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Question: What do I need to take bright clear photos of jewelry!?
I want to sell some of my jewelry online!. However, I'm having a tough time getting bright, clear photos, both of the full piece and zoomed in!. A friend of mine used his Pentax digital camera, but the photos came out blurry and the light was not right!. Perhaps my friend isn't a good photographer!? Anyway, any advice you can offer would really help!. Thanks for your answers!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Yes, the scanner idea with different colored cloth over!.!. the jewelry can indeed give more than pleasant results!.!.!. and is prolly your best avenue!.!. Colored paper - may - look good too!.!.!.

Another idea is to go to your local $1!.00 Store or Thrift Store (Goodwill too) and look for a LARGE salad like bowl, the bigger the better!.!. Make sure it is all milky white like some Tupper Ware bowels!.

Cut a hole in the bottom the size of your cameras lens, a round hole 2 or 3 inches in diameter!. You now have a diffusion dome, or tent, and you sure didn't spend no $250 bucks either!.!.!.

Place this bowl up-side down over your pieces to photograph, using complementary colored paper or cloth under your jewelry, and look at them thru the camera as it is pointed down at the pieces thru the hole!.

Your light could be the sun, thru a window or out on the porch or you could use these clamp on work lights from Home Depot and 2 or 3 of these high intensity 100 watt equivalent curly cue neon lights!. Some of these suckers are VERY bright now and actually work well for small studio like applications, and offer NO heat!.!.!.!

The digital camera's WB (white balance) can usually correct well if all these lights are the same, and there is NO other light in the room to off set the auto balance!.

You may need a support for your camera as it shoots down into the home made tent, try first, why not!.!.!? If you need support let your imagination wander and jury rig something!. How many times are you going to do this!.!.!?!? Is it worth spending $500 or more bucks on here!.!.!?

Keep ISO at 400 or less unless you know the camera is fairly noise free at higher #'s!.!. (test the camera) IF more macro is needed, there are cheater filters, which are actually plain ol' magnifying lenses you can screw on the front of many camera lenses!. Because these ARE so simple, the results are not award winning, but here again, how often do you plan on doing this!.!.!?

There was a phrase long time ago that is dead today it seems!.!.!.

The ends justifies the means!.!.

What this means is - How you get there is not the issue, it's getting there that counts!. How you did the pics is no matter to anyone, but getting the pics IS!.!.! Understand!.!.!? The end - the final product - justifies the way you got it!.!.!. It don't matter HOW you did it as long as you did!.!.!

If spending $ hundreds is in your budget, go for it, but if spending $35 is more like it, AND, for e-Bay!.!. it sells, Geeeeze, who cares!.!.!? Get the picture!.!.!?

Good luck!.!. I know you can do it!.!.

Bob - TucsonWww@QuestionHome@Com

You need a light tent ($250), good sturdy tripod ($150 or better) and either a good quality P&S camera ($200 to $300) or an entry level DSLR with macro lens (under $1000)

Light tent: http://www!.bhphotovideo!.com/c/product/29!.!.!.

Tripod: http://www!.bhphotovideo!.com/c/product/47!.!.!.

Camera: http://www!.dpreview!.com/reviews/compare!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Get a new friend, if your friend doesnt know to use lights then yes they are a bad fotog

make a light tent for a few dollars or buy one off ebay for a few more, then get a couple of lights and learn how to use them

bouncing a flash off a white ceiling can work also,

PinkWww@QuestionHome@Com

If the jewelry is flat enough, try your scanner with a nice cloth behind the piece!. You'd be surprised how nice it can come out!.Www@QuestionHome@Com