Spessartite Garnet Ring

[mhovingh]

I got to take pictures of a few spessartite garnets, my first time photographing spessartite garnets. This is the first one I got pictures to my desktop of so here it is for your consideration. As always, I appreciate comments/opinions on photography, stone, and setting. Let me know what you think.

 

[mhovingh]

One a bit closer up and on an angle.

 

[mhovingh]

Photo with a side view.

 

[mhovingh]

And one with the ring on my finger.

 

[oddoneout]

Great colour.

 

[Arcadian]

Well, straight on the window is kind of distracting. I''m having somewhat the same issue with a stone I just set (which is driving me crazy) Color of the stone is ok, a bit more orangey and a better cut would make it even better.


What type of camera are you using btw? I''m always curious of setups.

-A

 

[mhovingh]

Date: 5/21/2010 5:13:11 PM
Author: Arcadian
What type of camera are you using btw? I''m always curious of setups.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 - 2x20 watt Filtered Incandescent Lights - Light Box/Tent - Camera set for Incandescent Whitebalance - Shot in Aperture Priority - F8, ISO 80

 

[SB621]

On this one i don''t mind the color as much- but it still is not wonderful. Also the ring itself''s looks like it has very grey diamonds- i personally would not purchase.

 

[BWise]

The spess looks okay but not super exciting. I was wondering about the diamonds, either it is my monitor, or they are very gray and tiny. All that I see on the shanks are metal beads.

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 5/21/2010 5:27:51 PM
Author: mhovingh

Date: 5/21/2010 5:13:11 PM
Author: Arcadian
What type of camera are you using btw? I'm always curious of setups.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 - 2x20 watt Filtered Incandescent Lights - Light Box/Tent - Camera set for Incandescent Whitebalance - Shot in Aperture Priority - F8, ISO 80

Kewl! I have a Lumix G1.

My backup is my sony cybershot...lol (but it does take great pictures) BTW, I think maybe change your lighting rig around a little? I only say that because of how the light sometimes looks against your objects. You may also want to change the background too. sometimes with bright stones I tend to use a darker background in my box.

My lightbox is kind of a biggie so I can change out the backgrounds (I made it myself with a little wood and some white fabric)

+++Edit yet again!+++ Have you tried ISO 100 instead of 80? Your light setup should certainly allow for you to use it. I think some of your pictures tend to look a bit grayed and that could be the reason.

-A

 

[mhovingh]

Thank you all for your comments.

Sarahbear621 - The diamonds are very small and not notable except that when they catch the light right, they give a little sparkle.

yingh - The metal beads you are seeing are small prongs that are holding the very small diamonds in place. The diamonds are next to invisible when wearing the ring. The sparkle they give when catching light is about the only reason someone would guess they were there if they saw someone wearing the ring and weren''t looking real closely.

Arcadian - I will give ISO 100 a try and see how it works. I didn''t realize using ISO 80 could produce a grayed effect in the photos, thank you for the tip. Regarding backgrounds, do you use just a dark grey or black for a dark background, or do you use another dark color?

 

[Arcadian]

It depends on the colors of the stones and the time of day i'm shooting stuff. If I shoot stones in the box, I go with a neutral gray to dark grayish black background as a white background allows the light to bounce around too much. You kind of have to play around with your rig to see what works the best for you.

Other objects just sort of depend on what it is. I tend to shoot nature, not objects, so for me its a matter of fumbling around finding the right settings...lol.

These were shot with ISO 100/F8 on a black background. The black tends to absorb light to keep it from bouncing back to the lense and skewing my shot as the stones are pretty bright as it is. My lighting setup is nothing more than 2 60watt full spectrum bulbs in aluminum clamp lamps from home depot. I'm pretty low tech

+++ETA+++

If you're going to stage objects like rings, try using a background that light dosen't bounce off off, like flocking or cotton. You may also need to open your focal area so that you get as much detail as you can in the shot.

-A

 

[Barrett]

here..this is the easy and cheap way to take good gem shots..was taken from the king of gem shooting Gary at Finewater gems post over on other forum and with a few pointers from Wayne emery with my own ghetto brand of doing things..first a clear plexiglass plate..now glass works much better as the plexi scratches to easily but can be picked up from the ace hardware up the street..doesn''t even have to be plexi or glass..can be any gray to dark to black surface..as arcadian said no white..conflicts with the color and light to much..gray seems to work the best as even the black causes problems with the camera sensors so if you use black you have to know how to WB the camera properly..now i have a piece of black construction paper underneath the plexi..not really the best as it''s got a "rough" look to it.. a glossy piece of colored paper or cardboard would work better

 

[Barrett]

now this was taken from wayne emery..as cheap and easy as it gets..two pieces of white paperboard taped together so then can be squeezed together or moved apart

 

[Barrett]

pay no attention to the light in the pic above..just in the way thats all..so now take a white piece of cloth or whathave you..some gems i like to leave it thinner to let more ambient light through and others I like to triple it up in folding so it lets little if any light through

 

[Barrett]

Now you most important things..the stuff that reflects the light back on to your gem..no direct light needed..onl;y reflected light..i have your paper board with the slot cut into it for the camera and lens..taken from gary and i also have to squares to reflect the light from any angle needed..sometimes I use just the slit board...sometimes just the two handheld light reflectors..all they are is the same white paperboard as the tent thingy

 

[Barrett]

now camera goes in the slit..thats just a gemjar not a gem in the photo

 

[Barrett]

anyone can shoot good gem pics..or at least halfway decent gem pics with this setup right here..can probably find this stuff around the house..it's not the optimum setup as you would have a more permenant setup and better materials but it gets the hob done..now the lights..i use either a 4700K bulb like Gary or an Ott fluorescent like Wayne..really depends on the stone type as so me look better under different lights..i have 2 otts..now the lights go above and behind the tent thingy with just a little bit of light falling over the white top cloth onto the very front of the gem..then all it takes is your reflectors positioned in the right place and it's time to shoot..a good camera helps but is not needed to take fair shots

 

[Barrett]

oh..sorry about the thread jack, MH..figured better place than ever to get to talkin about picture taking
here the next 4 pics were taken with this exact setup..2 of them were taken with a $60 olympus fe-360 camera(you have seen poics before)

 

[Barrett]

another different background same exact setup

 

[Barrett]

same setup..exactly..this is like a 1/2ct green tourmaline too...itty bitty

 

[Barrett]

and you remember this pic..you see the cool reflection i got to go on the table of the stone..done with the handheld white reflectors..suckers work

 

[Arcadian]

Heck go ahead and threadjack on! this is really interesting stuff and being I''m self taught I kind of fumble around until I hit my magic numbers sometimes... lol I generally don''t do single gems in the box, it was a special case since it was dark out by the time I took that one

Boy do I EVER remember those photos! I LOVE those!

Because of some of the client work I do my box is a bit on the big side(like a 36inch cube). Thankfully I''m kinda handy. I love home depot!

I get all my craft paper and foam board at Michaels or AC Moore Since most of that stuff can be had for less than 2 bucks (even less if you get the coupons)

I have a piece of plexiglass when I sometimes use for other stuff though not for gems. What I do to keep from scratching it is spray a bit of water on it, then put plastic wrap on top and squeegie it in place.


_A

 

[Barrett]

oh great idea about not scratching it with the plastic wrap..good idea..what i like about this one is it breaks down and sets up in 5 seconds or less..if i had more room or did it in the basement or sold lots of gems then i would have a permanent setup with nice glass or a nice sold non-scratch base with more solid sides and top with a better reflector..just don''t have room on my little table

 

[ma re]

Just wanted to say that the fact the diamonds are barely visible is the reason why many people wouldn''t consider buying this, especially more educated ones like many members of this forum. It''s obvious from the pics that diamonds are set in what''s called an "illusion setting" i.e. in a way that would make you think they''re much larger than they really are, cause all those tiny prongs take a lot of space and many (if you look closely) don''t hold anything - they''re there just to create the illusion. It''s a trick often used in less expensive jewellery and something you''ll see often if you tune into one of many shopping networks that sell jewellery. Diamonds also seem to have poor color and/or clarity, and that''s why they don''t really sparkle, as you say. The stone itself in my opinion has a nice but not great color, acceptable precision of cutting, acceptable clarity (matter of personal preference and taste in this case) so I don''t see much wrong with it. One thing that bugs me is that the center stone sits quite high from the setting (meaning it''s girdle i.e. the widest part is far from the metal that holds the stone from beneath). Either the opening/hole in which the stone sits is too small (more probable IMO), or there are some issues with the stone''s pavillion i.e. lower portion.

 

[marcy]

Very pretty.