Tips on photographing metal~

[Former_Member]

Anyone have any good little tips or tricks they use when photographing metal? My favorite place is outdoors but this is not always convenient with what Mother Nature is doing. I have a photo cube and lighting but it doesn't always like to cooperate with me!

[StampingBlanks]

WOW! Were you like, reading my mind? This was going to be the next discussion I was going to post as I figured it would be good to offer some ideas as this can be very challenging or at the very least time consuming trying to get the right setup & settings to photograph shiny jewelry.

My background is carving personalized rings (mynamering.com) and I have spent many, many hours over the years not to mention the cost of film and photo processing trying to photograph my rings (OK, a give away that I’m not a real young guy.) The difficulty is trying to get plenty of light without washing out the jewelry. The other big obstacle is minimizing reflection so you can read the lettering. The problem with that is it can get to a point where the piece looks dull.

So from my experience the best advice I can give is get a good camera, not necessarily expensive just well suited to your needs of taking close-up shoots (macro mode.) I recently bought a Canon SD1400IS, it does an incredible job of automatically going into macro mode and adjusting for lighting, pretty much takes all of the work out of the task. I took the top mount from a miniature tripod which I then fastened to a 1x6 board with a short piece of all-thread to secure the camera. Here is what works for me:

1. Disable the flash and take picture indoors without any artificial lighting or direct sunlight.
2. Set the camera to a 2 second delay so that there is no “jiggle” from pushing the shutter button.
3. Push down partially on the shutter button, triggers camera to fully focus the image.
Now fully depress the shutter button and that’s it, all done!

OK, this is wear it really gets technical: to control reflections/light I use a windshield washer fluid container that I cut down for a diffuser. Simply move it forward or backward to get the right amount of light and reflection in order to balance readability and bling.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74565546/stainless-steel-stamping-team

One other consideration is your background, check out what other people are using as some have very creative ideas. Something with a little pattern or texture is a good choice rather than a solid color background. A word of caution, don’t use something that is so busy that it detracts your viewers from the jewelry you want to show off.

Hope you all find this useful and if anyone has any other tips to help make the process easier, PLEASE share :)

HAPPY STAMPING!

[chriskoskidesigns]

Very interesting regarding the photography of the metal jewelry. Thanks for sharing!
-Chris

[Former_Member]

I just asked my talented sister to help me with my poor photo jobs this last weekend!

She reminded me about what I failed to practice AFTER college photography was over....
Aperture and Shutter Speed.

I found a site that I quoted, to help me put it in better words...

"...the control that has the most impact on depth of field is aperture. Bigger apertures tend to provide shallower depth of field. That means that if you open a wide aperture (say f/1.8) you will have a narrow location in your image which is focused. If you set your aperture to a small value, say f/22, you will have a huge focused area. The other two controls you can employ to control depth of field are Zoom focal length and camera to object distance."

http://www.diyphotography.net/depth_of_field

I have started using an aperture that is more wide, so just the small piece of jewelry is in focus and the creative background is blurry. I use a shutter speed that allows enough light in, but isn't open too long that I blur. I don't have a tripod set up to help, which I should - but being a busy mom and trying to do fun jewelry on the side, I fit the photos in whenever I can spare, so I haven't had time to grab the tripod yet!

Anyway - taking my camera OFF automatic and switching it to manual so I can control these two things (I wish mine worked like Rob's!), has been much more helpful. The lower the lighting around you, the slower the shutter speed needs to be to let in more light (tripod would be super helpful here). The brighter it is, the faster you can have your shutter speed.

Practice with the angle - that makes a huge difference too! If you can see the wording clearly in the image preview, you will probably have a good shot.

Hope those help you a little :).

[ReginaLynnDesign]

Great advice, Thanks!

[MyTwistedWillow]

I purchased some small granite tiles from Lowe's for my background. I've also used scrapbook paper.

There is a spot on my porch where I get just enough natural light without it being glaring. NO FLASH! And in my house the lighting is so bad that everything turns out yellow so I HAVE to do mine outdoors. I've tried many spots in my house. I just brave the cold weather or wait for sunnier days.

One thing I recommend for photographing shiny material is to take the photo at an angle; not directly over the metal (otherwise you see a reflection of your camera!).

I use Picnik.com to add just a TINY ITTY BIT of oomph to my photos. You don't want to do drastic effects or the product will be misconstrued as one thing when it is something different altogether; you want the likeness to be very true so customers know what they're getting. The effects, for me, are mostly to bring back color that is somehow not picked up on my camera, especially with crystals. And I do mean they should be subtle. Every now and then I do a fun edit and include it but never as the main photo and I try to put on there "picture is edited for effect".

HTH!

[StampingBlanks]

Just bumpnig this one to the top since there has been so many new members since it was originally posted :)

[MariasWorkshop]

Wow! Thanks for the advice. My nephew and his wife gave me a Nikon Coolpix S570. I do not knot if this is the right camera to use, but is the only digital camera I have right now.I have taken many photos with it, but I still feel, and have been told by friends whose opinion I seek, that my photos leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes, by pure luck, one or two comes out all right. I get frustrated because I do not know what I did right. The next item I photograph, just a few minutes later, same setting, same lighting, comes out hideous. I did buy a white cube and lamps (inexpensive). I used the cube once or twice and was very disappointed. I surely used it incorrectly. I am going to apply what I just read. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge regarding this subject.

MC

[Former_Member]

I just use my cell phone....does great pics of jewelry over my Nikon!