Friday, June 22, 2012

Still Learning

Hey everyone.  I wanted today's post to be about my photography and how I've learned. 


So far it's been an uphill battle when it comes to photography the jewelry for business.  Now the flower pictures I take to paint are far easier.  I couldn't figure out for a long time why one was so much easier than the other.  It was like a smack in the face sort of moment when I realized why.  Reflective surfaces vs. matte surfaces.  


Take this for example-





Both are shot in direct sunlight but one turned out beautifully and the other looks completely washed out.  What's the difference?  Flowers and plant life have matte surfaces and the earrings in the above photo do not.  The earrings bounce back the light that's shined on them which gives a very white and washed out look with direct sunlight.  

I've procrastinated on finishing redoing my jewelry photos for this reason.  It takes a lot out of me to do the photos.  There's a lot of bending, reaching, and standing involved and it's exhausting.  I've only got so much energy to work with before it's gone.  Add that to the fact that it frustrates me to tears between the pain and fatigue and you get me not getting it done.  :P

So now my game plan is to use artificial lighting so I can have more control over how much or how little light I use.  Some of the jewelry actually needs more lighting.  Specifically some rhodonite earrings I made.  Rhodonite is more on the matte side of the scale.  It's a lovely pinkish stone but it's not got a very reflective surface so it needs more light to really show up nicely.

I've already taken a few photos using this new lighting system and so far it's gone pretty well.  I'm still learning so some photos are still not turning out how I'd like.  One thing I have definitely learned is don't shoot jewelry on a reflective surfaces because it comes out looking terrible.  I'd post an example of that but I can't find the picture.  I think I may have deleted it.  lol  Basically it makes the jewelry stand out a lot less.  :P

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  :)  

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