jewelry Photography

Nanls · #31 02-19-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timax

As I wouldn't try and make a ring I think it would be best if you found a photographer who can give you a pro result.Most of my clients will shoot their own jewelery for in house records but thats about it.
Tim Robinson

I agree.
Although I am a partner in a few online "PhotoArt" and Retouching sites- and I also freelance -the job that takes most of my time is as a Digital Artist for a direct sales Jewelry company. I both stylize and Art Direct the photo shoots because ultimately it is my job to make the jewelry look great so I have to visualize not only the finish product but what the layout/layouts for the jewelry (both web and print) entails. But you can't beat a professional photographer with jewelry experience to have a great image to start with.

To get a natural reflection use acetate on top of a white surface. If you find that the acetate creates a river effect from being on a roll just reverse the direction of the acetate and the lighting can fill it in so it looks like a smooth surface (I hope this makes sense). Even at that you still have to (clip) separate the reflection from the piece and use a gradient mask with a slight g blur as other wise the reflection can be confusing and over power the image. Depending on the piece sometimes it is easier to shoot it - clip it and fake the reflection. If you choose to do this invest in white plexi and have one side sanded (of course this would be the side that goes up -lol) so you don't get the shadows you will get using form core or other substraits.
I wish I could post some of my work here - but the images belong to the company who pays to have it shot - by a professional photographer.... a great investment.
Hope this helps.
Regards
~Nancy
______________________
www.PhotoArt123.com

geeewocka · #32 02-20-2008, 03:49 PM

I recently applied for a job as a retoucher for a 'Jewellery Photographer' who has a number of big clients here in Australia & has 3 staff to do all his retouching. I was expecting it to be colour enhance ment & some light brush work

Turns out to be pretty much 'photo manipulation' in my eyes after seeing some of the before/after images in his studio.

He gave me a few items to work on at home to send in addition to my application. I'm not very skilled when it comes to major work - being a photographer myself I prefer to let the camera do a lot of the work & just enhance the colours + a little bit of sharpening

I read a few tutorials and basically tried to teach myself a few things before attempting to alter the image he gave me, just wondering if I'm on the right path...after 2hours or so last night I stopped to go to bed, so I'll attempt to finish of the left side of the ring tonight & sharpen it

Does anyone have a link to a detailed tutorial that helps with jewellery retouching, or care to list a few things for me read up on that will relate or am I atleast on the right track to finishing this ring?

Do you agree that more should have been done in the shoot before sending it to the post production staff? I don't really want to try and tell a potential new boss that he could reduce editing time if his images were a little better, seeing as he makes a living out of it!

forgive my rambles & grammar issues, I need my caffeine fix before I start to make any sort of sense

dataflow · #33 02-20-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geeewocka

I recently applied for a job as a retoucher for a 'Jewellery Photographer' who has a number of big clients here in Australia & has 3 staff to do all his retouching. I was expecting it to be colour enhance ment & some light brush work

Turns out to be pretty much 'photo manipulation' in my eyes after seeing some of the before/after images in his studio.

He gave me a few items to work on at home to send in addition to my application. I'm not very skilled when it comes to major work - being a photographer myself I prefer to let the camera do a lot of the work & just enhance the colours + a little bit of sharpening

I read a few tutorials and basically tried to teach myself a few things before attempting to alter the image he gave me, just wondering if I'm on the right path...after 2hours or so last night I stopped to go to bed, so I'll attempt to finish of the left side of the ring tonight & sharpen it

Does anyone have a link to a detailed tutorial that helps with jewellery retouching, or care to list a few things for me read up on that will relate or am I atleast on the right track to finishing this ring?

Do you agree that more should have been done in the shoot before sending it to the post production staff? I don't really want to try and tell a potential new boss that he could reduce editing time if his images were a little better, seeing as he makes a living out of it!

forgive my rambles & grammar issues, I need my caffeine fix before I start to make any sort of sense

hi geeewocka

i might be wrong but that could be the same place i went for an interview

was that job in Chippendale Sydney?

geeewocka · #34 02-20-2008, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dataflow

hi geeewocka
i might be wrong but that could be the same place i went for an interview
was that job in Chippendale Sydney?

Oh this greatly improves my chances.... /endsarcasm

yes it was haha

great setup, felt like a very relaxed environment which will be a big change for me & Tandy seems like a good person to work with

what was your impression on the retouching amount that he is looking for?

dataflow · #35 02-20-2008, 09:04 PM

did he give you a photo to retouch?

he didnt give me 1
dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

he told me his looking for 2 people so we both might have a chance.

tandy seemed like a pretty cool guy.
and environment looked relaxed like you said

and the impression on the retouching amount seemed cool.
he told me there is mostly jewelry retouching plus other retouching sometimes.

geeewocka · #36 02-20-2008, 09:33 PM

Yeh he said he's had quite a number of applicants & apparently one person was coming in the day after I was there for a run through while his current staff are working

I should have asked how long the average time is spent on editing each item...

And yep 2 positions available. I'll see what he thinks of my job when I get it done.

I'd offer to send it to you, but it's 100mb for the 3 files I got.

Nanls · #37 02-23-2008, 11:08 AM

This jewelry was just released so I can post it now. The Art Director's inspiration was an ad she saw with colored perfume bottles with elongated shadows. We were running overtime on our product photo shoot so we decided to do the shadows in post (attached).
~Nancy
----------------------------------------
www.PhotoArt123.com

neilsonphoto · #38 04-28-2008, 08:28 AM

Hi guys

Just joined this forum, and as with many others here, I get asked the how do I get rings to look like tiffany ( or the equivalent) question everyday.

To get the best jewellery photography shots

1. Employ a guy that just shoots jewellery......thats me, and a few others hidden in studios around the world.

2. scour the globe for a great jewellery retoucher ( or ask the photographer to arrange it as he has probably scoured the world 5 times over already!)

3. Get one to shoot and the other to retouch.

Pay both the guys the going rate the reflects where you are in the market.

Dont expect to get a tiffany retouch of a $100,000 solitaire, for the price extracting a piece of costume crystal from a dodgy lite box shot. It may seem obvious but many clients dont see this.

Nancy, nice layout with the rings on the shot,

anyway,

have a look at my site, the header image of a marquie cut stone follows those 3 rules.

Any questions im happy to help out, ill post more on the business topic thread.

http://www.neilsonphotography.com

best

Andrew

RokcetScientist · #39 04-28-2008, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by premmahtani

http://www.flickr.com/photos/premmahtani/2189893929/ (Before)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/premmahtani/2190682024/ (After)

That guy's PP edit leaves a lot to be desired, prem. A couple flaws have been pointed out already. But what really gets me is that he killed all the color in the stone. And so he took all the life out of it.
I hope you can avoid doing that.

SnakeSuspenders · #40 04-29-2008, 12:29 AM

Stephen - just step out of this conversation, kindly. It is a learning forum. If you want to critique - there another forum. Best.

DiamondsDr47 · #41 05-25-2008, 10:25 PM

Just want to share one of my latest rings...10-copy.jpg
Best regards,
Edgar
.................................................
www.edgarmaivel.com

SnakeSuspenders · #42 05-25-2008, 11:31 PM

That looks pretty good. Quite great actually. Amazing sharpness in depth of field aspect and color clarity. The shadow seems to be a little off kilt and 'dissolve' looking shadow could look more like cobalt glass if blurred or woven. What did your original look like? It would be interesting to know how much freehand drawing you did for definition - or how much technique is involved. How does it turn out in print?

Best.

neilsonphoto · #43 05-26-2008, 01:16 AM

unusual shot. Looks to me as if it has been shot on a natural silver mirror, and above is placed a black reflector to create black background.

Shooting like this does 2 things

1. It gives the double reflection below ( 1st from reflection from the top glass surface and 2nd from the aluminium mirror backing).

2. the top surface of the ring and anything that sees the black reflector goes black., some clients prefer this to be golds

Good thing ( and the reason this technique is used, is that the stone and lower surfaces of the ring retain the original colouring,and the black gives intensity to the stone.

Or it wasnt shot like that, and its all retouched....im curious edgar do tell!

best

Andrew

JavierT · #44 05-26-2008, 02:45 AM

This one is mine.

Nanis, trying to understand what you say in your generous post ( I have to improve my English, LOL).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2479257...90067/sizes/o/

MatthewMarshall · #45 05-26-2008, 03:48 AM

This forum has seemed to stray way off from the original persons question. On how to imitate the photos he/she provided.

To be honest i dont know why you want to imitate how this guy edits his photos. I think it look fake and over done. grab a fashion mag and look in there and study how real pictures of jewelry are done. What that guy sent you is very bad and over done editing. (of course this is only my opinion, so don't go and get all mad at me)

Also look into getting a lens made just for jewelry photography.