Struggling a bit with some jewellery

Hi chaps ... I've been taking some jewellery photographs for a local auction and they've had some complaints about the photography ... have I got it very wrong ?

The budget for this job is very small, I have to knock them out as quickly as possible ... one shot a minute !

I try and shoot as many as possible on a white b/g as I've found black picks up too much dust and hair and there's more time needed in post.

Any advice/criticisms welcome.

here's a link to the current catalogue:

http://www.bulstrodes.​co.uk/bulstrodes-live-sale.html

There are several pages ...

your link is messed up.

Sorry about the link ... I don't seem to be able to paste the address of a specific page, if anyone can be bothered to click on the catalogue link (as below) and go to page 9 they'll find some stuff that I'm talking about ... good of anyone to take the time.

Roger

I see that some of them have a glare on the subject. Maybe you should shoot tethered to a laptop so that you can see that & correct the angle as you're shooting.
Specifically, what complaints are you getting?

It's an auction site. They look fine to me. Are they expecting magazine quality shots? It's what I'd expect to see on an auction site. What are the specific complaints?

Wise words...Canon Utility Software is superior.

Not many complaints and yes BlakeC I think they see shots in magazines and expect that quality ... I knock the shot out in a minute or so and then a couple of minutes in post to size them adjust the contrast a bit, or whatever ... when I've shot stuff for a catalogue I could easily spend an hour in post PER ring !

Your comments are encouraging I'll stop being quite so worried.

Thanks Roger

rogertb wrote in post #17793785
Not many complaints and yes BlakeC I think they see shots in magazines and expect that quality ... I knock the shot out in a minute or so and then a couple of minutes in post to size them adjust the contrast a bit, or whatever ... when I've shot stuff for a catalogue I could easily spend an hour in post PER ring !

Your comments are encouraging I'll stop being quite so worried.

Thanks Roger

That's the problem. I think too many people think the way they do. Even though I'm sure you are more than capable of producing better magazine quality images, they are not paying for those. They think they are just getting a crazy deal and are expecting awesome product photos.

It's the same with wedding photo or portraits or w/e. Some people see the price and think "Oh, look, this one is cheaper than the other one! Hire them! They are cheaper AND they will take the exact same quality photos!"

With you, it is a little different. YOU can take photos of different qualities depending on what they are for. Photos for a temporary item on an auction site = low budget quick one-off photos. Magazine shots = higher budget detail oriented shots. To, them, there is no difference.

You will just need to do a better job of managing expectations next time.

C'mon guys...this is not rocket science here...tether/adjust lighting/shoot.

if you control-click (mac) the link to get the pop up menu from the particular item you can copy the link to the item page.

for instance

page nine of the auction:
http://whitelabel.glob​alauctionplatform.com …ienturl=bulstro​des&page=9

another:

http://whitelabel.glob​alauctionplatform.com …dcc4?clienturl=​bulstrodes

this item ^ seems to be too washed out … the blacks don't really look black. i see another one or two that look to have the same processing problem.

http://whitelabel.glob​alauctionplatform.com …dc16?clienturl=​bulstrodes

this item ^ shows a big reflection right across the main jewel from the light behind the piece, bad news. Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection, so you need to change the position of the light


http://whitelabel.glob​alauctionplatform.com …dd8d?clienturl=​bulstrodes

this item ^ seems to show two large sources, one back left, one back right, and another small medium one in front. IMO this is kind of "light tent" illumination rather than actually lighting the objects. I will say that for this piece it comes close but if you are using a similar set up that just floods the area with light, you're on the wrong track.

In my rather limited experience, mixing large sources to light the area and then mixing in small sources to provide specular highlights is how you make jewelry pop. Also, lighting on white, especially silver jewelry, is not going to be the most attractive background.

why are they lit from behind?...just basing it off of the shadows