How to take good photos of your diamonds.

[Riesz]

What's the best way to photograph fire/sparkle on a diamond?

 

[bunnycat]

What's the best way to photograph fire/sparkle on a diamond?

There's a few different ways and you just have to work at it til one works for you. One thing I do is focus the camera and then tilt the ring until I can hold a little fire in the shot then photograph it. Late afternoon sun is good when it's coming in at an angle, though I can do full sun too if I face away from the sun. Sunlight filtering through curtains or leaves can also work. The earring pic was done with sun filtering through leaves and the ring one was done in full noon sun with me facing away from the sun.

 

[oaktree]

i tried to contrast it with a darker background and facing the light. one of the result is this
(size 4.25, 0.42 ctw, super ideal cut, D color, IF clarity)

 

[becpics]

I'm a professional wedding photographer and photographing couple bling in a big part of my job. Thought is share a few recent shots.
My tip is to all of you is to find and interesting background that compliments the rings. Sometimes the most unusual spot can result in amazing shots. Make depth of field your friend too

 

[Dreamer_D]

These are my tricks for taking ultra close pics of diamonds that show the faceting.

First, natural light only. Take your photos in a window, facing the window, hold your hand against the window to block the light so that the light must bounce off you to reach the stone. Such indirect lighting lights up the stone and makes the facets pop. Also, whatever you wear will reflect in the stone. So pick a nice color!

Here is a more tricky method for loose stones.

Find a big window and sit near the sill facing the window. Then put the diamond in a clawed diamond holder, the type like a pen. Then you crouch down by the sill and put your left elbow on the sill for balance and stability. In your left hand you hold the diamond holder with your pinky and ring finger and thumb, grasping it near the diamond so the stone is near your palm. Diamond facing you of course. Then cup your loose pointer and middle finger so the diamond is in the shadow of your palm-- the light then *only* reaches the stone indirectly by reflecting off you. Creates pastels and wild lovely facets. Then use macro mode to take shots. Hold the camera really close to the stone. You can balance a finger from the camera hand on the hand cupping the diamond for extra stability when taking macro pics.

Once you download your photos ALWAYS crop all images so that only the diamond is framed in the shot -- for facet patterning shots I mean. Voila.

FIRE: back to the sun! Hold your hand up and look in the viewer until you see the flash of color then CLICK.

These were all taken using the above tips.

 

[minousbijoux]

Dreamer: your pointers are awesome and I will definitely try it with colored stones as well.

 

[OReilly]

Outstanding thread. I've learned alot. I am upgrading my equipment too. My wife's Christmas present to me. Shes such a sweetheart!...

 

[rozerwangs]

Grate..thank you for advice....

 

[Paxonator]

Thought I would share my approach. I used some high end gear but similar results can be obtained from a any dslr with a kit lens and a cheap 50mm prime lens.

I took mine on overcast days outside in the backyard as you don't get the hot spots you would in the sun. I used a tripod and a remote shutter release (little remote attached to the camera with a cable). I just manually moved the camera closer or further away to get focus. Here's the tricky part if you don't have a macro lens. Lets say you had a 55-250mm kit lens or anything similar. You would extend it to 250mm then hold the 50mm lens backwards in front of the other lens (so the front elements are facing each other). This will get you a super close up. but you will have to manually move the camera forward and backward to obtain focus. If you're comfortable you can even just use some wide tape and tape the 50mm to the end of the other lens so you don't have to hold it.

Here's the results I got with my 5d and specialized macro lens.

 

[artdecolover71]

oh wow paxonator! those are some of the most amazing diamond ring photos I have seen! it shows how good you are at your job!

 

[Paxonator]

oh wow paxonator! those are some of the most amazing diamond ring photos I have seen! it shows how good you are at your job!

Thanks! I had fun taking the photos. Photography is actually just a hobby for myself. The majority of my photos are wildlife which is tough to make a living with.

 

[LindaHogan]

Shelly, these tips are very handy. Thanks for the advice. Will try them out to see results.

 

[pbr]

I always have trouble with focus be it my cell phone camera, digital or film.
This is an excellent guide!
You can tell this guide is based on lots of trial and error and your own personal experience rather than internet research.
Thanks a lot!

 

[Xzuix]

Thanks for the tips. These are my amateur shots.

 

[laurenk]

A beautiful winter's day in Australia! Playing with sunlight and shade on my iPhone!

 

[makirah]

I used my Samsung S5 phone to take a picture of my ring! Just change the ISO settingg to 100 or 200 to show off the fire some sparkle that you see with naked eye. Most of the time, the camera can't capture what you are seeing. But somehow doing this with the iso setting will show off a bit of the sparkle!

 

[makirah]

 

[ystarr455]

I'm exited to use the paper trick! It looks awesome, and I've been breaking my head for over two weeks trying to figure out how to post better pictures of my jewelry.

Anyways, I learned this little trick not too long ago... although I'm a noob at this, but I figured it might help some people that have fancier cameras and don't know how to use them like me

 

[KobiD]

Had a little play with the camera myself..

 

[DiamondsImporter]

Read this posting, been shooting in a light box, im going to try the white tube.

heres my pics

 

[chikoo]

Tried this.

Put ring on white paper, facing the light source (in this case, a window).

 

[chikoo]

This is gorgeous. how did you do it?

 

[ailsajohn]

mobile image will never be professional quality, but there are a few tricks to make your shots look almost as crisp. Avoid the zoom on your camera — physically moving your phone will make a less pixel rated photo. in case you’re using an iPhone, set up your shot and then tap the screen to focus the lens. Avoid shaky shots by pushing the buttons on your earbuds to snap a image instead of tapping your screen!

 

[KGKen]

Here is the engagement ring that I gave to my fiance last year.
This was taken at the beach with a regular Nikon D3100 with a lens that came with the bundle (Nothing expensive).
I guess the light in Hawaii did the magic to bring out the beauty in the diamond.

 

[KGKen]

You would extend it to 250mm then hold the 50mm lens backwards in front of the other lens (so the front elements are facing each other).

Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.
I just have one question about it if you have time to answer for me.
I currently have 35mm and 50mm (Have to find this one..) and tried it like you said.



I hope this is what you meant, if not I feel very foolish to be even posting this up.
I could get something with the 35mm but very dark and the picture is concentrated in the middle of the finder like a ball.
Am I doing something wrong or there is some other way of doing this?

Hope to hear from you.

 

[Paxonator]

You would extend it to 250mm then hold the 50mm lens backwards in front of the other lens (so the front elements are facing each other).

Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.
I just have one question about it if you have time to answer for me.
I currently have 35mm and 50mm (Have to find this one..) and tried it like you said.



I hope this is what you meant, if not I feel very foolish to be even posting this up.
I could get something with the 35mm but very dark and the picture is concentrated in the middle of the finder like a ball.
Am I doing something wrong or there is some other way of doing this?

Hope to hear from you.

Yes, that's how you do it. Although the 18-55mm lens may be a little short. I believe you get more magnification using a 250-300mm lens. Then you would move the camera closer or further away to get things in focus. I not sure why you are getting that ball affect though. I haven't tried this technique in a while now but I'll have to try it again and see what's going on in your case.

 

[Wolfrott]

Re:

I tried Setp 7: Using Magnification

I didn''t have a microscope or a magnifying glass, but I had my loupe so I used it. Here''s how the picture of my diamond came out.

Nice! I have a canon powershot somethingsomething, takes 100x magnification and stuff, a professional horse show / wedding photographer friend recommended it, I've got to try the loupe trick though too!

 

[Akalahab]

Finally read this and tried with my cell phone!

 

[Mamie Jennings]

Thanks for the advice!! Every time I google, feel like I just waste my ring and my camera... will try!

 

[Maria Lee]

I never tried to make nice diamond photos but I regularly make photos from my thimble collection. What I found out is that light is the most important factor and if you are not familiar with photography, I would rather use an iphone instead of a professional camera. It's easier and photos are great.