Light/Dark contrast

[cushioncut]

I love the cushion in the attached picture -- this diamond seems to have a lot of black/contrast peeking through. Is this just something you see in photos, or can you see light/dark contrast in real life? What does it mean if a diamond does not seem to have this, and there is little contrast?

 

[nicknomo]

Be careful when making this judgement based on a single photograph. Angle and lighting can do very odd things, and unlike most people's eyes the camera catches everything. Usually things will look more pronounced in a sharp picture on an up close shot. So in short a single photograph can't really represent how it looks to the naked eye, especially from an angle like that.

 

[valeria101]

Someone knows allot about this contrast effect here : "MoreMoreMore" dumped the nicest of princess cuts 'cause it looked dark for too much contrast. You may just like what she tried hard to avoid.

The same issue has been discussed a little while back under the name "contrast brilliance".

Among graphic representations of contrast you may want to take a look at what the GemAdviser does.


The ring is awesome!

 

[moremoremore]

Hehehehe....

I like just the 'right' amount. I know it probably leads to a sacrifice in light return to a certain extent but I don't care for a dark stone...well, let me re-phrase..with princess cuts, it seemed as though some had very concentrated areas of contrast and it made the stone look dark- I like it when it's kind of evenly distributed if that makes sense...I definitely agree that pictures are SO misleading. A slightly diff angle can change the look. Lighting is also key. A good stone will have the proper amount of contrast and the stone will scintillate like crazy! Cushion cut...guess you're looking for a cushion?

You should really look into the new modern cushion briliants that are more like a round...they are beautiful. older cushions, while charming, are horrible performers!

ps Where the heck is that setting from? I love it.

 

[moremoremore]

For example, go to Diamondtalk.com..click on the top part where they have the vendor "showcases"...Go to DBOF..check out their thread on briliant cushions!

 

[cushioncut]

Thanks! I'll have to check out that link...

The setting is from william goldberg, as is the stunning cushion. We had the chance to see this in person, but the setting is a lot thicker and more modern than it looks here. But this picture is drool worthy. It's what made me want a cushion in the first place...

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

The darkness in such a photo comes from 2 places:
1. the camera lens - bigger lens and closer camera = more contrast.
2. leakage - darker behind the stone = more contrast from leakage.
The other cushion photo's you have posted were taken in a in completely flood lit 'image dome'.
You can search and find the system on the internet. There is no way you should make a judgement based on different photo environments.
That is why we would like to standardise a red reflection photo system - then you can compare Jonathons Lightscope, Barry's imagescope, 8* Firescope and the Ideal-scope.
Same same.

 

[Wacky]

Just a few corrections:

The camera or more correctly the film doesn't catch everything... The human eye can see many more shades and than film can capture.

Contrast and lens size or camera position are not related, maybe at it relates to the backround. Some lenses are have more contrast than others... The type of film used, don't for get the paper it's printed on or the process and chemicals used to develop the film all play a part in the contrast of a photo.

Wacky

 

[Wacky]

One more thing.... Without knowing how that photo was lit or the type of lighting used it's absolutely silly to try to interpret that photo!

Wacky