[edl]

I'm a macro newbie, and I'm having some problems photographing jewelery. My setup is the following:

Basic light tent, lights on each side. White gobos at the front.

My problem: How do I eliminate the black reflection caused by the lens and open space between the gobos? Should I place a light above the camera shooting into the space between the gobos? Or should I be shooting my macros with a lot of ambient light in the room?

I used the Tamron 70-300 set at 180mm stopped down to take these shots. I don't have a dedicated macro lens yet, but I thought that increasing the working distance would minimize the reflection of the lens. That's essentially what I remember from reading the chapter on metal in "Light: Science and Magic" a few years ago.

Here's a photo of my setup, and of the black reflection that I'm talking about.

Hopefully the experts on this forum can chime in with some suggestions!

Attached Images

   

[JCSullivan]

That is the same problem I am facing when I try to shoot glass/goblets.

Have a look here for possible ideas - TableTop Studio - Product Photography Step-by-Step How to

EDIT
Wonder how a circular polariser filter would work!!!!

[edl]

Thanks for the link. Looks like there's lots of good information over there.

I'll try a polarizer, completely forgot about that!

[Geyst]

My tips.

- close your lighttent on the front side also, make a hole just big enough for your lens.

- Using non reflectif black paper.

- make sure you camera is not lit, not by the lamps but also not by other like the room light.

- check your metering, your black is just not black enough. Try a manuel setting and do your metering by trial and error.

Guido

[edl]

Thanks for the tips Geyst - lots of good ideas here!

I did cover the front with white gobos pretty well, but I'll try making a cutout to close off that last bit.

I should clarify, I had this ring sitting on a piece of glass for deliberate reflection. I'll try getting a piece of black acrylic plastic as the glass didn't make the effect I was going for.

The camera wasn't lit, I was working in the room without any other lights on.

Exposure was off but this was one of the best examples to show off the black spot on the ring. I adjusted the setting properly on later shots.

Which brings up another question - what is the optimal aperture setting? I seemed to get best results around F16, is diffraction an issue here? I'm after DOF, but I think IQ was significantly worse at F22. Perhaps the worse IQ was due to the Tamron (which isn't a proper Macro lens).

Also, should I shrink my light tent down for jewelry? Would a smaller lightbox around 10-12" square would produce better results?

[Lowell Goudge]

have you tried a little post processing?

look at just playing a little with the contrast and brightness curve.

Basically I increased the threshold for pure black to take out the ripple of the background, and most of the strongest shine of the ring back onto the backgrouond, then increased the mid tones a little to make it pop

[edl]

Thanks Lowell, that looks real nice. I'll have to play with these a bit more for the next go-around.

I used to adjust curves a ton when I was using Raw Therapee, but since I got PS + ACR I don't use it so much anymore. I really should. Actually, I need to learn a lot more about PP in general!

[Lowell Goudge]

is this the look you were trying for?

I started seriously increasing the threshold on black levels for a project I am working on, shooting neon. given your background it seems appropriate to try it here also.

You might want to also set your contrast to hard, in camera, and it might help, but you need to be careful with this set up that the metering does not consider the black a grey. that could ruin your whole day

[edl]

is this the look you were trying for?

I started seriously increasing the threshold on black levels for a project I am working on, shooting neon. given your background it seems appropriate to try it here also.

You might want to also set your contrast to hard, in camera, and it might help, but you need to be careful with this set up that the metering does not consider the black a grey. that could ruin your whole day

Lowell,

Well, the increased contrast is definitely nice and something I should keep in mind for PP in the future.

I realized from re-reading this thread that I wasn't very clear in my first post, and should clarify. What you guys see as a reflection of the ring is intentional (the ring is sitting on a piece of glass). In the future I'm going to use black acrylic plastic as that makes a cleaner reflection.

Here's what I was asking about - if you look at the ring, there's two distinct black spots (at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock roughly) reflected from the metal. That's caused by the void between my white gobos where the camera is. Geyst recommended closing the front more, which I'll definitely try.

But would adding a third light source (like a ring flash) help eliminate these black reflections from the metal?

[TaoMaas]

But would adding a third light source (like a ring flash) help eliminate these black reflections from the metal?

No, I don't think a ring flash will help. All it'll do is add specular highlights that you may not want. About all you can do is to use another piece of diffusion material to cover the front of the light box and make a hole in it just big enough to poke your lens through. You still might end up with a black spot, but it ought to be easier to retouch it out.

[edl]

Thanks TaoMaas, I had a bad feeling a ring flash wouldn't help in this situation.

I think a polarizer might work, but it might also take a lot of shine out of the photo. I'll give it a try on the next go-around.

I'm also going to try using my Panasonic LX3 - it's smaller and has good macro, and I specifically purchased a silver one so it won't throw off dark reflections, except for the relatively small lens. Obviously IQ isn't as good but for lower quality website product shots it just might do the job.

[TaoMaas]

I think a polarizer might work, but it might also take a lot of shine out of the photo. I'll give it a try on the next go-around.

You're welcome. If I'm not mistaken, I don't think your polarizer will work with the lights you're using. Or rather, it CAN work, but first you'll have to polarize the light coming from your hot lights. I've never done it before, but I've read about it. Just remember that when you're dealing with reflective surfaces like jewelry or the chrome on cars, you're really lighting what will be reflected in those surfaces, not the surface itself. Good luck.

[Lowell Goudge]

I wonder if a top light might help?