any jewelry photographers out there?

[NGrinerPhoto]

what are you using to shoot jewelry (rings)? i was thinking a copy stand with the 2 45 degree tungsten lights, black felt and a macro lens. any ideas?

thanks, nick

[cricket]

Here is a free lesson from Web Photo School: http://www.webphotoschool.com/Lesson_Library/Free_Lessons/Photographing_Rings_the_Easy_Way/index.html
They push Olympus and Photoflex, but the concepts are pretty good!

[NGrinerPhoto]

what about a macro ring flash

[cricket]

what about a macro ring flash
I'm considering the Canon mt-24ex which isn't a ring light, but a twin flash set up. I don't shoot jewlerly.

My Macro lens arrived just today, kindly left on my front porch. :mad:

I have been reading a lot about macro photography, and have learned so much! But my macro will be for fun. I imagine you may be doing this for profit?

[PhotosGuy]

If I could figure out how to post pictures on this board, I'd gladly put some work up. [QUOTE] ;)
Put the pic on the inet. Right click on it & "Copy image location". Put the link where the asterick is & don't use the "s.:
"*"

[Jon]

Can someone tell me why this looks a lot better on my screen from my drive than it does on the internet? This is embarrassing.
Dunno - send me your drive so I can compare them :{)# Were you looking at both through your browser, or was the local copy in PhotoShop? If you weren't looking at both in the same application, they may not have the same colour calibration settings. Also, was it in Adobe or sRGB colour space?

[Jon]

Maybe PhotoShop's colour calibration profile?

[NGrinerPhoto]

This is the reason why I ask...
I was looking for ideas to give to a jeweler so he can get shots of his work. I traded him my time to educate him on camera operation, photoshop and get him discounts on equipment in trade for a discount on piece of jewelry. His setup needs to be relatively simple and compact. I was thinking a digital rebel, macro lens, macro ring flash, and tripod. Any ideas on simple compact setups? -Nick

[NGrinerPhoto]

Sure. Go ahead with the ring flash. You'll get some very interesting effects with it. It won't be worth much for advertising, though.

Jewelers and store owners have access to trade journals which advertise lighting and camera packages. The quality you get from them isn't good for much more than internet use or for digital inventory control. Most store owners prefer to outsource the photography for a couple of reasons: 1. nobody at the store wants to learn photography in addition to all the other things they need to do in the retail environment. 2. There's a high turnover in all retail--- even in the jewelry retail industry. By the time the owner trains someone, he's gone.

Who's doing his photography now? If you're in a position to sell him equipment, you must know a good deal about its application. Why don't you do his photography for him?

he really wants to do it himself ... but doesn't want a huge system. i shoot products all the time and use a 2 light setup with a seamless background (takes a lot of space). he only gave me a break on price for consulting ($60/hour vs. me shooting for $100/hour).

he wants images of his work because it's one of a kind. he's using a polaroid camera right now.

the place is small and has low white ceilings. theoretically, he could just bounce the flash. that would soften it up a little ... better than the flash ring. -nick

[Andy_T]

Take a look at this: homemade light tents (http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html).

Best regards,
Andy

[ARTSPACE]

I did jewelry photography for 6 months for a client and built the light box displayed on this website: http://lapidaryart.com/project_images/prj1014.html It was very easy and extremely helpful for producing consistent results when the client required the same "look" to every photo. Just a suggestion.