First indoor lighting shots preparing for a 'shoot'

[TMR Design]

I just had some fairly good results with an experiment in lighting. I need to shoot some handmade jewelry on a few amateur models. I have my A620 (no DSLR yet) and a tripod. I hung a dark charcoal colored sheet on a wall as a background. There is very nice natural light that comes in the windows during the day but it is from the south and at times it is too intense or directional so I closed the blinds but opened them so the light was directed upwards.
I don't have an external flash and no matter what I have tried with the internal flash on the A620 I can't get great results that do not have glare or unwanted lighting effects.

As an experiment I took out a flourescent daylight grow light fixture and put it on the floor facing upward.

I placed a wooden post with the 'test subject' about 4 feet in front of the background and set up my tripod about 8 feet in front of that. Auto White Balance was not consistent and I found that the flurescent settings added a yellow tint. The Tungsten setting proved to be the best and most natural.

I shot at full telephoto and then macro full telephoto, keeping the aperture either full open or 1 stop down, EC was -1/3, ASA 400 and 200, with 400 showing more noise. Metering was set to Evaluative, AF was Center.

[RossW]

They look good; very even natural-looking diffuse lighting with that technique. One suggestion: try to add some light from above and behind the object to add some backlight. That will help to separate it from the background a bit more, giving it a little "snap."

You could also experiment with a reflector opposite the window, opening up the blinds a bit for some direct light, and bouncing some in from the other side with the reflector. However, I don't see anything wrong overall with your technique as is... simple and effective can be a good thing.

[TMR Design]

Thank you for the encouragement Ross. Do you have any suggestions for a home made reflector of some sort.?

I would love to do the experiments without spending money and as I learn and discover what really works then I might invest in lights or reflectors.

[RossW]

Effective reflectors can be made from white matte board, foamcore board, or anything covered with aluminum foil. Just about anything that will bounce light off of it's surface is a potentially functional reflector: glass, mirrors, large painted surfaces, white shirts, etc. You can experiment with some subtle coloring effects with reflectors that aren't pure white, too.

[TMR Design]

Great! I will try some things.

Now I have a question concerning Aperture, Lighting and Depth of field.

In the first pictures I tool I got that blurred background on the sheet so you can't see the seams or wrinkles. I was very pleased with that.

I maintained similar settings and shot a few other things. The first was a potted plant and although I got some nice shots of the plant and I thought color and exposure were good, I noticed that none of them had blurred the background, yet the lens was fully open and I was at full telephoto.

Then I took another batch of pictures using a white tea kettle and with the same settings I got the blurred background.

You can see in the picture of the plant that the sheet has creases in it. The original ceramic statue and the tea kettle do not show this.

Can you explain and make sense of this for me. I thought I understood the concept of bokeh and how to blur the background, but apparently there is more to it.

Is this a lighting issue?

[TMR Design]

And so the experiment continues.

These 2 pictures have a good blurred background.

It would seem the the lighting and how close it is to the subject as opposed to light it casts on the background changes things. Is that correct?

How does the distance I am from the subject affect the blurred background? The subject is never changing distance from the background.

[Jon]

Got one of those spring-form car windshield sunshades? The silver/black ones? They'll do in a pinch for reflectors.

[Pixel9ine]

any suggestions for a home made reflector of some sort.?I bought 2'x3' art board (bristol board) from a local art shop.. $2 each for silver and gold boards.. excellent reflectors!