be some tricks I'm not familiar with. I could always go into Photoshop but I prefer to know how to shoot it correctly and do minimal retouching. Also, if I open the aperture the depth of field will become shallow and portions of the jewelry will be out of focus. I'm guessing that a nicer macro lens would help with this issue?

Oh and yes I did shoot it raw originally and did the minor adjustments in light room.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Apr 20, 2011)

Jewelery is difficult.







This was shot on glass, with black velvet 6 inches below the glass. I used a semi-circle of white paper to surround the ring. It had a paper "roof". I used one flash, pointing half at the roof, and the other half spilled down onto several folded paper reflectors to throw light back in from the front and underneath. I had a second flash off to the side of the paper cylinder. I go for a little more stylish shot, by not having the whole ring in focus. The bottom of the ring doesn't matter much. I try to focus on the stones, and the details.






This was shot on white paper, with one flash under the paper, and one off to the side of the same paper cylinder setup, and reflectors. This shot was pretty difficult to get the diamonds to stay bright. The textured face of the band is black, and had to try to keep it from washing out.

On larger items, try hanging them from string, with your background farther away. Throw bright light on that background to blow it out, and then deal with lighting the jewelery item. You really need at least two flashes, and as many reflectors as needed to control the light. 
Good luck! I'm still working it out, and every piece has different needs.


The following is an example of using one flash, from underneath paper, and reflectors. While it did a great job of blowing the background, you can tell there isn't much life to the top of the ring.


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 20, 2011)

Bitter Jeweler said:
			
		

> Jewelery is difficult.
> 
> This was shot on glass, with black velvet 6 inches below the glass. I used a semi-circle of white paper to surround the ring. It had a paper "roof". I used one flash, pointing half at the roof, and the other half spilled down onto several folded paper reflectors to throw light back in from the front and underneath. I had a second flash off to the side of the paper cylinder. I go for a little more stylish shot, by not having the whole ring in focus. The bottom of the ring doesn't matter much. I try to focus on the stones, and the details.
> 
> ...



Thanks bitter jeweler, all awesome points to consider. I don't do a lot of jewelry so I don't have much practice but I have to say its probably one of the hardest products to shoot!


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## Bgagnon127 (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi Bitter Jeweler, Check this photoshop edit out. It this better or do you still feel the overall lighting just needs to be improved? 

http://briangagnonphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Jewelry/DSC0909-Edit-2-Edit/1262540665_2Hkg2gM-L.jpg


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## Bitter Jeweler (Apr 23, 2011)

Thats a great edit, but you can work towards getting that in camera, and not spend the time.


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## STM (May 29, 2011)

Laying the jewelry flat like that can make the images uninteresting and not very commercially appealing. Rings, especially should be standing, also the texture of the background/foreground is distracting.

The other thing with jewelry photography is it has to sparkle, especially stones. A good place to start is to work in a light tent and have a separate light, tightly focused, to add sparkle to the stones. 

Watch photography, like I did below for a local jewler, has it's own set of challenges, but rings and bracelets are even more challenging.


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