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#1
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In need of advice.
Greetings,
I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I have been running my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please be brutally honest. a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a Amanda Shaw |
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#2
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In need of advice.
Maneki Neko wrote:
Greetings, I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I _think_ you mean lurking, not trolling! I have been running my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please be brutally honest. a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a Amanda Shaw A few of the shots don't have enough depth of focus. Shoot with a lot more light so that you can get your depth of focus deeper. Or, get a tripod and take longer exposures with the aperture stopped way down. Again deeper focus. You did a pretty good job with thumbnails and file size reduction. A few are shifted too much toward yellow, like either shooting indoors with outdoor film or not adjusting the light-type on a digital camera. This can be largely fixed with the free Gimp program without having to re-take the shots. http://www.gimp.org -- mbstevens http://www.mbstevens.com |
#3
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In need of advice.
On Nov 24, 1:29 pm, mbstevens wrote:
Maneki Neko wrote: Greetings, I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I _think_ you mean lurking, not trolling! That too. =) A few of the shots don't have enough depth of focus. Shoot with a lot more light so that you can get your depth of focus deeper. Or, get a tripod and take longer exposures with the aperture stopped way down. Again deeper focus. You did a pretty good job with thumbnails and file size reduction. A few are shifted too much toward yellow, like either shooting indoors with outdoor film or not adjusting the light-type on a digital camera. This can be largely fixed with the free Gimp program without having to re-take the shots.http://www.gimp.org -- mbstevenshttp://www.mbstevens.com Are the ones with the grey background the better composed of the group? I just started taking them with that method. I could use some better lighting, I agree. Is there any way of doing that without having to get a lot of equipment? I think things would be a little better it I could get some whiter lights. Amanda |
#4
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In need of advice.
Maneki Neko wrote:
Are the ones with the grey background the better composed of the group? Like the shot of the dice pendant? It seems to fill the frame better. Any extra background in a jewelry shot for the net is likely to be wasted. I just started taking them with that method. I could use some better lighting, I agree. Is there any way of doing that without having to get a lot of equipment? You could try shooting outdoors on an overcast day, covering the piece with a frosty plastic cup with a hole cut in the top for the lens to shoot through. You don't get that highly standardized kind of jewelry image popular for commercial jewelry, but it can be fun for some kinds of pieces. I think things would be a little better it I could get some whiter lights. It would be nice, but you can make adjustments with film or your digital camera's adjustment for light type. |
#5
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In need of advice.
On Nov 24, 10:26 am, Maneki Neko wrote:
Greetings, I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I have been running my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please be brutally honest. a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a Amanda Shaw To add on mbstevens' reply, when you add more light, it is recommended that you use a "light tent". The tent diffuses incident light so that you avoid strong reflections from your piece. Sarit. http://sarit-jewelry.com |
#6
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In need of advice.
If you did a google search on "photographing jewelry" you'd get these sites:
Some are from sites that want you to buy their stuff, but they do offer some good advice. http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/tips/...aphy_tips.html http://www.tabletopstudio.com/docume...raphy_Tips.htm http://www.home-jewelry-business-suc...g-jewelry.html http://www.home-jewelry-business-suc...otography.html http://jewelryphotography.com/ .... well, you get the picture. There are loads of sites on the net that offer good advice on lighting, technique, method, etc for photographing jewelry. Happy Reading Sterling "Maneki Neko" wrote in message ... : Greetings, : : I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought : occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I have been running : my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. : I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was : getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of : you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any : advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please : be brutally honest. : : a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a : : Amanda Shaw |
#7
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In need of advice.
On Nov 24, 1:26 am, Maneki Neko wrote:
Greetings, I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I have been running my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please be brutally honest. a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a Amanda Shaw Hey there Amanda, It looks like you have a good enough camera, as the image quality and your 'bokeh' looks pretty good. The crispness and approximation of your object is satisfactory as well. I think you have the right idea and you're on track but a few things could easily be changed to make a MASSIVE difference in the quality of your photos... - Tripod... Use one. Essential when shooting still objects for clarity. - Light.... Super critical to your photos ! Natural light is available during the day (obviously) and it cost's nothing to use it...so,...use it. Go to the front and side windows of your home and snap a few photos of the same piece and notice the different results your get from all sides of the house at different times of the day.... It's pretty amazing. Now althought this sounds like a lot of work, it will really give you a sense of how light is controlled and how you might duplicate it. Remember that just like a light box, you can change the 'amount' and color of light coming in by merely using tissue paper, an old bedsheet or what have you as a filter (taped against the window or vertically around your work) If you want a more contolled setup, build yourself a simple lightbox which can really be made of anything. One of my favorites is my PVC pipe box (jsut straight pieces with elbows..) with a very cheap see-through white shower curtain draped over the structure. For backgrounds I use a lot of the 16 x 20 colored paper you get get from craft stores, and similar.... Also, for reflection and distribution of light within the 'box or tent', I use those dollar store reflector things some people put against their windshields to keep their car cool when the weather is hot... Those things work GREAT ! Other things like GOLD and SILVER gift wrap make great reflectors too. If light filter is what you are after, the colored tissue you see used in gift bags works REALLY, REALLY well. They come in a virtual endless array of colors and are nicely transparent, letting in a lot of light. ***MAKE sure that you only use these things with the COOL WHITE bulbs*** Any regular bulbs will surely catch the paper and or light box on fire and well.......that usually ends up very bad... (to say the least.) As far as bulbs go, Use the "Cool White" brand of lights (the funny looking coil type) and you'll get as near to natural light as you can without spending a lot of money. The "Cool White" bulbs are in fact just that.... Cool to the touch and shed "very white light" while at the same time, saving you a lot of electricity ! (I use them throughout my entire home.....) I use them inside a standard inexpensive silver clip lamp (the silver dish type with the pressure clamp on the end.) and clip them directly to the PVC or a chair or whatever's handy. I usually use between 3 and six, depending on the effect I'm looking for. Also, for your backgrounds, I wouldn't suggest grey and silver too much, as it distracts the viewer from the piece. Because your medium is mostly metal, don't be afraid to use a lot of light. If you bounce it back and forth across the lightbox you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much detail you end up seeing in your jewelery because of the different angles of light source.... You can buy these on E-Bay or even make them if you wish. I make most of mine simply because of the control I get from making my own.... Gold, Silver, Bronze and copper foils can really make a difference in how harsh or soft the light becomes.... Don't be afraid of colored backgrounds either... If you have enough bokeh (depth of focus), even a pumpkin orange background can produce some really nice shots. One of my favourites is shooting down or straight on the subject using 'FLOOR TILES" as backgrounds. They're REALLY inexpensive, and come in a HUGE amount of sizes, textures and colors.. The slate and marble tiles can make ANY metal pieces look like a MILLION BUCKS without detracting from the piece itself..... I sometimes use a spritzer or eye dropper and wet the tiles first and then place the piece on or against some river rock, etc... You can also do this with SKIN (i.e your model). Try using a bit of baby oil and a spritzer and gently dab it off... Metal against that skin will create a VERY cool effect. -Tripod -Light -Controlled environment -Props, Backgrounds -Take a ton of photos, till you get it right... Hope some of this helps, /CM |
#8
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In need of advice.
On Nov 24, 1:26 am, Maneki Neko wrote:
Greetings, I've been trolling about the group for a while now and the thought occurred that maybe I should ask for some advice. I have been running my own business making chain mail jewelry and other fun metal things. I have fount that the hardest part of running my online business was getting good pictures of my work. I was hoping that perhaps some of you folks could hop over to my site and comment on my pictures. Any advice would be helpful as I am only a beginning photographer. Please be brutally honest. a href="http://manekinekodesigns.com"Maneki Neko Designs/a Amanda Shaw Too bad you don't sell to CANADA ! I dig that Persian "Silver and Gold" piece.... Very nice. /CM |
#9
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In need of advice.
Too bad you don't sell to CANADA ! I dig that Persian "Silver and Gold" piece.... Very nice. /CM I have been wandering about the site set up trying to figure out exactly how to ship other places. I think I figured it out. Took long enough right. ^^ Feel free to take a look. Here's hoping! Amanda Shaw |
#10
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In need of advice.
I have greatly improved my photos of glass and silver pieces with just
a few small steps: 1) Make your own light box. This can be SUPER SIMPLE. - Take small box; seal up one end. - Spray the inside with a bright white/glossy finish spraypaint. OR, cover the inside with high brightness (very white, not yellowed) copy paper. Cover the entire inside. It doesn't have to look pretty, but it does need to be SMOOTH so it allows light to bounce everywhere. - Cut a large hole in one side and another in the top. Cover these with either regular copy paper OR onion skin, just something to diffuse. - Position two lamps w/ high wattage bulbs (60+, 100 is best) at the side and top. I use 100 watt full spectrum incadescent bulbs. (Yes, you can get them.) - Use cardboard, foam board or something else flexible to create a seamless background. Slide it into the box and let is "curl" up the back, so that you have a gentle slop and not a crease/seam in the bottom. Voila, you are ready to shoot. 2) Use your digital camera's white point setting to adjust your photos! Simply get everything ready to go and place a piece of bright white cardstock inside. Aim on the cardstock, and set the white point based on that (see your camera's manual for specifics; I have a cheaper point and shoot and it allows it). No more yellow! Just remember to reset it once you take the camera elsewhere because everything's going to look off. 3) If you have some extra Christmas coin, get one of these: EZ Cubes. I want one so bad! http://www.ezcube.com/ Amy |
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