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Jewelry Macro Shots

K

kenham40

Gawd
Joined
Apr 3, 2001
Messages
943
What would be the best setup for taking pictures of Jewelry? My wife has a side business selling jewelry and I would like to take pictures that looks awesome for her. (these will be used on the web) Any and all recommendations welcome.

I am basically starting from scratch buying things because the only digicam I have at home is a canon s400 digital elph (the 4mp model)...
 
umm this is pretty basic, you need to get a cheap tripod, maybe a macro lens for the camera if u want reallllly nice close ups. U need to construct some type of light box to put the products in and have lighting from every angle its pretty much something like this
DSCN0974.JPG
with a solid background. thats pretty much it i guess.
DSCN2162.jpg
 
Tony Montana said:
umm this is pretty basic, you need to get a cheap tripod, maybe a macro lens for the camera if u want reallllly nice close ups. U need to construct some type of light box to put the products in and have lighting from every angle its pretty much something like this
DSCN0974.JPG
with a solid background. thats pretty much it i guess.
DSCN2162.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the images of the box, much appreciated. Do you think I would be able to get away w/ using my S400 on a tripod or do you think I need to purchase a Digital SLR like the Rebel XT, Nikon D70 or the Pentax *ist DL?
 
your camera should be fine unless youre going to be selling this stuff in magazines where you need large images with good quality for printing. Just use the macro focus on your camera it has it i checked. Its the button next to the little flower/rose icon thats the icon for macro focus. if you want tight shots with out a macro lens you can try to zoom in really close with the macro focus mode on then dont touch the camera and set the timer for 10 or 5 sec so that the camera has time to focus and settle down from you touching it or else your image will turn out a tad blurry.
 
Tony Montana said:
umm this is pretty basic, you need to get a cheap tripod, maybe a macro lens for the camera if u want reallllly nice close ups. U need to construct some type of light box to put the products in and have lighting from every angle its pretty much something like this
DSCN974.JPG
with a solid background. thats pretty much it i guess.
DSN2162.jpg
Click to expand...
sweet setup
 
Tony Montana said:
your camera should be fine unless youre going to be selling this stuff in magazines where you need large images with good quality for printing. Just use the macro focus on your camera it has it i checked. Its the button next to the little flower/rose icon thats the icon for macro focus. if you want tight shots with out a macro lens you can try to zoom in really close with the macro focus mode on then dont touch the camera and set the timer for 10 or 5 sec so that the camera has time to focus and settle down from you touching it or else your image will turn out a tad blurry.
Click to expand...

I have been using the macro mode for sometime now w/ a tripod but not w/ the timer. Is there anyway you can expand upon that feature w/ the s400? I don't mean to seem like a bother, but I think that very well may be my down fall currently (that and a lightbox ;) ).
 
Tony Montana said:
your camera should be fine unless youre going to be selling this stuff in magazines where you need large images with good quality for printing. Just use the macro focus on your camera it has it i checked. Its the button next to the little flower/rose icon thats the icon for macro focus. if you want tight shots with out a macro lens you can try to zoom in really close with the macro focus mode on then dont touch the camera and set the timer for 10 or 5 sec so that the camera has time to focus and settle down from you touching it or else your image will turn out a tad blurry.
Click to expand...

Also, if you don't mind me asking, do you think you could put together a parts list for that thing? I would LOVE to build one tonight!!
 
If a new camera is an option get the Canon D20 over the XT - its' feature set is worth the extra $200.


As for the light box - what material was used for the sides? and do those lamps get very hot ?
 
no sorry i cant help you with a parts list i didnt build that thing i just found the image off google./

this is your camera

s400-specs.jpg


see the bottom button that has a gas guage type of icon next to it? thats what sets your timer usually its like 2sec or 10 sec or something.
 
Tony Montana said:
no sorry i cant help you with a parts list i didnt build that thing i just found the image off google./

this is your camera

s400-specs.jpg


see the bottom button that has a gas guage type of icon next to it? thats what sets your timer usually its like 2sec or 10 sec or something.
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton Tony. I actually did build a light tent tonight based off of the article I posted. I haven't had time to try it out yet however. I made it from a big cardboard box and a white sheet. Then I picked up 100 watt reveal lights from home depot and those big clamp light fixtures.
 
Also, keep in mind the background color. You do not want to use transparent gifs for web display because the limited color palate does not do justice to photographic images, and the whole point in showing off jewelry is you want as much detail as possible.

So if the site has a different background color, you will basically have to live with white backgrounds for your images. Or if the site background is white, you will want to make sure the image background is "pure" white in Photoshop so it blends in properly. I've taken shots of things on a white sheet before (admittedly, without a lightbox) and had to adjust the color to keep the square border lines from showing.
 
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