Blogging from A-Z *P - Photos

Now, by no means do I know what I am going on about when it comes to talking about photographing jewellery, but I have had some really nice comments on my photos and as it has taken me so long to find a style (if plain white as a background can be called a style) that suited me, So I thought I would share how I do it....

This is my photo set up, now you do not need to have the stand that I use, I brought it out of exasperation because my photos did not look the way I wanted and I was willing to try any thing, a piece of paper/card taped to the wall will work just as well, tho I would suggest A3 as a good size (A4 seems a tad small for long shots of necklaces).

This set up lives and stays in my bedroom, I don't move it around because I do not need to, I do not use natural light because here in England we do not get much sun (as I type this the sun comes out for the first time in days)!!! 

The lamp is just a standard lamp with a  bright white LED bulb.

Now my camera is not posh, just a standard point and shot camera, and not very expensive either, but posh camera or not it is important to know your settings and the most important settings that I use are white balance (auto white balance never works on my photos) as use fake light I click menu, go to shooting then white balance and then change my setting to tungsten (appropriate for photos under halogen or incandescent light, not that I know what that means, I just know that this works for my set up), then I click on the macro button (looks like a little flower and lets you take photos close up).

Then I set up the piece that I am photoing....

Curtains closed, lamp on, item in place, camera set up, then I take at least 10 shots I try a few different positions and a few different angles. Then I end up with photos that end up like this....

Next I go into my photo editing program (I use iPhoto), I crop the photo first....

Then I go to effects and click on Matte (the funny white boarder thingy) I do this because when I try to adjust the exposure I always get left with dodgy grey corners....

Then adjust the exposure till all the grey is gone

Then I add my logo as an overlay and this is what I get....

Now there are time when this dose not work for example it's very hard to do to any thing white or clear as they tend to disappear when you adjust the exposure but it can be done if you play around a bit.

I hope this has been of use to someone.

Have a fantastic day x