Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Thanks for all the info!
Googled the 105mm lens and saw a range of prices from $800.00 to $200.00. All were new and one of the cheaper ones was a Nikon. Any idea why they would vary so much? I like the idea of a smaller lens. The wanna be macro lens is very large and feels clunky but replacement might take a while in the $800 range.
I do have a tabletop photography book that has lighting suggestions but it wasn't as informative as I hoped. So if anyone has experience with one they liked, recommendations are welcome.
I'll probably hold off on a flash kit until I have more experience and know more of what I need but I was considering a ring flash based on the recommendations of the tabletop book. Any thoughts?

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

No, you don't need a ringlight.
I assisted a commercial photographer who shot jewlery for Helzbeg and he did not use a ring light. He did not specifically use a light tent either, but his set-up was pretty close to a light tent, with a few modifications. He used large diffusers to even out the light and added a few spot lights to give the pieces some sparkle. It's pretty advanced stuff, but that's what one pro did.

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Its a good thing I'm thirsty... :-) The histogram info was very enlightening! Unfortunately it took me over an hour to figure out how to turn it on in my camera. And I finally had to google it. Apparently there is a missing reference CD that should have come with the camera. However, I now know what every single button does along with most of the menu choices....

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Abbey, I see you are progressing nicely.
But first, please excuse my rudeness.....
Welcome to the Hog!
Since I'm at work, I won't chime in untill late tonite. As you can already see, Goofy is one of the more knowledgeable photographers here, but many have offered good advice.
I just want to add, that I would try to get the job done with what you already own.
Don't let anybody push something on you just because it's what "they use". This is about you, not them. Only add something when "you" need it. You'll be amazed what can be done with knowledge, as opposed to equipment.
You're off to a great start, in good hands.
Goofy, sorry to have dropped the "H" bomb. SS

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

So.....I didn't get to play as much as I hoped (Pesky people wanted to visit, you'd think its a holiday or something. ) Here are two of today's efforts. Not happy with the coloring in either but not sure what to do about it. 1st pic is auto white balance, 2nd is incandescent wb. I shot completely manual with the macro-ish lens at 1/60, F16, ISO 800, in a light box. So what's wrong?

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Here are two more I shot today. The colors in the piece are right but I don't understand why the background is grey. It really is a white sheet.

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Oh yeah, also the histograms on all these seem to tell me that I'm taking the photos correctly lighting wise.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Abbey, this stuff seems pretty hard doesn't it?
Are you trying to get the whole thing in focus, or just the front part? What was your focul length(mm)?
The color can be changed by using the temperature slider in PP.
Are you using the macro setting on the lens?
How are you holding the camera still?
Where you in the light tent? If so, what kind of bulbs?
I know, lots of questions, ha.
SS

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

The whole thing
300mm
The what?? In where??
No
Not very well ( handheld)
Yes, ummmm, spotlight bulbs? As in for a outdoor floodlight, halogen!

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Ohhhh! I bet halogen is my problem.

RustyCardores

Because the image is underexposed. In basic terms, cameras calculate exposure by mixing up everything it sees and relating that to 18% Grey, as 18% grey just happens to be the mix that works.

But, the camera doesn't know that your subject is predominantly white... so you have to compensate for this and use more exposure.

RustyCardores

300mm Handheld... You would need to shooting a shutter speed of 1/600th at the very least to help minimise handshake at this focal length.

You should also be using a tripod for such minimal DoF images, as slight body movements back and forward are enough to make you totally miss your focus.

Also, once you are on a tripod switch to shooting manual focus using your live view if your camera has it, as this will allow you to get focus exactly where you want it. Camera AF on small objects will not aways focus on what you intend it to focus on.

Camera AF is also not designed to pin-point specs, instead they tend to have an "area of focus", so again, manual focusing while on a tripod is the only way to effectively focus each and every time.

Also, f16 may well be softening your images as diffraction comes into play... experiment with f8 and f11 and see if they are sharper. Often the diffraction with small apertures can more than ruin any gains in DoF that they technically provide.

Colour Balance: Different light sources are different in colour to a camera, even though they can look the same to us. So using the correct WB for JPG is a must (RAW however you can set in post production) and it looks like you have already sorted this one.

Abbeylayne Loc: Chicopee, MA

Ok...but why would the histogram read in the proper areas if I'm under exposed? And do I fix this with the exposure compensation? For some reason I have it set for -4.

RustyCardores

The camera thinks it's right with reference to 18% grey and will replicate this in the histogram. The reality however, is that your image contains a lot of white and the "correct" histogram should be heavily weighted to the right.

You can use exposure compensation, but I would recommend shooting in manual exposure mode. Once you arrive at the correct exposure, you will then be able to swap out pieces without effecting the result from shot to shot.

Wabbit Loc: Arizona Desert

Hey Doc ..... there is a Macro Forum here, you may wanna go there too ....."True Macro-Photography Forum" but I think you already know you're actually doing close up photography not Macro.

You need to learn how to control your lighting without glare. You will need a light box ..... You don't have to spend a lot, you can actually make your own ..... soft lighting from a few different angles will eliminate the shadows .....

Because your jewelry has depth you may want to try a good point n shoot which will have more close depth of field. A Canon G12 would be a good choice and it has a articulating LCD.