[silvergray545]

Well my mother became tired of spending loads of money to have her work for her business photographed professionally. Seeing that I always liked photography, she figured why not let me try. So today we went out and she bought me a Canon Rebel T3i along with a tripod and a macro lens (so I can shoot the jewelry she makes with great detail). I am completely new to everything so I'm just learning as I go. I'm sure I will have questions once I start using it but I will post pictures that I take. Any advice is more than welcome! I'll start shooting and getting some pictures up!

[rodi]

the photographers she was paying for must not have been that good.

if you're shooting jewelry, you'll want some lighting equipment, light modifiers, sets/backdrops/stands/boxes/fabric/material, gels, scrims, gobo's, flags, perhaps some models, hair stylists, make-up artists, photo-editing software, and a few books. and some time and patience.

[Chewy734]

David, although rodi is right, I think he takes his comments to the extreme sometimes.

People have to start somewhere, and generally they don't have the bankroll that some people have. It's good to start with the basics, a decent camera, a macro lens, and some backdrops. You can use construction paper, fabric, etc for the backdrops. Play with different ones and test it out. That being said, I know lighting is of the utmost importance with macro photography, but I'm sure as you learn through practice and get better with your skills, the strobes will come in due time.

I say, be the best you can be with the equipment you've got. That way you can gauge what equipment you will want to upgrade to in the future (be it a better body, lens, strobes, pro models, etc).

Btw rodi, you don't need models to shoot jewelry, unless you plan on showing them worn. There are many good sites showing jewelry on various pedestals, positioned in certain ways, etc without any models getting in the way.

[Chewy734]

oh yeah, and don't forget a tripod and a remote trigger. Those will help you immensely

[E90SoFlo]

The best tip I can give you is lighting is 85% of the battle with photography.

now go buy this book
http://www.google.com/products/catal...wAw#ps-sellers

You will learn a lot

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by E90SoFlo

The best tip I can give you is lighting is 85% of the battle with photography.

now go buy this book
http://www.google.com/products/catal...wAw#ps-sellers

You will learn a lot

Looks good. Amazon has a pretty extensive preview available. They have a Kindle version, too. Amazon's Kindle for Windows is a great way to read such books because it makes them searchable. I wouldn't recommend using the actual Kindle device, though, because of the lack of color.

[dcstep]

A tent and dome kit is a great way to get professional quality images of jewelry. See:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Te...9/N/4294550800

I hope that you got the 100mm macro or something with a long focal length to give you a decent working distance to your jewelry subjects.

For interior shots, I"m not clear if that's an objective, try using natural daylight, including early in the day or late, if that's what it takes to get the best light. You've got a very good camera, but interior shooting really demands a wide angle lens, like 17mm or wider on your crop-sensor camera.

Dave

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by E90SoFlo

The best tip I can give you is lighting is 85% of the battle with photography.

now go buy this book
http://www.google.com/products/catal...wAw#ps-sellers

You will learn a lot

ha! I have that book sitting on my desktop in pdf version.

[rodi]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

...although rodi is right, I think he takes his comments to the extreme sometimes.

WHAT?!

[FStop7]

Sounds like you're getting into photography for all the wrong reasons.

[khaye1]

Chewy...any chance you can hook it up with that PDF. I'm cheap, what can I say!

[Activ]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Sounds like you're getting into photography for all the wrong reasons.

What I was thinking.....

[silvergray545]

Originally Posted by rodi

the photographers she was paying for must not have been that good.

if you're shooting jewelry, you'll want some lighting equipment, light modifiers, sets/backdrops/stands/boxes/fabric/material, gels, scrims, gobo's, flags, perhaps some models, hair stylists, make-up artists, photo-editing software, and a few books. and some time and patience.

They are good but she does a lot of work. Paying for many photo shoots become expensive. I appreciate the advice.

Originally Posted by Chewy734

David, although rodi is right, I think he takes his comments to the extreme sometimes.

People have to start somewhere, and generally they don't have the bankroll that some people have. It's good to start with the basics, a decent camera, a macro lens, and some backdrops. You can use construction paper, fabric, etc for the backdrops. Play with different ones and test it out. That being said, I know lighting is of the utmost importance with macro photography, but I'm sure as you learn through practice and get better with your skills, the strobes will come in due time.

I say, be the best you can be with the equipment you've got. That way you can gauge what equipment you will want to upgrade to in the future (be it a better body, lens, strobes, pro models, etc).

Btw rodi, you don't need models to shoot jewelry, unless you plan on showing them worn. There are many good sites showing jewelry on various pedestals, positioned in certain ways, etc without any models getting in the way.

I have a lot of work to do. I appreciate the advice though. I'm gonna do a little bit of studying and then just go practice. That's how you learn, I suppose.

Originally Posted by Chewy734

ha! I have that book sitting on my desktop in pdf version.

Would you mind emailing it to me?

Originally Posted by FStop7

Sounds like you're getting into photography for all the wrong reasons.

Not at all. I've always enjoyed photography but I've never had the funds for it. Now, I'm basically killing two birds with one stone. I can start something I've always wanted to and I'm helping my mom at the same time. It's a win-win situation.

[silvergray545]

I'll post up a few pictures that I took recently. I'm clearly not a professional so no flaming please. Constructive criticism is always welcomed. None of these pictures had appropriate lighting. I was just getting used to the camera and trying to figure things out.

On the 3rd picture, I'm not sure why only the lower portion of my bird was in focus.

And the last picture was taken with the macro lens. It's just a picture of my mom's ring but I can't seen to get the whole ring to focus. Only the top part is focused.

Like I said, constructive criticism is welcome. Any tips and tricks would be helpful.

[rodi]

it's because your macro is for close up. when you get close up, your depth of field is paper thin. which is why you need to invest in a lot of lighting equipment as I mentioned in my first reply so that you can close the aperture down and get greater depth of field without losing the light.
there's a reason she was paying for photographers.

[silvergray545]

Originally Posted by rodi

it's because your macro is for close up. when you get close up, your depth of field is paper thin. which is why you need to invest in a lot of lighting equipment as I mentioned in my first reply so that you can close the aperture down and get greater depth of field without losing the light.
there's a reason she was paying for photographers.

Ahh I see. I was just shooting on the fly. When I get my lighting in order, I'll post up my results. Thanks for the help.

[BillLee]

what kind of lights are you getting?

[silvergray545]

Originally Posted by BillLee

what kind of lights are you getting?

I don't have anything picked out yet. I need to look into it more. Any suggestions?

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by khaye1

Chewy...any chance you can hook it up with that PDF. I'm cheap, what can I say!

Originally Posted by silvergray545

Would you mind emailing it to me?

It's over 1gb in size. So, let me think about how to get it to you... gimme a couple days to figure it out.

[khaye1]

Cool, no rush...if you can't do it, it's okay too

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by khaye1

Cool, no rush...if you can't do it, it's okay too

[link]

Sorry, that's the best way I could figure it out... keep in mind it may take a while to load depending on your internet connection.

[E90SoFlo]

Please go read that book, before you start buying stuff.

You will understand how lighting affects not only Depth of field but just about every aspect of photography. Its 13 bucks. Like 75 pages. And you will learn so much.