Working with digital images

[NicRic]

   Hi Iam a complete newbie to the world of picture taking .I purchased a Minolta Z10 camera which does have the Macro setting and reveiws of the camera said it had amazing Macro abilities ,up to .04cm away or aprx 1/2 inch ! I need to take close up pictures of jewelry to sell on the internet and send pictures via internet . I have been a PC hobbiest for 5 years now and yet I never did alot with pictures or picture editing .The camers came with a aplication called Dimage (spell check) and I also have a freeware app called Ifran Veiw and a version of Adobe Photo shop that came bundled with my scanner. I was really hoping I would get pictures right off the camera with it set to auto and the Marco setting ingaged that would be good enough ,and not need to be edited ? Iam sure this 3.2 megapixel camera has the capabilities and all the reveiws gave it a 4 1/2 star rating out of a possible five .Iam  working on a budget and the price was very good ,and it takes really nice pictures ,I just dont know how to set it  ,for close up pictures of jewelry ,any and all recomendations greatly appreciated and Hi to all:                                   Newbie NicRic

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi NicRic,

Welcome to the Q&A Board.

You will have to edit your images a bit; most digital images need to be reduced in size, sharpened and perhaps cropped.

The first thing you really will need is a tripod. I don't know if you live in the U.S. but I bought a lightweight tripod for less than $20 at Walmart (MX 1000) and it is perfect for most of my needs. I also have a mini-tripod that I bought through Amazon (QSX Mini Pro Plus).  If you buy a mini-tripod to take photos of jewelry, make sure it is a sturdy one and that you can tilt and turn it.

I am not a professional photographer, so I can't offer you any pro techniques for photographing jewelry. But I have taken some shots of jewerly for a client, who was very happy with the results. You can see some of them here:

http://bykari.com/gallery/index.htm


What I did was set up a little bench under a porch when the lighting was bright. Because the jewelry was not in direct sunlight, but ambient outside light, there were no harsh shadows. I set my digital camera on a tripod and moved it close to the subject, set it to macro mode and used the self-timer to trigger the shutter-release button.

I used a light colored background. If I remember correctly, I used white paper. I did resize, crop and sharpen each image. For a few images I used the clone tool to eliminate any unwanted spots or creases which showed in the background.

Like I said, this isn't the way pros would go about it. They use special lighting, have special boxes in which to place the jewelry, etc. I just don't have enough need to spend money for that type of equipment.

Hope this helps a little bit. If you have additional questions, please let me know.

[ShutterbugGail]

Almost forgot.

We have a very helpful tutorial about Macro photography. It's geared to digital camera users and offers some very useful suggestions.

http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/camera-techniques/macro-photography.htm

[Nick]

   Thank you very much for your reply to my post. The information you provided will be of great help . I will let you know how things go ! Again Thank You , its greatly appreciated !!
      Sincerely Nick

[ShutterbugGail]

You're very welcome Nick.

JUst remember that when you use the self-timer, you still have to depress the shutter-release button in two steps: first, halfway down to lock focus and exposure; then fully depress it to get the self-timer working. Move your hands carefully away from the camera so you don't move the camera, then let the self-timer do it's thing.

[gaby_tu]

For photographing jewelry, I use the Cloud Dome set-up.  I  attach my camera (a Canon Powershot G5), to the bracket which came with the Dome.  Place my jewelry underneath the dome and zoom in with my camera set on Macro.  For lights I use an Ott light, or sometimes I use a daylight flourescent light and a gooseneck lamp.   Hope this information helps.  Gaby Tu.

[ShutterbugGail]

Excellent info gaby_tu. Here's a link for those unfamiliar with the cloud dome:

http://www.clouddome.com/

Hmmm, I gave my Ott light to my daughter but after reading your post, I think I may ask for it back.