Well, golly. I spent a bit of time just now looking for examples of what I meant and naturally couldn't find anything! (sigh) I was thinking of the necklace on a bust and the bracelet on a curved riser. Or the necklace arranged flat but with the back part (where the smaller beads are) coiled. But after I thought about it a moment, I decided that if you are using this pic for Ebay, then the buyer HAS to be able to see all the parts of both pieces. So you couldn't use a nice display bust (like this -->
http://www.home-jewelry-business-suc...-display.html).
So you are
forced to lay them out like that in ovals, so the buyer can see all parts of all the pieces. YAWN!
"Depth of Field" refers to the portion of the image (measured in distance from the camera) that will be in sharp focus at any given aperture setting (also varies by lens, but let's not get too confused). Or this: "Depth of field is the amount of distance that you subject is still in focus and is expressed as a range from a certain minimum point close to the camera to a certain maximum point as distant from the camera. Everything in this range will be in focus and everything beyond, closer or further, will be out of focus." (
http://www.deluxacademy.com/articles...oto/depth.html)
At the settings and at the distances we work with in jewelry photography, the area that is in focus is very small. So arranging the camera so that it is parallel to the surface your pieces are arranged on is useful. Useful to you because it eliminates depth of field worries from the list of the stuff you have to worry about to achieve a sharp, well-focused image. (There are tripods that allow you to position the arm so it's reaching out to the side of the tripod proper, making it MUCH easier for you to keep everything parallel. These kinds of set-ups allow you to avoid the tripod-straddling-the-jewelry problem. If you are interested in info on this kind of adaptable tripod, let me know and I will provide more information on the one I have.)
If it were me, I would not mess around with a border or a distracting background or funky props like rocks or whatever. These techniques often (not always!) seem to me like cheap tricks that folks use sometimes to try to give boring jewelry more ooomph. I agree with the folks that say that these kinds of props take away from what you are trying to do, which is showcase your pieces. Just my opinion.
Jan
Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyhorton
Jan, any suggestions on making my photo more interesting? if you look under the post sony cybershot for same day, I do have a better pic up, but what can I do to make it more appealing. put a border around it or add a background? Alot of people had said in other posts that they felt props took away from the pictures, maybe I can put some risers to put them at different levels or something, is that what you mean?
|