Fancy Colored Diamond Collection

[kenny]

BTW I've discovered teathering.
Some DSLR bodies have Live View and a video output jack.
You just run a HDMI cable from the camera to a TV set, an HD TV will have the highest resolution.

It is SOOOOO much easier to compose and focus when looking at a large screen than looking into the viewfinder or at the little 3" LCD screen on the camera.

Also the Manfrotto 410 tripod head has 3 knobs, one for each axis, to move the camera.
They each have a coarse and fine control.

At the highest magnifications this is a god-send for moving the camera just a tiny bit in any direction.
I was using a Gitzo ball head before and tiny adjustments were nearly impossible.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/124665-REG/Manfrotto_410_410_Junior_Geared_Head.html

 

[DiamondColors]

Hi Kenny

Thanks for the tips.
You are welcome to browse the website. I will be happy to hear your thoughts about my photos.
I am trying to find the balance between showing the actual diamond looks (and inclusions - if exist) and its beauty (color and sparkle).
It is hard to get the pictures you show here (if someone has a doubt).
My technique is different than most websites in terms of how i hold the diamonds in order to receive as much light as possible.

Thanks again
Dan

 

[chrono]

Kenny,
Your photography techniques are more science than art! Your passion certainly shows through.

 

[c langston]

Kenny you da man!

How on earth have I missed this thread until now? Now I have another place to tuck away for fancy color diamond inspiration. Yes, I'm also a Leibish & Co. visual addict with drool on my keyboard to prove it. Do you do requests (Kind of got the feeling that you do from your previous posts)? You see I have this problem among the many color diamonds that I own and love the one that gives me the worst Dickens of a time to convey to others the range of changes (visually or verbally) in my 1.0 ct Chameleon. Some days its just not a pretty color at all, then "BAM" it goes a lemon/lime color, or a peachy/amber or an obnoxious school bus yellow.

You have the skills, you have the creativity, I'm pretty good a begging... so I will add a sincere "Pretty Please!"

Can you show the world how an ugly duckling Chameleon can dazzle and delight if they have the patience to spend time with it? At this time I have 1 Blue Marquise cut, 2 Green Round cut, 2 small Pink Round cut, a few assorted M-O diamonds but my all time favorite is my Chameleon it's never-ever boring.

c

 

[kenny]

Kenny you da man!

How on earth have I missed this thread until now? Now I have another place to tuck away for fancy color diamond inspiration. Yes, I'm also a Leibish & Co. visual addict with drool on my keyboard to prove it. Do you do requests (Kind of got the feeling that you do from your previous posts)? You see I have this problem among the many color diamonds that I own and love the one that gives me the worst Dickens of a time to convey to others the range of changes (visually or verbally) in my 1.0 ct Chameleon. Some days its just not a pretty color at all, then "BAM" it goes a lemon/lime color, or a peachy/amber or an obnoxious school bus yellow.

You have the skills, you have the creativity, I'm pretty good a begging... so I will add a sincere "Pretty Please!"

Can you show the world how an ugly duckling Chameleon can dazzle and delight if they have the patience to spend time with it? At this time I have 1 Blue Marquise cut, 2 Green Round cut, 2 small Pink Round cut, a few assorted M-O diamonds but my all time favorite is my Chameleon it's never-ever boring.

c

Thank you C.
I'm not sure what you mean by, doing requests.
If you are asking whether I am a professional photographer who takes in work the answer, at least at this time, is no.
I am not in the trade so I am free to post on PS as a civilian.

If you mean requesting some advice I have not yet photographed a color-change diamond.
But all the standard advice must stand about putting it into a white light box to eliminate everything in the room from being picked up by the diamond.
Some research on Google or experimentation will tell you how fast it changes color when brought in from darkness, how long it must remain in darkness, and how much you must heat it up or cool it down to change the color.

I do not know whether these methods are safe but some ideas for temperature change are putting it in a refrigerator, or freezer, heating with a hair dryer, or to get it even hotter try one of those heat guns for removing paint.
But be careful, it gets VERY hot.

Again I have no idea about the safety of these approaches so if you try them it is at your own risk.
In particular the rate of temp change may put the diamond material at risk.
IOW, it seems reasonable to me that a slower change in temp is safer for the diamond than a sudden dramatic change in temp.
I'd hate for you to take it out of the dark freezer, take a pic, then put a heat gun on it because you were in a hurry.
Patience may pay off here.

I'd also experiment with what temperature change does to the hue vs what light/darkness does to the hue.
Do these two things cause the same color range or different?

BTW I saw an old, but now closed, thread that you started regarding establishing value on and FCD collection.
IMHO a GIA report is the best document for any FCD, and if I were you I'd get a GIA report on every FCD you own.
Then you are as sure as possible what you have; how can you assign a value unless you are sure of what you have?
As a collector I trust a GIA report over that of any other lab or any appraisal.
You can call GIA yourself and arrange this; you do not have to go through any jewelry professional.
If you expect the values may be very high you and are nervous about shipping your collection you can hand deliver them to GIA's lab in either New York or Carlsbad California and make a vacation out of it.

 

[kenny]

Kenny,
Your photography techniques are more science than art! Your passion certainly shows through.

Thanks, I've always surfed the wave were art and science meet.

 

[kenny]

Hi Kenny

Thanks for the tips.
You are welcome to browse the website. I will be happy to hear your thoughts about my photos.
I am trying to find the balance between showing the actual diamond looks (and inclusions - if exist) and its beauty (color and sparkle).
It is hard to get the pictures you show here (if someone has a doubt).
My technique is different than most websites in terms of how i hold the diamonds in order to receive as much light as possible.

Thanks again
Dan

Thanks Dan.
You really said a mouthful here, "trying to find the balance between showing the actual diamond looks (and inclusions - if exist) and its beauty (color and sparkle)."

Diamonds can look SO different depending on how you light them; it's a real challenge arriving at what you feel is the right look.
Plus as a vendor you have less freedom than I do.
I think vendors like to settle on their trademark look and stick to it.

Your pictures look great.
Kudos to you.

Since you asked for my thoughts there's one minor thing that thing I might change.
When holding the diamonds as in the below pics some of the resulting shadows look rather unattractive IMHO.

Of course this is purely subjective, and in aesthetics there is no right or wrong.
I'm just conveying my gut feeling, which is worth about two cents.

 

[isaku5]

Beautiful diamonds and great pictures - especially the pink pear!

 

[DiamondColors]

Hi Kenny

Thank you for replying.

By holding the diamonds this way, the thing i earn the most is - entering light.
Since most direct light enters the diamond and not reflect from the sides - it enables the diamond to have the sparkle and color on one hand and the actual look as i mentioned.

One more question if i may - Do you shoot the pics in RAW mode? and then re-size it on Photoshop?

Thank You
Dan

 

[DiamondColors]

Thank you very much isaku5

 

[DiamondColors]

By the way - This is how i photograph the diamonds.

 

[kenny]

Do you shoot the pics in RAW mode? and then re-size it on Photoshop?

Dan, cool lighting set up!

I shoot in RAW 14-bit for the highest resolution.
What I do next depends on where the image is going.
If I'm sending it to someone who can open the RAW image I'll send it to them RAW using one of those services like wetransfer.com since the file it too large for most email systems.

I have a Mac and use iPhoto, not Photoshop.
If the pic is for posting on Pricescope I've found if I save it as a JPEG and upload it to PS the color gets washed out somehow.

The solution that works best for me is to do a screen capture on my iMac:
Press 3 keys, SHIFT COMMAND and 4.
Position cursor over one corner, click and drag to the other corner, and let go.
This creates a PNG file and places it on my desktop.
Then I check the file size of the file.
If it's over 2 MB I repeat the process with a smaller iPhoto window.
The largest file size PS allows us to upload is 2 MB so I try to take advantage of that and get my files between 1.9 and 2.0 MB.

BTW, when you say "re-size" you could be referring to one of three things:
1. The file size in MB.
2. How large the image appears on screen.
3. How tightly I crop in after the picture has been taken using iPhoto or Photoshop.

My current camera has a 16.2 MP sensor, yet after post processing some RAW files can be 26 MB or more.
Cropping after the pic is taken is inferior to enlarging the image BEFORE the image gets into the camera because you are not using all the pixels you paid for.
I'll post several pics proving this next.

Macro means a 1:1 reproduction ratio on the camera's sensor.
So if you are taking a picture of a penny a true macro lens can produce an image on the sensor that is exactly the size of a penny.
I believe your Canon camera has a sensor size of 22.3mm x 14.9mm, and you are using a 100 mm f2.8 macro lens.

That means if you take a picture of a round diamond with a diameter of 14.9 mm, with the diamond as close as your lens can focus, it will fill up the frame and use as many pixels as possible. A good thing!
But a round diamond with a 14.9mm diameter would be about 11 carats.
I don't think you are selling many 11 carat FCDs.

A 1:1 macro lens is fine for 11 carat diamonds or flowers or coins but 1:1 is not enough magnification for even a 5 carat diamond to fill up the screen.
This means you have to crop in after the pics taken. (This can be death to sharpness and resolution. )
If your camera has a 18 MP sensor you may be only using 1 MP when shooting a 0.15 ct diamond and blowing it up (cropping) in post.

IMHO to get the resolution your camera body is capable of when shooting 0.14 ct diamonds a fine true macro lens is not enough.
It can only get you to 1:1.
You must get equipment that enlarges the image BEFORE it gets into the camera.

Teleconverters and screw on magnifiers DO magnify, but they lower the image quality you paid big bucks for in a fine macro lens so I won't use them.
The best results are achieved with attachments that simply move the lens away from the camera body.
These are extension rings and bellows and neither have any glass in them.

 

[kenny]

I'm going to post 7 pics I took demonstrating what bellows and extension rings can do.
All 7 are full frame.
That means I did NOT crop in, or zoom in, using software after the pic was taken.
What you see in each of the first 7 pics is exactly what the camera saw.
(Then I'll post two more that are cropped in versions of the first one.)

The name of each pic describes what equipment was used.
For the record all pics were taken at f8, since mid aperture is generally the sharpest aperture of any lens.
The focus point was the laser inscription on the girdle so don't judge the focus of the rest of the diamond.
The first pic is just the 105mm macro lens alone.
Notice how tiny the 0.26 ct round diamond is in the first pic, but how it seems to grow in subsequent pics.

 

[kenny]

Next is using no bellows, but using a reversed 24mm 30 year old manual focus wide angle Nikkor lens I bought for $130 online, and a $40 reversing ring.

 

[kenny]

Lastly, I'll once again post the original pic, the one taken with only the Nikkor 105mmf2.8 macro lens on the Nikon D7000 camera body.

Many people are shocked that a High end Nikon camera with a Nikkor macro lens is this useless for diamonds.



The next two pics are the pic above, but after cropping in using software, some people say zooming in.
You can see how the resolution suffers because these two pics probably use less than 5% of the camera's pixels.

This demonstrates how important it is to use extension rings and bellows to enlarge the image BEFORE it gets into the camera, unless you are shooting the Hope Diamond.

 

[Justin_Cutter]

Wow, this is the first I have seen this thread! Kenny you are truly an artist! I absolutely love your collection and photography thank you so much for sharing. I have learned a lot
~Justin

 

[kenny]

Thanks Justin.
Posts like yours make it worth all the time and effort.

 

[DiamondColors]

Dear Kenny - Thank you very very much for all this information - I do not know what you do in life, but the passion that you have for diamonds photography is amazing.

I want to consult you (if i may) in regards to these two products:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macro-Extension-Tube-Canon-Rebel-XTi-XSi-XS-T1i-T2i-T3I-600D-60D-/330730763420#vi-content
http://fotodiox-inc.amazonwebstore.com/Fotodiox-Macro-Bellows-for-Canon-EOS/M/B003EDTG8W.htm

I have a Canon EOS Rebel T1I and Canon macro lens 100 mm

Again, thanks a lot
Dan

 

[minousbijoux]

Dan:

I'm just a casual observer here but a huge admirer of Kenny's obvious gifts. There is no photography that I have seen recently that comes close to Kenny's. Absolutely Kenny would, if he so chose, make it as a professional photographer where art and jewelry/gemstones meet. In fact he would without a doubt be in the highest echelon.

I would suggest that when you ask him for his thoughts on your photos, you take his comments seriously as otherwise it comes across as you just getting free publicity for your site. In fact, I agree with him completely and think your shadows do look rather umm, unprofessional. I would want to buy just about every diamond I have seen that Kenny has photographed. With all due respect, I can't say the same about yours. Sorry if it comes off as harsh. One of my pet peeves is people who appear open to advice and ask for it, but then provide reasons why they can't change...

And you, Kenny, Rock On!

 

[kenny]

Thanks Min; your check's in the mail.

Dan, yes those two products will do the job, but maybe not.
Neither are made by Canon, which is why they are so inexpensive.
Canon makes extension rings, but not bellows.

I chose to pay the big bucks to buy the real Nikon gadgets even when plastic ones are a tenth of the price.
All of my 30 year old Nikon gear still works flawlessly, and IMHO it's a better value in the long run.

Do be careful about compatibility.
I'm pretty fluent in the language of Nikon, but don't speak Canon.
Over the years these two fine competitors have upgraded and changed many things which can sometimes result in a gadget not working with whichever body or lens you have.
Sometimes there are work-arounds, sometimes not so buy from a vendor with a good return policy.
I like B&H Photo, Adorama and KEH, the latter especially for used gear.

I noticed the extension rings in your link DO have contacts so the lens and body can communicate; I hope they are the right version, as they claim, if Canon even had various versions over the years. (I don't speak Canon.)
Those contacts are essential because your lens does not have an aperture ring you can rotate with your fingers.
The aperture is decided by the camera body and an electrical signal is sent to the lens where an internal motor rotates the aperture to the proper f-stop.
If you are not going to buy Canon, I'd at least google up reviews of all of the third party makers of extension rings for Canon and buy the best brand, which will still be much cheaper than real Canon gear.

That bellows you linked to will not have these contacts so your fine modern real Canon macro lens will just sit there stupid, dark and useless at f32.
That is precisely why I use an old macro lens with an actual aperture ring when I use my bellows.
BTW I compose at f2.8 for the brightness and critical focus, then stop down to f8 or f11 to take the pic.
If you go to f16, f22 or f32 you do get deeper depth of field, but diffraction starts to make the entire image blurry.

I'm also suspicious of that bellows for a couple reasons.
For one thing, it's too inexpensive, too good to be true.
A German Novoflex bellows for Canon is a thousand bucks.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/197081-REG/Novoflex_BALCAN_AF_Auto_Bellows_for_Canon.html

Next the bellows in your link appears to be lacking a very important function.
After deciding on the amount of extension you want, I see no rack and pinion mechanism with a focusing knob on the bottom to move the entire system forward and back to focus.
This is one of the beauties of using a bellows.

Nikon no longer makes them but you can find two models of their bellows for around $300 used.
I have owned both and prefer the PB-4 because it has tilt and shift movements to allow your plane of focus to follow your subject when it is a collection of diamonds.

I'd buy it if from www.keh.com because they are reliable in how they test and rate used gear.
eBay is too risky IMHO.

PB-4 ... http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Bellows/1/sku-NK190102016980?r=FE

PB-6 ... http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Bellows/1/sku-NK190074999990?r=FE

If you bought one of these Nikon bellows you'd need Canon to Nikon adaptors, but STILL, your lens has no aperture ring so you'd need to buy an old macro lens with one.
This lens is only $184 but call KEH and ask them about the condition since it's not in excellent condition.
Keep in mind that minor scratches on the front of the lens are much less serious than the same scratches on the rear surface.
KEH will buy your Canon 100mm macro lens.

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK06010200791N?r=FE

Frankly, if you have the funds I'd just spring for that Novoflex bellows and keep your fine macro lens.
It says it has the electrical contacts so you can focus critically with the lens wide open @ f2.8 and it transfers the electrical signal from the body to your lens to stop down when you shoot the pic.
This way you can use your existing fine Canon macro lens which has all the modern coatings and may be more sharp than the old Nikon lens.
If you bought the bellows you would not need those adaptor rings.

Also my second highest magnification pic above, reposted below, didn't use a bellows or macro lens at all.
Just an old $130 24mm lens reversed with a a $40 reversing ring and one extension ring.
Again this 0.26 ct round almost fills up the entire frame, there was no cropping done to this pic.
Focus was intentionally on the girdle inscription so disregard the rest of the diamond being that out of focus

While this pic is impressively sharp and magnified, a reversed wide angle lens has no flexibility whatsoever.
You can't back away to get more in the pic and just refocus; it works only at one distance, and you should leave the focus ring at infinity.
(You could also buy other old used lenses cheaply like a 50mm to get more into the pic.)
My point is reversed lenses are NOT a substitute for the flexibility of a bellows, but can get higher magnification.

 

[c langston]

Kenny my request was that "you" do a photo study on chameleons. For those who have seen my laughable photography, the camera that I use has a rubber band around it from all the times I have dropped it. Even if I purchased a quality camera, my skills are less than stellar (way less). As far as getting a Chameleon to perform on que, it's not that difficult at least with this stone it's not. A cold morning, being put in a dark safe/dresser box, driving in the car full FL sun is quite enough to make it change. No real need for extreme temp or light variations, the changes are apparent with regular daily wear and a little patience. I think that is part of the 'magic' to wake up in the morning to see what kind of/color day it will be.
I'm afraid a new camera purchase is not in the cards anytime soon, my other hobby/habit/addicition (gems and Koi) don't leave me much wiggle room for a photography hobby.

c

 

[kenny]

C, chameleons sound fascinating.
Perhaps there is one in my future.
If so, I'll have fun experimenting and trying to document it's changing personality.

 

[c langston]

Ooooo Kenny I sure hope you find one to add to your collection, I'll just keep reading your posts and wait to be surprised. If you watch the Leibish & Co. site, watch the stones that tend to be a shade of yellow as their norm/base color (this is what mine is). The color range seems to be wider on these stones. Every now and then I will see one on the Leibish site that has the full range of (Lemon/Lime, Olive, Olive/gray, Honey/peach/amber, School bus yellow) color *grin* THOSE are the stones that make me drool.


c

 

[DiamondColors]

Kenny

Thank you again for all the assistance - it seems that i need to do my "homework" now

Min - You are so wrong about my intentions - My final aim is to improve my photography and be able to bring the full experience of fancy color diamonds to my customers. In this forum i am able to find somebody (Kenny) that photograph exactly what i do. I can go to photography forums, but why not here?
I promise you that a good SEO can bring more customers than posting here - plus i didn't mention, linked or shown any photograph from my website.

Thanks again Kenny - and if you are offended from me asking questions here and see them as advertising route i will stop or if you wish we can do it privately, but i think more fans can enjoy the discussion.

Dan

 

[BWise]

This is seriously jewelry **** at its best.

STUNNING!

 

[kenny]

Thank you, Yingh.
Very kind of you.

 

[kenny]

Sphenequeen asked for hand shots for perspective so I hope these two will do.
Sorry it took so long; I had to retrieve them from my bank's safe deposit box.

The round white new addition is a 0.22 carat, D IF ideal cut, AGS 0, HCA = 1.0 with a perfect IS image.
It's nice to have a white diamond in an FCD collection for a reference though IRL it really shows how FCDs are NOT cut for ideal light performance.
Surprisingly, my green OEC round is my best-light-performing FCD.
It really gives the white AGS 0 a run for the money - well actually not for the money - since the white D IF was virtually free compared to the green.
I hope the watermarks are not too annoying, but I've found businesses stealing my pics.

Randomly placed in a tray of salt.



Here they are in the palm of my hand.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get 12 diamond tables to all face the camera when the diamonds are in the curved crease of your palm?
Any palm readers here?

I originally tried to place them in a line on the back of my hand between two fingers but that was hopeless since they're so tiny.
They kept falling sideways and up side down.

 

[athenaworth]

I'm trying to find the words to express how I'm feeling right now but all I can come up with is YUM

 

[sphenequeen]

Kenny,

First let me say thank you for taking the time to get these amazing stones out of your safety deposit box... I appreciate the trouble! Also -great shots! I have to say that your collection is by far my favorite to follow and I am sure other people feel the same.

I have asked advice on this forum on several different gemstones to buy but my heart keeps going back to FCDs. I frequent the Leibish site to see what's new but never know what something so tiny would look like on a hand. I have a budget of about 6k and want so badly to get a FCD but don't know what direction to go in. I love your EC blue, your green (of course) and it looks like you have a neon colored one as well (hell, they ate all amazing). I know that color is such a personal thing, but if that was all YOU could spend, what would you get? Obviously a green like yours is out of the question... Your advice is much appreciated! I think you have a great eye and trust your taste.

 

[kenny]

You're welcome and thanks.

Personally I'd get a nice Argyle pink in an emerald cut, with an Argyle inscription and report while you can.
Last I heard the mine is expected to close 2018.
I know we aren't supposed to think of gems as investments, unless you're buying Liz Taylor boulders, but I can't help but think supply and demand will make me happy I grabbed a pink when I could.
Since it won't be large the emerald cut's large facets will at least give the sparkle decent impact.
You can drop down from Intense to Fancy to get more size.

This 0.16 Fancy Intense Purplish Pink has a GIA AND an Argyle report.
I'd have Bruce Boone set it east west to get more presence.
A tension setting will really maximize the visibility of the FCD, and a titanium setting will be around
$500, not thousands like gold or platinum.

http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/8390.htm



Leibish has a few other nice pink or purplish pink Emerald Cuts near your price range.

I'd certainly put it in a titanium tension setting, maybe like this one.
http://www.boonerings.com/stone-settings/accentswithprincess.htm


Another approach is to use Leibish's Advanced Search function in the upper right corner.
Select all colors and the shapes you like but limit the price range to your budget.
You may find a large Yellow, Champagne or Brownish Pink you like.
I love many of the brownish orange diamonds and you can probably get near a full carat.
Here is a beautiful 0.91 ct Brownish Yellowish Orange with money to spare for the setting.
I see it did not get a clarity grade from GIA or Leibish so check whether it is suitable for a tension setting.



http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/6050.htm



You know, I really think the key to enjoying FCDs is just giving up the size thing.