Close-Up Problems

[ebayaddict]

Hi all,
I am a jeweller and I am trying to catalogue my entire collection of rings for a website. The problem is that compared to 35mm I am getting really flat results and they tend to be blueish as well.
My set up is a table with 2 Photo Lamps either side at an angle and it worked with 35mm but I can't afford to wait for developing and it takes too long.
When I used film the jewels used to really stand out and the light would catch each of the sides and they would really shine but with my digi camera the results just look bland.

Can anyone help as there must be a way out of this without having to resort to too much Photoshop time.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanx, Mark

[dn7elson]

It is going to depend a lot upon the digital camera you use.

For example, my first digital camera was a Kodak DC220 (1 Megapixal) which yields flat, somewhat dull images.

My Canon G2 (4 Megapixal) on the other hand yields very crisp, lifelike images.

[catman]

Well, you just need to work with your camera. In your case you may want to turn the saturation up all the way and the contrast and sharpness both down to -1. At that point, you need to play with the various f-stop settings. Try the one just before 8.0 first while zooming in ever so slightly. The narrow aperture setting will --hopefully--assist you in getting the glare that you are looking for. Try it with out zooming--then zoom in a little bit on each try. Again--play with the aperture and I'm sure you will eventually get the perfect setting. You might also consider using the AEB to get 3 shots to choose from. I live in Ohio--if you do you might want to email me and let me give it a shot--so to speak.

[jterlecki]

If your lamps and film combination produce satisfactory results, it may be a color balance problem. Try adjusting the white balance for your specific project first. That may be the easiest solution.

[catman]

The easiest solution would be to hire someone else to do it.