Just joined and wanted to say hello! I sell jewelry (which has to be the toughest thing on earth to photograph), so I'm having a heck of a time getting my pics just right, but with each listing I'm learning something new and my pictures are getting better and better. I'm always on the lookout for tricks and tips for better pictures, so I thought this would be the place to hang out! Nice to be here!
I think your pictures look pretty good! Whatever you seem to be doing looks to be working really well. Just a few things, many digital cameras have whats called a "macro" mode used specifically for close-up images. Might want to check and see if your digital camera has such a setting. Not sure what kind of camera you are using.
Two other MINOR details. I would always try to use a background that complemented the piece. I'm horrible with color choices but make sure that your background makes your piece stand out in a good way, it will help to make things more appealing.
Also, you use a penny to show size which is great, but I would go get the nicest penny ever to use. Go to the bank and get a couple new ones just for your pictures. Its little but it will help the overall appearance.
Just some tips, hope you benefit from my opinions.
I appreciate the tips! I'm using a Kodak EasyShare, and it does have the macro mode, which I am using for closeups, but even then I can't get as close as I sometimes want. As for the penny, there's bound to be a better one in my coffee can full of change, I'll dig out a beautiful one! Backgrounds? You're right about that, I could do better there. Most of the time, especially if I'm photographing more than one or two items in a row, I get lazy and don't bother to change the background, I just want to get it over with! Thanks for the suggestions, I'll start paying more attention to the details! Appreciate it!
Hi, For a uniform background use a box lined with white posterboard. Curve it around the corners so there aren't any square places. You want to block out any flash back from glossy surfaces because that will distort the picture. Using natural light and not your flash will help. By using the penny, everyone will look to see what year and condition it is and skip the details of the item you are selling. Measurements work if you put them in the listing body. Include ONLY the item for sale in the picture. You can cut away any extra space and the sale item will be larger. Even low pixel cameras can do this. I have a few pieces of jewelry in my store if you want to look. Good luck! Linda
Thank you! I've been using a light box with lamps on either side, no flash, and the posterboard for a while now, and that has improved my pictures ten-fold. The only reason I use the penny is that it saves me time when listing the item, especially if I have several items in one listing, so I don't have to measure every single piece and type it up in the listing. I do see your point, though...I'll have to mull that over! Appreciate the input!
Here's a trick used in tabletop/product photography. Use a smooth, solid color bed sheet, table cloth, any kinda material as a backdrop. Place a small box, bean bag, etc. on the table and cover it with the selected material. It will act as stand to emphasize the product. The extra length of material behind the "stand" can be used as the background. Use whatever method you desire to suspend the background, i.e. a photo frame. (I LOVE improvising in photography). It's a good idea to allow about 3" to 1foot separation between the background and "stand". This will allow for shadow drop off, but you're already attentive enough, from your shots so far, to not let that happen. If you should decide to try a flash unit, cover it with a handkerchief to create that softbox effect. A flash would add specular lighting (a little "shine") to the product. A white piece of cardboard can be added on the other side of flash for soft reflection. BTW, a piece of crumbled aluminum foil stretched across a small piece of cardboard will act as a reflector in your current light setup, adding a small sparkle where needed.
Kodak Easyshare cameras, at least the two that I have used, are not too friendly when used in macro mode. Look for a addon closeup lens for your model. That's probably why there are so many close-up lens on eBay for these cameras.
Oh, as an after thought, check that you're NOT using auto white balance with your flood lighting. If that setting is available in your camera, set it appropriately for the type of lighting you're using...tungsten, fluorescence, or "indoor".
This probably far too much information at one time, but you look like you're on the right path already and doing quite well, and I thought my 1.6cents (we're in a recession!) might help.
"He's the professor...he knows what he's NOT talking about!!!"
Great, great, great!!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, lagaspa! I'm going to look for a close-up lens for my camera after I'm done here, that'll help immensely! I dug out my camera's manual the other day and set my white balance to "tungsten," and I think that's helping, too -- I've used it on my four most recent listings if you care to take a look (I'm really proud of my chickadee items!). As far as backgrounds and such, you won't believe what I'm doing. My photo "studio" is set up on my bathroom floor (finding a bare horizontal surface in this house would be impossible!). If I'm just shooting one or two small items, I put them on a piece of colored card stock, maybe using a dollop of museum wax to position the items the way I want them if they don't cooperate. I use a white one-gallon plastic milk jug with the bottom cut off and place that over the item for a light diffuser, and I shoot straight down through the mouth of the bottle (the camera lens fits perfectly, and there's no shutter shake!). I position two gooseneck table lamps on either side of the jug for light; I love those because you can twist and turn them any way you want. So that's where I'm at so far. The search for the perfect photograph continues! Thanks so much, everyone, for your help! And I know that other people are benefiting from this discussion, too!
P.S.: Mike, I took your suggestion about background colors to heart, and I'm really loving the results! I was always kind of afraid to use darker backgrounds, don't know why, but most of my stuff looks so much better, the items just pop right out at you instead of blending into a boring background. (I still have to get to the bank for that perfect penny! I don't think I'll be using it in my Gallery photos anymore, though -- I agree with Linda that it's too distracting -- I'll just use it in the pictures within the listing.) Thanks again!
Hey, I wanted to mention a program I downloaded for free and use for almost all my pics. Its called picasa 2. It has a lighting tool that does not wash the pic away then you can crop real close and sharpen it to finalize the image. It also has a glow effect that looks really cool on some pics, might be great for jewelry, but I don't know. You can click on anything to see the results then just undo it. All your pics that are saved are automatically uploaded to the program, even every time you download more pics. Here is the site! Hope this helps. http://picasa.google.com/download/
Glad you enjoyed the tip and I am even more glad that it is working out for you! If you are not going to use the penny, I think you need to use something to give the customers a sense of scale. Personally I don't believe the penny is too distracting. It is probably the most common technique for showing scale on smaller items. I think for the handful of people it may distract, by taking it away you won't give the scale view to your potential buyers. To me that would be important.....however, I am a male, and I don't know much about jewelry shopping.
Hello there we have just joined as well. I have been reading the replies, they are great. By the way Spooky we use Picasa 2 as well, so far it has been the best tool to fix pictures, the other thing I like about it is you can setup a Web Photo Album and share pictures with with friends and family just have to send them the link. It is great to crop, change the photo to look old, etc.
Hey, Mike. I like the penny idea too, but I think a good compromise would be to just take it out of the Gallery photo and use it in all of the other pics within the listing.
I wanted to mention one thing that's been happening since I switched my white balance to tungsten. I have to use the manual setting for this feature, and I've noticed that "ISO 400" shows up on my display screen for every picture and they're turning out too grainy. I've been looking through the manual and I can't find out how to change that (or even if I can). I may have to go back to Auto mode, that seemed to work out okay, but the colors are much more true on the tungsten setting. I hate to give that up just because I can't figure out the ISO thing. Anyone familiar with the Kodak EasyShare?
I am not sure exactly what effect the tungsten gives it, but I do know in the tuning tab in picasa you can change the color to more orange/yellow or to more blue. That might be what you are looking for changing in the first place. Hope this helps!
The tungsten setting is to be used only when you have tungsten light bulbs present. Its just referring to that particular light environment. If you aren't using those light bulbs I wouldn't use that setting simply because it will throw off your colors a little bit.
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