White Background/Jewelry Photography

[Eleyfant]

I have been using a digital camera for several years but never attempted jewelry photography until recently. I have searched far and wide for the answer to my dilemma and hope that someone on this site can instruct me on the process of taking photos of jewelry while making the background totally white. I am on a limited budget and don't wish to buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment. I would like to be able to "just take the picture" and not not be requited to "tweek it" in Photoshop.

I have tried many different suggestions given to me by various people and have searched the internet..to no avail.

I will tell you that I am getting a white background in the center of the photo but greying all around the outside edges. The white center tends to be a bit too bright closest to the piece of jewelry I am photographing.

Here is what I have done to get the best photo:

The camera is set on "M" and the focus is manual. ISO 400 - Shutter 1/200 - AV 1.1. I am using a piece of white frosted plexiglass on which to lay the jewelry. I have one 85watt photography bulb in the center of five 25watt photography bulbs and have placed the bulbs behind the plexiglass. I have two 24watt photography bulbs in front pointing at the jewelry attempting to eliminate shadowing...they are the clamp lights with the sliver domes.

I have also attempted to use one of those white photo cubes, placing the plexiglass in an upright position with the lighting behind the cube and behind the plexiglass. I have attempted to place the lighting in front in various positions, side, top, front, angled up, angled down, etc. I have used every ISO, AV, and Shutter combination possible...the edges are still gray...

Would there be anyone on this forum that can give me instructions and a supply list that will help me achieve the white background for these photos?

Thanks.

[oldwolf]

Can you take a picture of your setup to show us? I'm more of a visual person.

Also can you tell us what gear you're using? Camera, lens, etc.

A sample picture would help as well with the EXIF data but not necessary.

[i speak in math]

sounds like some vignetting that you should be able to clean up in 2 seconds in PS.

[LeeR]

I would strongly suggest you get a light tent for your setup. You could even make one if if need be, but you would be surprised at how inexpensive they are on ebay. The important thing in shooting jewelry is to have smooth even lighting. Any time you shoot metal you are in danger of getting specular highlights, which is OK if you are shooting a car's bumper but not so good on jewelry. A light tent will help you get the proper light and makes the job much, much easier.

Below is an image I recently took for my dad, one of his treasures from his many trips. I did this with a makeshift light tent on a white background because I didn't want the shiny glaze to get blown out. I created the gray in the background by first sampling the gray shadow on the white paper and then using that color to place a gradient in the background.

[wannabephotographer]

Product shots for jewelry are extremely difficult. People will tell you use a light box/tent but for a pure white background and good detail on the jewelry itself, it doesn't work. There are really two ways to do this. As you already have found out, when you make the background white, you'll tend to blow out some of the details and get a washed out photo.

There are basically two ways. The first is photoshop, even the pros use it so don't feel bad, that's just the way it is because with certain types of jewelry, you have no choice.

The second way is the same way they achieve a pure white background for portraits. You have to separate out the background and jewelry. The jewelry can't be on the background. You then need to blowout the background and then expose properly for the jewelry.

[aprillove20]

By the way, can you tell us what gear you're using?