Opals are a girl's best friend, sometimes...

November 8, 2008 11:03 PM

Product photography: Help me get the most out of my studio light kit and camera to make photographing 200 opals a breeze.

I have a large number of polished matrix and boulder opal pieces that I wish to photograph individually. I have a tabletop jewelry photgraphy kit with lights and soft-box, a Pentax K200D DSLR with a 18-55 kit lens, a tripod and Photoshop 6. I want to get the pics as good as possible in the taking, and don't wish to spend too much time in post-production. These opals have both highly refractive 'spot' colour (the pure opal bits) and less resplendent body stone, predominately iron stone (boulder) or ferrous sandstone (matrix).

Things I know that I need to know:

• How to get the best manual white balance.
• How to avoid reflections off the highly polished (think hematite) surface of the iron stone, in which the opal is embedded.
• Should I invest in a macro lens (most of the opal pieces are between 8mm and 50mm long)

Things I don't know that I need to know:

• List is empty, please fill.

Each of these threads has been useful, but doesn't talk about photographing something like jewelry. And I'm such a novice I need to be spoon fed technical directions.

Also, what is the best way for someone long-sighted and wears 2+ glasses to ensure that their shots are in focus?

Thanks ever-so-much for access to your expertise, Metafites. As a reward for reading, here's a link to a DIY, $1 take-anywhere monopod.

posted by Kerasia to media & arts (14 comments total)

I don't know why Dan can't link to this himself, but here's his tutorial.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 11:25 PM on November 8, 2008 [2 favorites]

Great link Confess, Fletch, thanks (and thanks Dan). More please!
posted by Kerasia at 11:57 PM on November 8, 2008

To answer your questions comprehensively would require a lot of typing and more time than I have.

You'll need a macro lens. I'd suggest something longer than 50mm in order to put more distance between the camera and the set.

Regardless of your lighting, you'll want to check in your camera manual and see how to do a PREset white balance. That will take care of that issue.

Tethering the camera to a computer while shooting and examining images onscreen as they're shot will help you ensure correct focus and let you check the depth of field on the fly.

If this isn't doable, then tethering it to a TV of decent quality will still be of help. In the case of all digital cameras I've ever owned (which is a lot) this will mirror the camera's LCD display to the TV.

You'll need to use some black cards to kill reflections in certain areas, and these will need to be inside the tent and either jury rigged into place or perhaps attached to thin wire so that you can hold them where they need to be. Since your tent is all white, once your basic lighting setup is established you be using the black cards to essentially "de-light" the very specific areas where you want to kill the reflections or highlights. These cards may end up being as small as about an inch square and will need to be placed or held very close to the subject when shooting.

In all of the shiny product photography I've ever done, I've spent five minutes nailing the basic lighting and then spend what can seem like forever refining it to optimize it for the specific product.

I'd love to be of more help, but there's no rapid assembly line solution for what you want to do.
posted by imjustsaying at 1:02 AM on November 9, 2008

My product photography instructor said we should always have at least 2 of these on hand for dealing with jewelry shots. Works like a charm and you just can wipe it off when you're done.
posted by arishaun at 1:09 AM on November 9, 2008

You have to be careful with anti-dulling spray because it's easy to use it to the point where you kill the luster of the subject.

Also, Aarid Extra Dry spray deodorant works about as a well as actual anti-dulling sprays and is cheaper and more available. My advice above applies to it too though.

I'd suggest avoiding any anti-dulling stuff at all unless you absolutely have to use some on a problem portion of the subject.
posted by imjustsaying at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2008

Tethering the camera to a computer while shooting and examining images onscreen as they're shot will help you ensure correct focus and let you check the depth of field on the fly.

Not to sound dumb, but how do you do that? I have a Nikon D70 and the LCD is completely pointless, you can't see anything , I end up taking a few shots then plugging into my computer and checking the pictures then unplugging and trying again.
posted by missmagenta at 3:06 AM on November 9, 2008

How to get the best manual white balance.

Very, very simple. Couple of approaches:

1. Get a Gretag MacBeth color chart and be sure you bring it with you everywhere you go.
2. Get and learn how to use a gray card to change your white balance on the D70 (page 53 of the manual).

posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:45 AM on November 9, 2008

Not to sound dumb, but how do you do that? I have a Nikon D70 and the LCD is completely pointless

1. After taking a picture, press the PLAY button to review the last shot.
2. While looking at an image on the LCD, press the ENTER key to zoom into the photo.
3. Finally, while holding down the button labeled ISO (the "thumbnail" icon), rotate the main command dial to zoom in.

The really annoying thing about the D70 is that you can't have it pre-set to this zoom level (useful when you just want to check focus). After doing this for a couple hundred photos, the key-combination will work itself into your brain and you won't have to think about it.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:31 AM on November 9, 2008

missmagenta, the procedure to tether the camera to the computer and see/download results while shooting will depend upon your camera as well as the software you're using.

I don't know what one would use with a Pentax like the original poster has, and it's been a long time since I've had a D70 like yours, so I'm unabel to be more specific.

Whether or not one can do this with the free Nikon ViewNX software, I'm not sure. Once can however do it with both Nikon CaptureNX2 as well as with Bibble Pro (although with Bibbble Pro you may need a couple of Nikon software add ons).
posted by imjustsaying at 5:57 AM on November 9, 2008

You want to buy this book, Lighting: Science and Magic



It will answer all your questions...very helpful for this kind of stuff.
posted by sully75 at 9:05 AM on November 9, 2008

I've done a few shots of hanging crystal ornaments... hard work.

My observations: I used a black velveteen background to reduce shadows and improve contrast. I tethered my D80 to my Macbook using Aperture. Definitely do this. If you are a Mac user, then is is inexpensive when you consider that the NX capture app costs the same or more.

Use thing mono-filament line to hang items. I didn't figure out a good method to stop the items spinning, so I relied on taking heaps of shots.

Try to get all the shots done in one sitting and minimise moving the camera, change setting etc once you find a set up that pleases you. As a beginner, I found it really hard to get a consistent environment.

For this kind of work, it is easier to get the photo right than to post process all of your product shots.

Dan's advice above was my best source also.
posted by dantodd at 11:06 AM on November 9, 2008

Also, your lens is probably ok. I used the standard 18-55 kit lens and was pleased with both the focal length and the sharpness.

Your lightbox will reduce stray reflections. You'll get a white highlight on the product, and maybe a reflection of the camera. Play around with your lighting to see if you can minimise this.

I used speedlights, so I just used the standard flash settings. I'd set the white balance in your case once I have the lighting set the way you like it. Just use the empty lightbox as your base.
posted by dantodd at 11:11 AM on November 9, 2008

Late to the thread, but I recently did some jewelery shots (complete noob) that featured silver settings and heavy semi-precious stones. The above advice is spot-on, but I'd also like to recommend that you get hold of some positioning wax - it's a tough, sticky, removable wax that allows you to position things *just* so. A small dot is enough to convince an otherwise intractable necklace to sit up, and that made it a heckuva lot easier to deal with reflections etc. I got mine off ebay from a US seller, but I'm having trouble finding a link. It runs about $10 for a stick and a little goes a long way.
posted by ninazer0 at 2:03 PM on November 9, 2008

Followup:
I have been taking many photos and improving each time. Check my profile for the website upon which they are showing up.
Ninazer0 - oh yes, positioning wax is my best friend. I could not achieve my though-put without it. Actually, I think I would have thrown in the towel trying to balance 5mm stones without positioning wax.

All your answers have been very helpful. I still have some problems with highly reflective stones, but that is trial and error.
Cheers!
posted by Kerasia at 1:25 AM on December 9, 2008