When one of our client’s ask me to shoot several bracelets, it looked like an easy task, at first. But when we started to talk about technical requirements, the photo session become more challenging than I was thinking…
First, he wants a spot-like gradient background, from deep purple to a complete black.
Second, bracelets must be shoot in frontal position, not a simple from-top shoot. Saying that they also mentioned that full bracelet must have as maximum details as possible.
So, how to get the first task done? Hang bracelet on a tiny fishing lines and project a a spot on a dark background? Master background digitally, after the shoot? I am not a big fun of such massive digital post processing, especially when I shoot for a catalog, hundred of pieces. Same dislike of a complicated to repeat setups because of product’s quantity.
What I did is this: 2 light sources ( Paul. C Buff monolights) , one mirror and one white paper background on rails. Plus, unfortunately, one photoshop task for a post production, you’ll see later what I mean.
The setup, was simple: Jewelry was placed on a mirror positioned so it was reflecting a white paper backdrop when looked from a camera’s angle. However, backdrop was black, as no other light source was pointed on a backdrop. Narrow rectangular softbox was placed directly on top of the jewelry, so no lights was escaping on a backdrop behind.
Now only spot (honeycomb attachment was used) needs to be pointed to appropriate place on a backdrop to create a nice gradient.
The same but in drawing:
Lighting schema for jewelry photography
The result was good. I was done with the lights. This shoot was done using Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro L
lens, 1/250 sec F25(!)
Jewelry photography with tilt-shift Canon EOS adapter
Because of the angle camera was placed, required DOF was enormous . I’ve closed aperture down to F25, the maximum I can have before diffraction makes things worse, but still… See 100% crop from the area shown above:
Jewelry photography example 100% crop without tilt shift
This is not what I and my client was looking for. I was lucky enough to build a tilt-shift adapter for a Canon recently, so this is what I was using with Rodenstock APO Rodagon-N 80mm F4 lens for a next shoot:
Jewelry photography example with tilt-shif canon eos adapter
100% crop from area shown above:
Jewelry shot with tilt-shift adapter for canon and Rodenstock lens attached
Yes! This is what I was looking for. Aperture was set to F16, and tilt- shift adapter did it right! Even before any post-processing in the photoshop result is really nice. The focus is on a whole bracelet, gradient on a background. Done? No:-)
The only thing left a reflection: too much reflection from a mirror is not a good thing here. This can be fixed only in digital dark room, as there is no way I know to do make it blurred prior to shoot. (No, dulling spray is not for this setup, the mirror’s surface must be clean and 100% transparent, as even tiny dust particle on a glass will be highlighted by top softbox and will glow as a bright star:-) This is why mirror is dark under direct light: it does not reflect any light from above to the camera. At given angle only a backdrop gets reflected.
Here we go, the final image:
Jewelry photography: bracelet on a dark background
Well done? What do you think? If anyone knows how to do (in real, not in theory please:-) such things easier, please let me know. I would appreciate your advise!
Update (12/01/2009):
A bonus video!
Here is one more image of jewelry piece from this photo session, same technique. More you can see on my portfolio:
Jewelry photography, image of the necklace on dark glass
P.S I do have a video showing the setup and some shoots, but is is not ready yet. Hope to add it here before Thanksgiving. Stay tuned:-)
November 22nd, 2009 | 
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Hi there,
Really great job! really nice result!
Elisabeth
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Nicely done. Thank you for telling everyone about how you obtained this image file.
How did you build a tilt/shift adapter for Canon?
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Your lighting is fine, you just needed a tilt/shift lens or bolt your Canon to the back of a 4×5 view camaera with an enlarger lens on it. That way you can keep it to f/11 and not get diffraction fuzzies.
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Thank you, guys.
BTW, I have posted link to a tilt-shift adapter I’ve used (it is in the article). Surprised you did not find it:-) Here it is:
http://www.akelstudio.com/blog/2009/10/how-to-developing-a-tiltshift-system-for-35mm-digital-camera-based-on-4×5-view-camera/
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Hi Alex ,
I just wanted to now is any similar tilt- shift adapter for NIKON also.
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admin Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Gaurav,
As you’ve seen on my adapter, it can be made for any camera mount. Just use proper ring connector to get it work with Nikon. You can think about this adapter as a 4×5 field camera with a DSLR body attached to it.
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Cool pics and usefull information.
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My husband and style and photograph jewelry all day long.
So we truly do appreciate the effort that goes into capturing beautiful jewelry images. Of all the things we photograph Jewelry is by far
one of the most difficult.
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Hello,
Nice solution. Thanks for sharing that with us in such a clear manner. The shots look great.
I wish Canon sold a small tilt/shift adaptor so you don’t need to buy all the focal length tilt shift lenses. Your adaptor works beautifully for studio work, it’s hard to believe you can get this sort of quality on an SLR camera. I guess thats why 5×4 is not used much now.
Thanks, Bevin.
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Very nice, but I would add one thing to your setup to make it even better. Instead of the mirror, which gave you double reflections (one from the top of the glass & one from the backside mirror) you could eliminate that double reflection in a couple of ways. 1- Use a 1st surface mirror, where the mirror is on the top surface. Alternatively & I think better, get a piece of smoked black glass instead of a mirror. The reflection won’t be as strong (actually a good thing) and there will be no second surface reflection because it’s brightness is drastically reduced via the internal tinting of the glass. I’ve used this to good effect. It’s inexpensive. Give it a try.
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Great pics and very useful advice – many thanks – sal ramzan photography
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Thank you David!
I agree, 1st surface mirror will work the best here. Unfortunately, I did not get one prior the shoot.
As for a back glossy glass, I tried it first, and did not like the result because I’ve lost that nice bottom highlight from a mirror.
See yourself:
Bracelet on a black glass.
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Well, there is another solution to that DOF problem (altough i love your tilt-shift adapter). Stacking the pictures in photoshop cs4, with focus on different points at the sweet aperture for the lens (around f8).
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Jair,
Yes, this will work well. However, if you shoot a hundreds of pieces, like for a catalog, it would involve enormous post production time, I guess. Guess because never did focus stitching in PS, may be it is really fast and easy? :-)
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Noregt Reply:
May 7th, 2010 at 11:06 am
@admin,
It doesn’t work that well with photoshop. The point is that if you change the focus to the back, the image will change a bit in size, making it very difficult to stitch properly. I’ve done that and decided to go for tilt shift which is much beter.
I’ve done about the same as you, but for Nikon there is the old PB-4 bellows which can tilt and is affordable at e-bay. All together it cost me about 250 dollar.
About the reflection: I use black Poly(methyl methacrylate) which works best, but I’m not sure if you’ll think the reflection is bright enough. I’m planing on making a video about this setup as well, so I’ll let you know.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
May 7th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Sounds interesting, I am curious to see it!
BTW, reflection looks great, I need to get the same poly…
Thanks!
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Hi, I’m still a novice, where can you purchase the black and/or smoked mirrors?
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Carol,
I do not use a pre-colored mirrors, instead what I do it this: get a acrylic sheets from a store like HomeDepot, aerosol paint form a same store nad paint piece of palxiglass any color i need. the other side (unpainted) will be nice glossy mirror with color you need. To make it matte, just spray a dulling spray on the glossy side, and you’ll have it mate…
I had one black acrylic piece, forgot where I got it from. If I’ll find, I’ll let you know.
Alex
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WOW
Just visited your site for the first time, great tips and tutorials!!!
Thanks!
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hi alex, I really appreciate your works. But sorry I can’t understand this, ‘the glass is transparent, and mirror reflects only a backdrop which is far from a shooting table.’
you said it’s a mirror, so how is it transparent?
can you clarify that for me, alex? thanks in advance.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
September 6th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Terry,
Wow, just read my writing and I understand you:-) No way a normal human being can understand what I meant. So, here it is:
the regular mirror consist from 2 parts: the glass and a foil-like finish on one side, which is actually reflects the light, right? What I meant is that the surface of mirror’s glass should be clean from a dust… this is it. I am going to rewrite this sentence to make it a little bit more understandable..
Thank you for finding the glitch:-)
~Alex
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Reaaly ur Guidance help me alot. will try. I have Canon EOS Kiss X3 Do you think it will work? Can u send me email if u dont mind Alex. Please.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
November 22nd, 2010 at 11:03 am
Sumit,
Yes, any camera will work, even point and shoot (see here).
So, you’ll be completely fine with your Canon EOS.
Wish you good luck.
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Did you have to post process the pearls to remove any reflections in them or is the shot as was taken. The images are fantastic very sharp and crisp. Do you have any suggested setups for photographing crystals.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
December 6th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Cali,
Yes, we had to blur the reflection in post-production.
I’ve tried to shot on the mate glass instead (to avoid PP), but it did not work: matte glass get highlighted too much, creating undesired diffused light spread all around.
As for the crystals, they are completely different animals comparing to those bracelets I did. There is no “universal” setup for them, everything depends from size/shape. You may even need to use narrow beam LED lighting instead of strobes… I start working on jewelry more and more now, hopefully there will be more posts about this here.
Stay tuned:-)
Thank you!
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Great site Alex! A huge discovery for me. I’ve been fighting my photographic problems alone. Until now, that is. Thanks a lot.
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Alex, how many degrees did you apply for bracelet shot?
Thank you for sharing info.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 11:21 am
Anatoli,
I did not notice degrees… I never look at the actual values of the angle, as for every shot it will be different. Every time I am trying to find the maximum possible tilt before image quality gets degraded.
Thank you.
P.S Nice portfolio!
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Thank you, Alex. Nice to hear it from you.
If you allow this kind of links in your blog, one of my “tilting efforts” is here http://www.flickr.com/photos/uvidish/5409138879/#/photos/uvidish/5409138879/lightbox/
Lens was tilted about 20-25 degrees. I am trying to figure out, why “big guys” make lenses, mostly limited by 8 degrees. I think everybody, who is photographing jewelry (or other small detailed objects), thinks about that.
I’ve already tried Nikon PB-4 bellows, Sinar Alpina, Hama/Spiratone bellows http://www.flickr.com/photos/uvidish/5409283585/in/set-72157625833434105/#/photos/uvidish/5409283585/in/set-72157625833434105/lightbox/
Nothing have worked good enough for me. All that stuff is fun to play, but not to work with.
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
February 3rd, 2011 at 9:01 am
Anatoli,
I did not know about these tilt-shift system, they are much smaller then what I did. Which is a big plus. Why it did not work for you? I do not use them as much as I want to, but still, for some shoots they are saving me time (meaning I can get shot without focus stacking).
Thank you!
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The most problem is that just long lenses can be used with this kind of bellows…from 135mm and up. Another reason – I’m really interested in tilting “sensor”, but not the lenses. For that, film/sensor plan should be placed on the tilt axis. Hama bellows do not allow to mount camera that way – L brackets are too short. I think, your system (and Horseman LD as well) is one of the most advanced. Just one weak side – it is too bulky and heavy.
Thanks
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what do you think about using a Canon 5D Mark II with a Cambo X2?
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Alex Koloskov Reply:
April 14th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Otto,
I think very positive about such tandem:-)
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