http://craftjewelleryphotography.co.uk/

[Lucie]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know anything about this company http://craftjewelleryphotography.co.uk/ ?

They look pretty good and prices are competitive, but there are no company names /customer reviews on their site to verify their work or reputation.

I was just wondering whether anyone has had any experience working with them, or could recommend another jewellery photographer who can photograph pieces on a perfectly clean, white background?

Thanks again. xx

[mizgeorge]

http://www.sheridanphotography.com/#about-sp

is the parent company, and sounds pretty reputable.

Can't recommend anyone, I'm afraid - I do all my own photography. I'd love to be able to afford to get someone else to do it, but I could say the same for pretty much everything except actually making stuff!

[Lucie]

Thanks very much for getting back to me with this. I get all my work via my website & the comment I get over & over again is that my photographs are not up to much :(

I spent ages taking them all myself using my little Kodak and cutting them out pixel at a time, but even I have to admit, they pale in comparison to those on other sites.
These guys seem to charge £6 per photo, which is about the cheapest I've found, but I know from bitter experience that cheapest isn't always best!

Thanks again for the input :ta:

[caroleallen]

That's amazingly cheap. I think I would go for just one product and send something cheap that you could afford to lose, just to try them out. I use a professional photographer and he's usually very good but he's also a wedding photographer and I think sometimes he's a bit rushed.

[Lucie]

Hi Carole,

Thanks for your reply. I have a local wedding photographer who has done some head shots and family portraits for me in the past - he's said he'll have a go (although it's not his usual thing) & I love his work.

My problem is that i've had 3 professional photographers attempt this in the past for me. They've charged me quite a bit & the results have been completely unusable - which is why I ended up trying to do them myself.
I don't want to insult my photographer if it doesn't work out! Think I might be better off trying to find a specialist company, but they are frustratingly hard to find.

The photographs on your website are beautiful by the way :o

[medusa]

Thanks very much for getting back to me with this. I get all my work via my website & the comment I get over & over again is that my photographs are not up to much :(

I spent ages taking them all myself using my little Kodak and cutting them out pixel at a time, but even I have to admit, they pale in comparison to those on other sites.
These guys seem to charge £6 per photo, which is about the cheapest I've found, but I know from bitter experience that cheapest isn't always best!

Thanks again for the input :ta:

if you photograph on a white background you should be able to just clean up the background with a clone brush or something. TBH, I'm not much of a fan of those floating looking jewellery pictures. They make jewellery look a bit mass produced.

[Lucie]

I guess i'm torn between spending money on a photographer, or a decent camera. To be honest, my husbands new phone takes better pics than the camera I used for my jewellery at the time !!
The only way I could photograph them at all was by giving everything a satin finish & they do look rather odd.

From what i've been told by a few people, the cost of a decent camera and the lenses required is going to be huge.

[Patstone]

I cant comment on buying expensive camera's because I too use a camera phone, and our photo's are on our website, although not perfect, they are acceptable.

[Lucie]

Hi Patstone. Could I have a look at your site please? My photos are giving me a major headache :(

[mizgeorge]

Lucie, the new camera phones do a pretty good job. Especially if you use a stand for them and some decent lighting.

Have a look at this: http://www.modahaus.com/store/steady-stands/ they do a version for point and shoot cameras as well, and the difference they make is quite significant as they eliminate the shake that causes most problems.

As for the cost of a good camera, it really doesn't have to be huge. You can get some great deals on refurbished or past model cameras. I'm a big fan of the lumix range, and there are some excellent older models available at really good prices.

[Patstone]

Yes of course. Its www.iscasilver.co.uk Its taken with a Samsung S2.

[Lucie]

Hi mizgeorge. Thanks for the advice. The stands look great, I've not seen anything like it before! (I used an upturned frosted bin covered in tin foil last time :-") I need to photograph on plain white & Really close up. Think maybe the camera is the answer. Will have to ask nicely me thinks ;)

[Lucie]

Thank you Patstone :) Think I'll have to ask my husband if I can steal his phone for a bit.

[ShinyLauren]

Lucie, I've really struggled to get a white background to be properly white, but have found that underlighting helps - I have something like this http://www.tabletopstudio.co.uk/Pages/Illuminated%20Flat%20Panel%208%20x%2012.htm which I played with a while ago, but it's not super-bright and I've not had time to give it another go.

[Dennis]

Lucie, I've really struggled to get a white background to be properly white, but have found that underlighting helps - I have something like this http://www.tabletopstudio.co.uk/Pages/Illuminated%20Flat%20Panel%208%20x%2012.htm which I played with a while ago, but it's not super-bright and I've not had time to give it another go.

To be fair, putting glass on an illuminated panel, makes it very attractive, but putting silver on it will cause it to be under-exposed. I have under lighting available and have always had better results with it turned off. Dennis.

[ShinyLauren]

I was trying to add other lights around a lightbox to even out the exposure of the silver, but it is definitely a tricky one!

[Dennis]

Some light cubes have white fronts with a hole you can poke your camera through, but you can also make a hole in white or silver card and reflect light back with that for subtle front lighting.

I feel I have come to a dead end with my experiments at present and am thinking of borrowing a better lens from a camera shop for a week end. The devil is there is always someone getting it righter.

[Lucie]

Thanks very much for the information Dennis & Lauren. I manufactured my "cloud box" with a hole to pop my camera through, but just couldn't get the white "uniform". I ended up putting them on a darker background and cutting them out, but all my images now look horribly photo-shopped!

Did you use the table top studio for the photographs on your website Lauren?

[ShinyLauren]

Yes, I've used the tabletop studio, with extra waving of bits of white/silver/black card as needed, as also suggested by Dennis.

You need more hands for photography!

4936 4937

These were my last attempts at white background with under lighting. I prefer using textures/props in a background as I don't personally like the plain white floating in space background, but need to learn to do that as it's what all websites seem to request. Boooo.

[Lucie]

Wow, thanks Lauren, these look great!! I must admit, i've got to try to master the "floating in space" look, but the table top studio gives the best results i've seen :)

I've been approached by a few publications for advertising space on the proviso that I have "proper photographs" taken. It seems like this is an expectation & it's definitely causing me to lose work :( Thank you very much for the help - I need to get this sorted asap.

[caroleallen]

Those images are lovely Lauren, as is your jewellery.

On the subject of advertising in the glossies Lucie, my advice is don't touch it with a bargepole if you have to pay. I think a lot of us have had experiences with paying for ads which have brought in no business or at least very little.

[Lucie]

Really :( Thanks for the heads up Carole. Been approached by a few now & was really flattered until they started asking for vast sums of money lol.

[ps_bond]

Hah. Shades of the "business directory" scam.