Remove reflexions

[hrisula]

Hi everybody,
We need to take pictures of silver/gold jewellery, close-up. Some of the pieces are highly polished, therefore they act as perfect mirrors... need I say more...
Can anyone give us some tips and/or point us towars tutorials that will help us take photos of polished silver/gold jewellery
Thanking you in advance
Hrisula

 

[buck52]

Hope this does not insult you but... don't use a flash

meter for the polished part

buck

 

[RT]

It may help to use a light box to diffuse the lighting.

I made cutouts in a large cardboard box, then covered the cutouts with white garbage bags. Experimented with different lighting angles. Worked fairly well, but because it's cardboard it did not stand the test of time

Something like this

The idea (and the pic) are from this article

The discussion HERE may give you some food for thought.

 

[hrisula]

Thank you so much for the links, there is a lot in there to help me. I will certainly start building my box asap....
Thanks again, I appreciate your help
Hrisula

 

[flyeater]

Good job RT

 

[RT]

You're welcome, hrisula
and thank you, flyeater. (I thought I had a shot of the setup I actually used, but I can't seem to find that pic )

I remember I had to fiddle with the exposure for jewelry shots. As I was shooting digital I used a manual white balance since the garbage bags aren't perfectly white. Also I wish I had used something like a translucent acrylic material, like one can find in a well-stocked arts&crafts store - my budget prevented me from going there or the camera shop!
Be sure to do lots of test photos when you complete your rig.

This is not a perfect solution, but it is cost effective , and can be modified according to your ingenuity and budget.

Let us know how it goes for you.

 

[flyeater]

I wish I had used something like a translucent acrylic material

I know nothing about photography however in the sign business we have problems with white acrylic faces. If you don't pay for the good stuff you'll need to use a layer of diffuser to light the sign evenly. With cheap illuminated sign faces you'll see the individual tube lamps & maybe even the pole supporting the sign.
Just out of curiosity did either of you try bouncing the light off of some white to gray matte finish material.

 

[Telstar]

Consider also using a "Polarizer" or "Polarizing" Filter (hopefully you already have one in your bag).

It will reduce reflections coming off "non-metallic" surfaces such as water
and glass but might be helpful for your application.

Two distinct drawbacks to the Polarizer is one, the cost....about the most expensive filter to purchase and two, you'll have to adjust your speed or open your f/stop about two stops more or less depending on the intensity of your lighting.

Telstar

 

[hrisula]

After reading the articles, I am on my way to the hardware store.... But, I couldn't resist, with white papers only I made some quick tests, and the results are encouraging... Once I set up the box & the lights, I am positive that I will have good results.

Eventually though, I will have to face the real challenge, the vertical shots, as the artist insists of having some totally vertical shots. I made a quick top for the "super simple paper box" with white cardboard (the inside of a folder) with just one hole for the camera lens. I admit that my lighting is not perfect, but I can clearly see the camera lens on the shiny surface of the silver ball...

For the record, I am using an Olympus Camedia E10, with a macro lens for these shots.

Regarding the polarized filter, I do have one and I made some tests. I can remove reflexions from glass surfaces, but I was unable to remove the camera lens reflexion from the silver heart. I was told that apparently you can't remove reflexions from metal surfaces with the polarizing filter. Can it be that there are different filters? I don't know.

I would like to thank RT and everybody for your help and encouragement
Hrisula

PS maybe I should drop the macro lens

 

[Telstar]

"The other critical and challenging element in jewelry photography is getting sharp, close up photos that show the jewelry’s detail, beauty, and depth of field. A macro lens is necessary to accomplish this."

Here are a few articles I found while Googling that might be helpful.

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction but maybe you can
get an additional tip or two from these:

http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/reflect.htm

http://lapidaryart.com/projects_2.html

http://www.webphotoschool.com/wps/lessons/vault[wps]/

http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/photographing-jewelry.html

Good Luck!

Telstar

 

[RT]

PS maybe I should drop the macro lens

I hope not on the floor!

But maybe you might have enough telephoto power to get further away so that the lens reflection wouldn't so obvious, and still get a tight frame. If you could get enough depth of field.

good links Telstar

 

[hrisula]

Hi everybody,
I just thought to give some feedback regarding the concludion of my tests.
* I got the best results using a white wire frame covered with white plastic and the 2 lights covered with thin white towel
* I also tried a white plastic trash can, a white box, a white bucket with the lights. All conditions being equal, I get subtle color differences with these so called "white" items, it seems that not all white plastics reflect the light the same way (I did not know that)
* no matter what I did though, I was unable to eliminate the camera lens reflexion from shiny silver balls, it kept staring me like Cyclop. At this point my only salvation is Photoshop!!
Overall I am happy with the results, thank you everybody for helping me out.
Hrisula

 

[Telstar]

* no matter what I did though, I was unable to eliminate the camera lens reflexion from shiny silver balls, it kept staring me like Cyclop.
Overall I am happy with the results, thank you everybody for helping me out.
Hrisula

Yes, the camera (lens) would have to be practically invisible for there to be
no reflection.
I would think that with Photoshop you should be able to eliminate the area
of the reflection and clone in a neighboring area of the same color with
excellent results.

Glad to hear there is a happy ending to your saga. Thanks for posting back.

With the Olympus Camedia E10 being digital, perhaps you could post a pic or two for us?
I for one would be interested in seeing the final result.

Regards,

Telstar

 

[hrisula]

Here are some results of my tests in a single jpeg file to keep them compact, the originals are nicer.

 

[RT]

I think your version of the light box worked very well. I can certainly see how you would have problems with the lens reflected in those shiny necklaces.

Don't feel bad for using PhotoShop, that's what it's for

You'll find the box will come in handy for many situations. As to the different color effects of the various "white" difusers, that's why I used a custom white balance setting, and I beleive your camera has that feature.

Best of luck in all your endeavors, and thanks for the pic.