Any advice for photographing a ring?

[rodent]

I'm trying to learn how to get really nice pictures of rings. I have been looking for a good tutorial, but haven't found anything. so i just started trying stuff. here were my best two.

 

BTW, i'm just trying to learn how to photograph the ring. I didn't put any thought into the background & I left the Q-tip poking out of the bottom.

 

I used my canon 30D with a canon 50mm f/1.8 lens

 

settings: 1/20 f/1.8, spot metering, hand-held

 

1/60 f/1.8, spot metering, on tripod

on this one i needed to tilt the ring more towards the camera

I tried a variety of auto & manual focus, but I don't know what I used for these two.

 

Any tips?

[BePhoto]

i cant see the images from the computer I'm at right now - but I'd suggest investing in a macro lens if you plan on doing any kind of small product work.

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Be Photography LLC i cant see the images from the computer I'm at right now - but I'd suggest investing in a macro lens if you plan on doing any kind of small product work.

it's not work, just a hobby. I definitly wouldn't want to get into jewelry photography. those people have some major equipement. i just want to learn how to make ring pics look better. i posted on some other forums & i guess there are not particular tricks for photographing a ring during a shoot. just make the pic as sharp as possible.

i'm going out with my e-ring soon to practice. i just wondered if there was some key to doing it.

i might get an adapter for my lens to do macro. i still need to look into that. i don't do enough macro photography to spend the money on a macro lens.

[kerryjbrown]

My friend is a graphic designer for a magazine and she says even with the professional photographers they have to add light diamonds as they don't photograph well. She said they lose their sparkle and she puts it back in (I asked if that was cheating as she can make it more sparkly than it really is but she told me it was normal for diamonds.....). Who knows...this may not even be true, but what she told me when I couldn't get my own to focus properly no matter what Fstop I used. ( went to a darker background and thtat was much better.

[lambert13]

Do you have a flash Morgan? If so, making an enclosure and bouncing the light off the sides and top will make a huge difference.

 

Also, give it a try outside. Natural light will make the diamond sparkle a whole lot more. You can use some white posterboard to shield or direct light on the subject.

[rodent]

thanks everyone. i also got some good tips on DOF for getting the ring sharp. i'm taking it out this weekend for practice.

[kate.com]

I am definately NOT a good photographer and don't have a fancy camera, so I went outside and it turned out pretty well. The other way it worked out is under a reccessed light and no flash... that might have been luck!

 

Thanks for the tips!

[joshfrommontreal]

I would definitely say put it near a window or bring it outside. Using natural light will be your best bet. Go with some interesting DOF shots, which your 50mm 1.8 will do great.

[kevsgirl]

I actually looked into this earlier on in the summer, because I make jewelry and wanted to start putting it up on Etsy...

 

So I was looking for a way to photograph stones and crystals, etc.

 

I came across many different sites describing using a 'light box' that you can make yourself. Here is one example for this DIY kind of thing: Homemade Light Box for Product Photography StudioLighting.net

 

I never tried it out though. But I might eventually... I know how to use the macro settings pretty well on my digital. But getting the good amount of sparkle is definitely more tricky.

 

Post if you try something like this!

[TATrisha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephany@EyeSpy You should come over and borrow my 100!!

Hey, if you are offering for people to come to the Twin Cities and play with your stuff... I want to come too!

I just bought a Canon 77mm 500D Close-up Lens. It attaches right to my lens and makes an instant marco. I just can't purchase the 100mm right now. I'd rather focus on getting the business up and running. So in the meantime, this adapter lets me get the ring shots that i want. but lighting i find is VERY important. You need A LOT. You don't want all of your picture to look dark. Bad bad bad.