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Thread: Right, had another go at this photography thing...

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  1. #1
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    Default Right, had another go at this photography thing...

    In the ongoing battle that is photographing silver on a light background, here are some of my latest attempts:

    Constructive criticism very much welcomed. I'm so used to looking at (and editing) my jewellery photographs with a dark background, anything else just looks all wrong to me!

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    Is the silver too overexposed? Or too dark? I have no idea!

    I like my dark backgrounds. The world sadly disagrees. I hate it when I'm wrong!

  2. #2
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    Jul 2012
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    These are great. What do you edit in?
    Having something in the background works really well - using plain white gives no perspective at all. I prefer the images with a splash of colour.
    You could try "sharpening" the entire image - this would be the easiest way to draw the image out.

    Are you using the photography box now?
    Last edited by Lucie; 23-07-2015 at 12:37 PM.

  3. #3
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    Oh Lauren, I'm with you every time on black backgrounds for shiny silver stuff!! Not only because it does tend to be slightly easier to photograph against, but I actually think that silver looks better against a black background!! But hey, what do I know!!!!

    I can't offer any suggestions of how to improve your images, but I can offer a couple of observations for what it's worth. Love the set-up of the pictures, especially the way that you have displayed the stud earrings. Not sure about the second image, just because it's all white I think (though I am currently going down the all white background route myself!!) In the 3rd image, the definition of the middle edges of your piece are lost against the white, unfortunately, I haven't got a clue how to remedy this, your photography skills and knowledge have always far exceeded mine!!

    They're lovely images overall and give a clear impression of the pieces.....I wish I could achieve something half so good myself!!

  4. #4
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    Increased definition is often achieved in something like Photoshop or Gimp. So although it's important to have a good initial image (you can't define details that aren't there), this has nothing to do with your camera or set up.
    I'd be dead pleased if any of these were my pre-edits

    I hope you don't take offense at this - I know photographs can be very personal. It was really just to show you. Can you see any difference?

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    Last edited by Lucie; 23-07-2015 at 01:34 PM.

  5. #5
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    I'm with you about darker back grounds or at least daylight. I have a bright light problem with my eyes so every time someone posts one of their super smart light box photos very often I just don't see the detail of the piece

    Those must be your iced gems Lauren

  6. #6
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    Thanks for the input everyone - it's really helpful. Caroline, I think I have the same issue with bright light!

    Jill, I know what you mean about the definition being lost. I'm shooting on a light panel to get the background as white as possible, but anything close to the light just blends into it when it's shiny!

    Lucie, no offence taken at all - thanks for helping! I use Lightroom to edit. I did sharpen the images, but then I amped up the noise reduction to smooth out any imperfections and I think I overdid it and blurred the detail too much! I'll have another go.

  7. #7
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    I love them Lauren. I also know nothing about photography. The only thing I thought was that although I liked the colour, I couldn't make out what it was and it did take my attention away a bit from the piece. That's probably just me though. I could see quite a difference with Lucie's edit.

    I always underexpose my images because I read somewhere that people like images to be really light. I don't have Photoshop (well I do but I don't have a CD drive on my new Mac, so can't install it). I use the Mac Photo editing system and it's really really easy, but doesn't do everything.

  8. #8
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    Right, so more sharpening, less smoothing and maybe lighten the coloured props a bit.

    I think I might have to open up the dreaded Photoshop!

    Will post back later when I've had another go

    Carole that makes sense about people liking lighter images - I exposed for what I (and the camera) thought was right, but then compared the images to standard white background jewellery shots online and mine looked super-dark in comparison!

    Thanks again for the help everyone. I will crack this eventually!

  9. #9
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    I know most of my photos are of gold items, but I have had most success when taking photos with a grey card background, I bend it in a slight arc and use another piece of card to cast a slight shadow behind the item. Although most of my photography was taken with film cameras as the digital age had not started when I was taking photos of my work. one tip I always suggest is that you set the camera at aperture priority, mount it on a tripod, and set the cameras aperture to it's highest number my best lens can be set at f32, which is ideal for close up photography. If you didn't know the smaller the aperture (the highest number) gives you the greatest depth of field in focus, so on Lauren's photos the chain could be in focus also.

    These were taken on grey card.
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    James

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