Taking pictures of Jewelry and Polymer Clay

[xipetotec]

I've been trying and trying to take GOOD pictures of polymer clay jewelry my wife makes. It's quite cahllenging and I don't know if it's a lack of lighting ( we bought a photo studio in-a-box with two lights and a white box ) or what, but it just seems to take muddy dark pictures. I tried by Aperture priority, by shutter priority to make it open longer, and it either looks muddy or washed out ( obviously overexposed ).

I only have a 55-80mm and a 75-300mm lense. I don't have a Macro lense ( those suckers are pricy! ) ... anyone got any tips or do I have to start taking these outside for maximum light?

 

[disneyboy2003]

If you're taking pictures of clay jewelry, maybe that's why your pictures look "muddy".

Just kidding. In terms of lighting, you're probably doing the right thing. Taking pictures in a studio-in-a-box gives you a controlled lighting set-up, so you don't have to worry about lighting variability in a room or outside.

Can you post some sample pictures? That way, we can see the results you're getting with Aperture Priority and with Shutter Priority. I wonder if you have to add/subtract some Exposure Compensation (on some cameras, it's "EV") to make things brighter/darker, respectively.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

If you want to really understand what you are doing, I recommend the book Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. It doesn't give you a bunch of generic light setup recipes. Instead, it teaches you about lighting so that you can solve your own lighting problems. Great book. Like the subject, however, it's invovled. You'll have to commit some serious effort to understanding it.

If you aren't willing to do that, then I recommend posting some shots of your setup and your resulting shots here or on other photo sites and hope for good advice.

 

[C&B Young]

I've got one of those studio-in-a-box setups which I used for stock photography for a while. I found that the lights that came with the set were inadequate. I ended up using the white box on my kitchen table with an overhead light, and natural light from a patio door right behind the box. Also, make sure you're taking away any vibration by using a tripod, remote release, and mirror lockup.

 

[xipetotec]

If you want to really understand what you are doing, I recommend the book Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. It doesn't give you a bunch of generic light setup recipes. Instead, it teaches you about lighting so that you can solve your own lighting problems. Great book. Like the subject, however, it's invovled. You'll have to commit some serious effort to understanding it.

If you aren't willing to do that, then I recommend posting some shots of your setup and your resulting shots here or on other photo sites and hope for good advice.

I think I will definitely check that book out! I'm definitely interested in getting better at this.

That being said, I will post some sample pictures when I get back home to my card reader!

Thanks!

 

[MICKEY88]

is the box all white or do you have color inserts..

the problem with shooting aperture or shutter priority, is that the camera will meter all that white and then underexpose the shot giving you a muddy picture...

use a tripod..
try shooting in manual, start at 1/125, iso 100 and your lens wide open, then adjust your shutter speed depending on the result, too bright speed up the shutter, too dark go with a longer shutter speed,,


once you make the right adjustment you should be able to get something similar to this..

 

[xipetotec]

Okay, as promised, here are sample pics of what I tried.
This is with a Canon Rebel Xti. With the kit lense ( 18-55mm ). ISO is 200 on all of them, and just about 55mm focal length on all of them. The rest of the info is with the pics. Some of them look "okay" but the colors should be so much more sharp and vibrant... even before post-processing ( I think? )

The "all white box" thing might be a good point. It IS all white, AND it's on a white sheet of paper... maybe I should try colored paper or some sort of gentle pattern?

Sorry to seem like such a n00b ( I've actually had this camera for over a year! ), still trying to get my head wrapped around some of the more advanced ( or even intermediate ) concepts....

sorry if it seems like an image flood here, but I guess it's what the thread is about

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 0.6sec, Average Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 0.6sec, Average Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.6sec, +1.3exp, Average Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.3sec, +1 exp, Average Metering

f/5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/30sec, +1 exp, Average Metering

f/5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/25sec, +1 exp, Pattern Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.6sec, +1 exp, Pattern Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 2.5sec, +1exp, Pattern Metering

f/16, ISO200, 55mm, 1/2sec +1 exp, Pattern Metering

f.5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/15sec, +1 Exp, Pattern Metering

f/36. ISO200, 48mm, 2sec, Pattern Metering

f/36, ISO 200, 48mm, 1sec, Pattern metering

f/36. ISO 200, 48mm, 1.6sec, Pattern metering

f/36, ISO 200, 48mm, 1.3sec, Pattern metering

f/36, ISO 200, 48mm 1.3sec, Pattern metering

 

[MICKEY88]

all white is good, it will just mess with you if you shoot in aperture or shutter priority,

try manual

also where do you have the lights set up

 

[bob100]

Okay, as promised, here are sample pics of what I tried.
This is with a Canon Rebel Xti. With the kit lense ( 18-55mm ). ISO is 200 on all of them, and just about 55mm focal length on all of them. The rest of the info is with the pics. Some of them look "okay" but the colors should be so much more sharp and vibrant... even before post-processing ( I think? )

The "all white box" thing might be a good point. It IS all white, AND it's on a white sheet of paper... maybe I should try colored paper or some sort of gentle pattern?

Sorry to seem like such a n00b ( I've actually had this camera for over a year! ), still trying to get my head wrapped around some of the more advanced ( or even intermediate ) concepts....

sorry if it seems like an image flood here, but I guess it's what the thread is about

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 0.6sec, Average Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 0.6sec, Average
f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.6sec, +1.3exp, Average
f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.3sec, +1 exp, Average
f/5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/30sec, +1 exp, Average Metering
[
f/5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/25sec, +1 exp, Pattern Metering

f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 1.6sec, +1 exp, Pattern
f/36, ISO200, 55mm, 2.5sec, +1exp, Pattern Metering

f/16, ISO200, 55mm, 1/2sec +1 exp, Pattern

f.5.6, ISO200, 55mm, 1/15sec, +1 Exp, Pattern Metering


f/36. ISO200, 48mm, 2sec, Pattern Metering


f/36, ISO 200, 48mm, 1sec, Pattern metering


f/36. ISO 200, 48mm, 1.6sec, Pattern metering
[
f/36, ISO 200, 48mm, 1.3sec, Pattern

f/36, ISO 200, 48mm 1.3sec, Pattern g[/IMG]

why f36? that setting seems wrong for the subject and type of pic, that's why you're getting long shutter speeds. the light sources are definitely uneven. There is a wealth of info on product photography in the flash and lighting section at
www.photography-on-the.net/forum/

 

[xipetotec]

all white is good, it will just mess with you if you shoot in aperture or shutter priority,

try manual

also where do you have the lights set up

I have the two regular lamps that came with the kit of either side of the box and for some of the later pics, I also had a "natural light" 60watt lightbulb above the box as well.

 

[xipetotec]

why f36? that setting seems wrong for the subject and type of pic, that's why you're getting long shutter speeds. the light sources are definitely uneven. There is a wealth of info on product photography in the flash and lighting section at
www.photography-on-the.net/forum/

Well you'll see there are some at 5.6, but I read on some site that the smaller aperture helped capture more detail in the jewelry ( clearly not ) as I had tried before with the larger aperture.

I will check out that forum! Thanks

 

[MICKEY88]

Well you'll see there are some at 5.6, but I read on some site that the smaller aperture helped capture more detail in the jewelry ( clearly not ) as I had tried before with the larger aperture.

I will check out that forum! Thanks

try shooting in manual mode as I stated earlier, and f8 should be plenty depth of field,, mine were shot at 2.8


move the lights so you dont see any glare

 

[xipetotec]

try shooting in manual mode as I stated earlier, and f8 should be plenty depth of field,, mine were shot at 2.8


move the lights so you dont see any glare

I will definitely try that!
Should I keep my focal length to around 55mm? Or should I try and bring it in closer to 18mm and try and bring the tripod in closer? ( i.e. does it make a significant difference? )

 

[MICKEY88]

I will definitely try that!
Should I keep my focal length to around 55mm? Or should I try and bring it in closer to 18mm and try and bring the tripod in closer? ( i.e. does it make a significant difference? )

try various settings and seee which gives you the biggest picture of your jewelry

 

[YesDear]

If your camera has spot meter capabilities do that on the jewelry. That will blow out the white but that is what you want.

Also shoot in RAW if you can. You have much more control over the image then.

 

[racreel]

Shooting with an all white background is like shooting snow or white sand. If you don't overexpose the meters reading, it's not going to be white.

Spot metering the subject would probably help instead of metering all that white.