alex under std light.

[m76steve]

learning how to use the camera-ur opinions appreciated.

 

[T L]

True & honest opinions?

 

[LD]

Sorry Steve but INVHO they are not good quality Alexandrites. I apologise for being so blunt but you have asked.

Photographing Alex is very tricky indeed. The trouble lies in photographing the daylight green and from your photos this doesn''t appear to be the case for you. Photographing the daylight colour of Alex is soooooo difficult that sellers will often photoshop their pictures to get a true colour (i.e. what they see with their eyes). IMVHO and experience, I have only ever been able to capture the daylight green of the gemstone that truly represents what I see for my top quality Alex on 3 occasions and I must have taken 1000s of photos! However, poor quality Alex with a minimal colour change, for some reason, is much easier to capture and show the green. For all Alex, good or bad quality the colour change is simple to capture and the camera WILL lie. It will show a colour change even when you can''t see it with your eyes. I am very very very careful to only keep photos of my Alex that are a true and accurate reflection of what I see with my eyes and I sometimes have to spend days photographing a particular gem until I get it right!!!

I''m also a bit worried about the cat''s eye stones in your pendant. They don''t look "normal" somehow. I know you''ve had it appraised but I wonder if that''s what made Rich (in one of your earlier threads) ask what they were?

Here''s an example of how the camera lies! This Alexandrite ring is pretty and the daylight colour is a gorgeous green but it hardly changes colour. Honestly at night, it just looks a deeper green and some of the gemstones have a smoky purple tinge but absolutely NOT top quality. Now look at the photos .... it looks like it has a decent colour change going on. Trust me it doesn''t!

 

[m76steve]

the pics were only changed for size content-the color was as recorded by the camera which is a better one than the first camera used-the cats do show the double eye because of the dual light being used-the colors showing in the rwo pics r pretty accurate for daylight & candlelight pics-any pics i have taken would never be chenged for color content-ur input is very much appreciated-i learn from all....

 

[LD]

Date: 12/28/2008 6:18:09 AM
Author: m76steve
the pics were only changed for size content-the color was as recorded by the camera which is a better one than the first camera used-the cats do show the double eye because of the dual light being used-the colors showing in the rwo pics r pretty accurate for daylight & candlelight pics-any pics i have taken would never be chenged for color content-ur input is very much appreciated-i learn from all....

Steve - I didn''t mean to imply that you were colour altering the photos. What I was trying to say is that the camera changes the colour all by itself! However, if you are saying that the colour in the photo at the top of this thread is exactly what you see at night time then I''m afraid I have to stand by my original opinion and tell you they are not the top quality. Sorry.

 

[strmrdr]

The white balance is so far off in the pictures that no one can tell the color.
Some hints on fixing it are here:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/bling-photos-white-balance.78097/

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/28/2008 6:56:37 AM
Author: LovingDiamonds

Date: 12/28/2008 6:18:09 AM

Author: m76steve

the pics were only changed for size content-the color was as recorded by the camera which is a better one than the first camera used-the cats do show the double eye because of the dual light being used-the colors showing in the rwo pics r pretty accurate for daylight & candlelight pics-any pics i have taken would never be chenged for color content-ur input is very much appreciated-i learn from all....

Steve - I didn''t mean to imply that you were colour altering the photos. What I was trying to say is that the camera changes the colour all by itself! However, if you are saying that the colour in the photo at the top of this thread is exactly what you see at night time then I''m afraid I have to stand by my original opinion and tell you they are not the top quality. Sorry.

given the quality of the photo I think you are being way to harsh.
Even with the proper white balance it would be hard to draw such a solid conclusion but it could be said that "likely they are or arent" with proper pics, these arent close to being proper.

 

[m76steve]

thanks much for the info @ the pics-i wil try to improve when possible-all input helps out...

 

[strmrdr]

LD: Correcting the WB on your photo shows the one on the right has been tampered with using curves.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/28/2008 8:43:05 AM
Author: m76steve
thanks much for the info @ the pics-i wil try to improve when possible-all input helps out...

welcome
Not having a reference I cant WB correct them like with the other pic.
The white background gives a reference.
If you photograph it against a white background, an index card works well I can correct the WB for you in processing.
Getting it set right in camera is much more accurate so try that first.

 

[LD]

Karl - even when you change the camera settings you'll still get a false result from the camera. I don't know if you have any Alex but photographing them is incredibly difficult - no matter what setting you use - if you truly want to replicate what you see with your eyes.

In fact, my point is that in the photo that you corrected the white balance on, you'll see in your photo that the Alex look more purple. In real life these gemstones hardly change colour and it doesn't matter how you photograph them in incandescent light they will look like they have a change when they don't! I see green and a slight purple in incandescent light - I have NEVER seen this ring with the colour that you (or in the photo I showed earlier). Changing the white balance has given an even worse false picture of low quality Alex making them look like they are quite good quality!

 

[T L]

I think it''s just too difficult to judge Alex from photos, especially when evaluating the color change. In the photo above, the alex on my monitor, looks like a muddy brown.

 

[m76steve]

i agree-stones like alex should b seen in person-when seen under proper lights the colors r more apparent-there is more brownish in the pic-still a joy to own-each person is seeing these pics on there own monitor-each pic is different...