Luna's Baublebilities

What a whirlwind summer!  We had a great time on our road trip and have been busy on the house since our return.  I haven't had time (or a clean photo table) to get photos of my threads, embroidery, beadwork or beady souvenirs since I got home.  BUT!  Yesterday, I got the studio sink clean and the next 4 hours might see the dye/photo table reclaimed.

I've been thinking about jewelry photography because I have to re-do all of mine this fall.  Plus I have lots of new beadwork to shoot.

It isn't easy stuff - the lighting is tricky, important shapes don't always fit into a little square frame right, it's hard to capture key beadwork details without losing sight of what the item actually IS, backgrounds compete with beaded texture.  gah.

I went searching on ArtFire this morning to find examples of beaded jewelry that have been well photographed.  The results are in this collection.  The Holidays are coming!  Buy Handmade!





. . . .

Ugh.  This was supposed to be a magnificent Peacock scarf.
Instead it is . . . something else.  Something else that is less than magnificent.

I don't know what happened.

Those dark blackish grey areas? Supposed to be deep, rich, warm brown.

The blue and purple are almost rich enough but there's very little definition and they just sort of . . . die as they merge with the brown.

It may be that I mixed too much ivory into my orchid dye - the transition point between the purple and brown.  But that doesn't explain why the brown migrated so little and the blue seems to dominate.  The Brown is supposed to dominate.  Sigh....

The overall effect was supposed to be more like this:

I will over-dye it tomorrow in a rich purple color and hope that will salvage it.

But using my new dye table was awesome.

There are still issues with lighting - in this case the halogen lights are very bright but also very hot. I'm a little concerned about how fast they may dry out silk painting projects - will I still get good salt effects?

I plan to find out tomorrow.

Here's my table with all of the tools moved off of it.  no - it's not glamorous but its a great height and length.  I don't have to dye on the floor anymore!


It is also not good yet for photographs.  I lit the area up and it looked good with my eye but once I got the photos on the computer it became obvious that I need some mode of diffusing the light and some other sources for front lighting. 





The halogens are great for back lighting but the ceiling lights paired with my little Ott light are just not quite bright enough to show colors well and I get lots of puddles of brightness surrounded by encroaching gloominess.

This one of a beaded necklace is O.K.









But the scarf photo is terrible.
















. . . .

Welcome to my first video Tutorial! I'm sure it will be a terrible disappointment! Molly and I are newbies at documenting technique. We'll practice again another day, but for now, here's what we've got.

We're making simple dangle earring using a couple of easy wire wrapping techniques. First, some photos. (If you really like tutorials, you might want to check out Contrariwise ramblings - she's got some really nice ones over there!)

This is what the finished earring will look like. It consists of a lucite briolette, a brass filigree bead cap, a 3mm swarovski crystal, some brass wire colored to match the antiqued finish on the bead cap and a brass lever back ear wire with a loop. You will wnat to cut your wire about 5 inches long if you are a beginner. Shorter lengths can get hard to hold onto and longer lengths get in your way.






These are the tools you will need - a pair of wire cutters, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers, all in jewelry making size.






Start by threading the wire onto the briolette, leaving one end of the wire long (about 2.5 to 3 inches) and one segment short - about 1.5-2 inches. Bend both ends snug up against the top edge of the biolette. Kink the longer end of the wire so that ithalf wraps along the top of the briolette and then continues straight on above the briolette.








Bend the short wire so that it crosses the long wire. Wrap the short end of the wire around the long end one or two times. Trim off the excess from the short wire.



















Slide the bead cap and the swarovski crystal onto the wire. Put a 45 degree angle in the wire about 2 or 3 mm abovethe swarovski crystal.
Holding the long wire with your round nose pliers at the edge of the 45 degree angle, loop the wire up over the pliers and then wrap it around itself until the wire is snug againstthe swarovski crystal and the crystal is snug against the bead cap.



















Trim off the excess wire. You can use the flat nose pliers to tidy up the end of your wrap.





Open the loop on the brass lever back earwires by twisting the loop open to the side. Never wrench the loop open by pulling it wide, that will stress the metal and will be hard to close neatly.





















And here's our attempt at video taping this process. It was a bit gloomy in the studio this afternoon and we're still learning how to use the video feature on the Dimage, but for those of you who like to see the steps and hear someone talk you through them, this may clarify a few things.

I promised a fellow Etsy seller that I would produce a short tutorial on how I photograph earrings for my Etsy shop this weekend. I'm a little behind in getting it done but here it is. This technique probably won't work for other jewelry items and some may not like the results but I am pleased with them and have gotten positive responses from people who have seen them.

First, you need to set up a space for photography. You need lots of light but you don't want to take photos outside because direct sun can be too harsh, causing too much contrast and dazzle. A light colored and/or well lit background is also essential as any item will get lost in a dark background. I set up a large piece of white or cream paper or poster-board on my studio table with a white or pale colored paper laying in front of it. My studio has 3 large windows but I also I use my swing arm lamp and my reading lamp for additional light that is positionable. This is the basic set up.

I like to have a colored or patterned background in some of my photos. I feel like having an interesting background for the initial photo draws a viewer's eye a little better. The trick is to make sure that the background does not overpower the earrings. I have a selection of specialty papers in patterns and textures that I experiment with as I'm photographing things. I've also tried fabric as a background but have found that it makes for a confusing image - are you shopping for fabric or for earrings? Patterned paper is more 2 dimensional and thus less confusing.

I like to photograph my earrings so that I have some photos with them hanging and some with them lying flat. This allows me to demonstrate the dangling or draping qualities of the earrings and the complete earring, including the ear hook design.


For a dangle station, I use a paintbrush and two fancy glass objects to suspend the brush between. I hang the earrings from the paintbrush and start photographing with several different backgrounds. (Do this when your three year old is asleep. When I took these photos, my little guy was in the studio helping mommy and every time he touched the table, the earrings began to swing - that's why these photos are a little fuzzy!) I shine one directional light on the earrings and one on the background. This eliminates shadows on the background. I set my camera on macro or super macro and get right in close to the earrings. This allows for incredible detail in the earrings and causes the background to soften a bit.

I try several different backgrounds. As you can see, the first background I chose was a bad match for these chalcedony earrings. They disappear against it because the colors are too similar. Plus, I forgot to turn on the reading lamp to shine on the background so I have harsh shadows behind the dangles.


The second background is better.






The dark green is perfect.


If you want to get a shot of both earrings, one in sharp focus and the other a bit softer either in the background or foreground, you need to set the camera at super macro and get as close to the earrings as possible with the hanging rod (paintbrush) angling away from you so that one earring is closer to you than its mate. Place the focus box on the earring you want to have in focus and take your photo.

Then I move on to photos of the earrings lying flat. I use directional lights for these as well, so that I can control where the shadows lie and what part of the jewelry to illuminate. I take at least one photo of the earrings on white or cream colored paper so that potential buyers can examine the product without any distractions. Throwing a quarter in there helps people gain a visual understanding of the size. I also like to photograph each pair on a pretty background. We are so accustomed to seeing jewelry as it is presented on the front pages of jewelry making magazines that I think buyers expect to see this sort of setting - it establishes a sense of familiarity and comfort. This photo shows that the background that did not work for dangling the earrings actually looks nice as the pretty background for photographing the earrings lying flat.



Once the photos are all done, I upload them to my computer and make necessary correction to color, exposure and cropping. I always crop first as this eliminates unnecessary dark and bright areas that would affect brightness adjustments. I always photograph at the highest quality available on my camera and then adjust the file size down after adjustments are made so that the photos load faster for viewers.


I hope that this wordy post is useful for someone. I have read lots of articles about photographing jewelry and have felt so intimidated by the recommendations of professionals, including the expensive accessories that are recommended. Maybe someday I will be able to afford a professional camera man for my jewelry, but in the meantime, I'll just continue with trial and error to find what works for me.

A note about copycats - I hope other beginners are able to use this information to improve their photos. So many people help, support and encourage me as I grow as an artist that I enjoy having something to share with others. Having said that, I also hope that I won't see photos of other sellers' items on Etsy that look like my exact product , photographed exactly the same way as mine. That would be rude and I would report it. Instead, use your imaginations and make your work your own!