Photographing my pearls

[icy_jade]

Cyndayco: Brilliant! Easy and glam. Face palm for not thinking of that. Thanks! So cool. Now we can all start creating glam shots at home.

 

[icy_jade]

A quick recap for easy reference...

1. Using a light box makes a huge difference.
2. Artistic composition and props can make your pearls look better. Use a bowl for perfectly circular (and glamorous) displays!
3. Direction of light - lighting from the side is better than from the back (of the photographer).
4. Don't wear red (colorful) tops when photographing pearls.
5. Getting the white balance right is really important to get accurate colors. Using gray colored paper as background is an easy substitute for amateur photographers.
6. Using a smaller necklace stand makes the necklace look bigger (from another thread).

 

[cyndayco]

I forgot to mention that if you're working with a long necklace, use the mouth of the bowl to shape the large loop, and the foot of the bowl for the small loop.



But, icy_jade, no need to update your recap for this extra bit.

 

[pkinnew]

cyndaco & icy jade - Thanks for the great ideas!

 

[cmd2014]

So I've been trying to get indirect light neck shots of my pearls since everyone else's look so pretty (and also because I was starting to get jealous thinking that they were direct light shots, and then thinking that I had picked the clunker strands, and then I finally realized what was going on).

So, I mocked up my own light box with my window blind and a piece of paper. What a difference it makes! Also, how can we get them to look like this IRL?!?

Here are my direct light shots:





And my sad attempts at indirect light shots:

 

[cmd2014]

And here are my "light box" shots:

 

[cmd2014]

With some close ups:

 

[cmd2014]

Honestly, it's almost like photoshopping. They never look like this IRL.

It would be great if people could give direct light as well as indirect light shots (maybe in the other thread on glamour shots vs real life shots) so that we can get a more realistic view of the strands. Seriously, I was thinking that everyone else's strands had such cool colour variation and depth and mine seemed a bit flat and sad in comparison....and now I know why!