I get asked a lot about my photo set up. So here it is. As you can see I use a photo tent 90% of the time. For the most part I like it but sometimes if a piece is too big or the lighting is off I use a white piece of rip stop nylon hung over a frame work of some sort instead of the photo tent. The photo tent frame work can cause shadows and is obviously limited by size.
You can see I use a gradient background. I have a piece of lightly frosted glass (5.00 at a framing shop) raised up on small glass blocks. This minimizes shadows.
These are the bulbs I am currently using. I have used the circular natural light type bulbs but at the moment these are my favorites. They are a 500 watt and WILL burn through your photo tent if they are too close. These burn hot! I turn mine off when I'm fiddling with my beads, their life is short so I am careful to not overheat them.
My camera of choice is a Nikon D70 with a 60MM macro. You'll notice it's on a tripod a MUST for macro photos. I also use a timer, another must in my opinion. I went through 6 other camera's before settling on this one. A good friend recommended it and I love it. I can take photos any time of the day and I'm not chasing light around, they are always clean, clear and crisp a MUST for selling online.
My photos take me very little time and remember folks your time IS worth something. If it takes you a entire day to do photos while you chase light, tweak levels and play with settings you are decreasing your profits. I usually take my photos, crop and upload. It's that easy.
3 comments:
Thanks for the pictures of your set up - it looks great. I think I need to get some of those bulbs, and that frosted glass is a fantastic idea.
My camera is a Nikon too, a D60 - and I am lusting after one of those Macro lenses, but I believe it costs more than the original camera did - lol!
I think my macro was 200 but it was a long time ago so that may not be right. I love these bulbs, we should do a bulk buy if you find some I had a hard time finding them.
Nice setup. I need better bulbs myself. I do have to mess with levels a little bit - it's not tons of time spent, but just to crop and go would be wonderful! I love the frosted glass with a gradient background as well, it gives some 'atmosphere' to the photo instead of the jewelry just floating in white nothingness. I so need a dslr camera but I'm getting by with my camcorder that has macro on it. :)
Thanks for sharing!
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