need help

luvmeeh · #1 02-13-2009, 01:31 PM

hi pls. tell me how can i retouch this ring into the second ring. thanks.

Swampy · #2 02-13-2009, 02:59 PM

Duplicate the Background layer twice.

Run a curves on the first copy and set the white eyedropper for a specular highlight in the ring.

Desaturate the top layer, set the blend mode to Color Burn and adjust the opacity to taste.

luvmeeh · #3 02-13-2009, 03:16 PM

Thank you. But how can i make the bottom clean?

Swampy · #4 02-13-2009, 03:37 PM

Bottom of what? Do you mean the white background under the ring?

Tareq · #5 02-13-2009, 04:05 PM

By using more exposure, but if you don't want to blown out something then use level/curve adjustments in photoshop.

luvmeeh · #6 02-13-2009, 04:07 PM

yes, the white bakcground under the ring. thanks

Tareq · #7 02-13-2009, 04:16 PM

My attempt

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3281/smplrkc2.jpg

twist · #8 02-13-2009, 05:39 PM

Re: need help

0lBaldy · #9 02-13-2009, 06:29 PM

Tareq, you did a great job on that ring.. Outstanding!

Luvmeeh, I am starting not to Luv you.. when you ask how to clean up the bottom under the ring it leads me to question if you are even trying.. An erasure would work just fine to get rid of the dark areas.. Painting with white would work also.. and those are the first tools anyone learns to use

I don't know how much you can do using elements 2 and the Canon G10 should have good glass... but may not be good enough for fine jewelry photography..
Jewelry is all about great glass, manual focus, and F64 or F90
Photographing Jewelry is also about learning proper diffused lighting, and learning where to place black, white, silver, gold reflectors in conjunction with some LEDs for the jewelry to sparkle, shine and look good... Lots of trial and error on each piece.. study all the reflections in camera before pressing the shutter.. if you can shoot tethered.. all the better to be able to see a large image of what you are shooting because you will have to compensate for the digital cameras inherent way of making jewelry look flat and lusterless... In my opinion.. film is still the best for jewelry... sharp, crisp, beautiful colors

Don't just put it in a tent, shoot, then have to do a whole lot of post processing (Photoshopping) or come here and ask, "How can I fix this?"...

Shooting it right the first time saves a lot of work later...

This site (jewelryphotography.com) might help you with the photography.
(Click Here) for the retouching page

AFrazier · #10 02-14-2009, 10:37 PM

Amen to that.

igot2pman · #11 02-15-2009, 04:54 AM

You might also want to purchase a Soft Light Box like this one.

It will get you a lot better lighting then what you have been getting; especially because you seem to be doing this a lot.

-Keven

AFrazier · #12 02-15-2009, 05:41 AM

Yeah, he/she might need a lightbox. The original shown in the OP looks underexposed, though. Weak lights or bad settings will cause that problem, even if you are using a lightbox.

As an aside, you can construct a lightbox out of foamcore, glue, white tape, and poster board. Light tents can be unreasonably expensive, especially considering you can make one with those materials for under $20.00.
Better yet, if you don't mind not enclosing the product, you can make a two-sided "box" consisting of a backboard and baseboard. Set some screws at the front edge of the base and curl your posterboard up to the second set of screws. You can make this sort of light box for under $10.00. The cost includes one piece of plywood ($5.00 or less), one 2x4 ($3.00 or less), and a piece of poster board. This version actually allows for maximum light exposure and more versatility in lighting angles.

Tareq · #13 02-16-2009, 04:36 AM

In fact i am just reading and reading to do this kind of photography if i can, i have the lighting, light box, so just i need to give it a try but the problem is the way of lighting is not lovely as i want, i don't worry about sharpness or quality, and also the composition or the angle of shot also not so professionally thats why i don't shoot more, so is it from beginning or is it with manipulation that make those products/still life looks unrealistic unbelievable?

Thanks 0lbaldy!

AFrazier · #14 02-16-2009, 07:27 AM

It's a little of both.

For starters, you need to use the right kind of lighting to get the brilliant reflections. Go down to a jewelry store and see. Jewelry always looks nicer in a jewelry store. As I think OlBaldy said, you should use LED or flourescent lighting rather than tungsten.
Have someone move the lights around for you while you look through your viewfinder. The reflections are live. You should be able to see them come to life right before your eyes.

Once you've taken the picture, you can use clone, heal, dodge, burn, and a few other tricks to bring out the full brilliance.

Tareq · #15 02-16-2009, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFrazier

It's a little of both.

For starters, you need to use the right kind of lighting to get the brilliant reflections. Go down to a jewelry store and see. Jewelry always looks nicer in a jewelry store. As I think OlBaldy said, you should use LED or flourescent lighting rather than tungsten.
Have someone move the lights around for you while you look through your viewfinder. The reflections are live. You should be able to see them come to life right before your eyes.

Once you've taken the picture, you can use clone, heal, dodge, burn, and a few other tricks to bring out the full brilliance.

Great, i will try to find someone who can assist my lights. About what kind of lights, what about studio strobes? are they good enough or should buy special different lights? my strobes has modeling lights which is tungsten, but what about the flash of it when i fire, is it still tungsten? And if shooting in RAW can't we change the WB from Flash to tungsten and florescent to see which is better?

Thanks for this thread that show me i should use high key [or white background] to do jewelry better than black or dark backgrounds, I will give it a try soon i hope.

0lBaldy · #16 02-16-2009, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tareq

Great, i will try to find someone who can assist my lights. About what kind of lights, what about studio strobes? are they good enough or should buy special different lights? my strobes has modeling lights which is tungsten, but what about the flash of it when i fire, is it still tungsten? And if shooting in RAW can't we change the WB from Flash to tungsten and florescent to see which is better?

Thanks for this thread that show me i should use high key [or white background] to do jewelry better than black or dark backgrounds, I will give it a try soon i hope.

To bring out the sparkle.. simple LED flashlights work wonders..

AFrazier · #17 02-16-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tareq

Great, i will try to find someone who can assist my lights. About what kind of lights, what about studio strobes? are they good enough or should buy special different lights? my strobes has modeling lights which is tungsten, but what about the flash of it when i fire, is it still tungsten? And if shooting in RAW can't we change the WB from Flash to tungsten and florescent to see which is better?

Thanks for this thread that show me i should use high key [or white background] to do jewelry better than black or dark backgrounds, I will give it a try soon i hope.

Changing the W/B in RAW doesn't change the effect. It only changes the tint and color temperature. The type of light you use during the actual shot creates the effect you are looking for. In other words, sparkles have nothing to do with color temperature.

SteveB2005 · #18 02-24-2009, 10:59 PM

You can get great jewelry shots with a good DSLR, 6 MP and up, a 100mm macro F2.8 lens, strobes, softbox, black and white cards, mirrors, good LED jewelry lamps. You may not even need a light tent, just a white plexiglass light table.

Jewelry is a tough product to photograph correctly and you want to "pretouch" meaning, get the best shot possible out of the camera, leave the retouching to a minimum if possible. A good DSLR will pick up every hair, dust, and Photoshop has to clean that up a little, fingerprints, wear white gloves if you have them.

The top jewelry photographers in NYC get paid a lot of money to produce the kind of work that goes into the better fashion mags and ads. I have trade journals with interviews and examples of their work and most are shot with 16-39 MP digital cameras and macro lenses. The images are outstanding too. Go online to Tiffany.com and other fine jewelry sites and look at the work, try diamond graphics and dejuvian sites

steve