An Easy and Affordable Photo Studio for Jewelry,

Lapidary and Small Metals Artists

 

(Please note: excerpts from this article first appeared as a posting entitled "A Workable Photo Studio for Jewelry Artists" in the Friday, April 9th, 2004 edition of the Ganoksin.com Orchid List without any accompanying images. Since then, it has been more completely developed and photographs have been added to help reinforce key concepts.)

Given the recent advances in digital imagery, many artists have purchased digital cameras in hopes of better communicating their works to larger audiences. While these amazing devices do reduce the number of steps needed to get great images, compared to film cameras, some of the most important ones remain -- like lighting, for example -- so a great deal of experimentation usually stands in between the artist's creation and the reproducible image of it.

To help simplify this, someone came up with a gadget called the "Cloud Dome" -- essentially, a hemisphere of translucent white plastic with a hole on top of it and an attached bracket for mounting a camera bolted above that) -- which comes with a few accessories and simplifies the task of lighting and shooting small items, like jewelry or gems, but also costs several hundred dollars. Although this device can work well for small individual items or pairs, it would be hard to fit a suite of even three or four pieces in it, and there are those who may not have access to the kinds of disposable income its pricetag requires. After a bit of searching and comparing notes with fellow gem cutters Gustavo Castelblanco and Farooq Hashmi, I settled on another method, entirely and, if you’re using even a halfway-decent camera, are willing to be a bit creative, can follow these directions (and can afford to part with a whopping US$30-50), I can pretty well assure you of some truly outstanding results!

First, head over to your local supermarket or hardware store and invest $4.99 in a rectangular white Styrofoam cooler. The one I use measures roughly 22x14", and is about 13" deep, with the cover removed. Next, stop off at the local K-Mart or equivalent and splurge for a few cheap lamps (a clamp-on gooseneck-type and an articulated/spring-loaded draftsman’s lamp will do, although a second gooseneck may come in handy, too), plus an X-Acto knife and a cheap penlight. On your way home, stop by the local fabric shop and invest the rest of your money in a box of chrome or white T-pins, three yards of lightweight cotton muslin, a yard each of thin and medium-weights of pellon, and some 3x1' remnants of black leatherette vinyl, and black, dark blue and "grey card grey" fabrics, preferably matte finish, for your backgrounds. If pressed for cash and time, colored construction paper, Polartec fleece and/or cork gasket material will work nicely, too.

When you arrive back at your home or studio, take your X-Acto knife or a snap-bladed box cutter and remove a 9x5" rectangular area from one of the long sides of the cooler, using the underside of the top edge's rim as the border for that cutout (see photo #1). Next, use the muslin to line the inside of the three uncut sides of the cooler, using the T-pins to hold it in place. On these three sides, make sure the fabric conforms to the walls fairly closely. For the side you've just relieved with the knife, cut a separate piece of muslin about 8-10” wider than the widest point of the wall and use T-pins to mount it in such a way that it both overlaps the ends of the previous sheet of muslin and hangs down like a wind-filled sail, about 3” from that side, when the cooler is laid on its opposite (i.e. uncut) side. Once these muslin sheets are pinned in place, you're essentially done with the inside of your new "portable photo studio". For the outside of it, lay the sheet of Pellon on a cutting board, upend a clean drinking glass or coffee mug onto it, a few inches off-center, and use an X-Acto knife to trace around it, creating a circular opening in it. The reason for not centering this is that there'll be times when you'll want to shoot from dead-on and times you'll want to skew your shots, slightly. If you center that hole, you may have lighting problems arise when you need different perspectives, while this won't happen with an off-centered hold. It sounds crazy, I know, but trust me: it's easier this way.) Use a few more T-pins to attach this to the top front rim of this new contraption of yours, but only pin it to the top so that the pellon drapes down in front, since you'll want to be able to gain easy access to the "studio's" contents, between shots. Your camera's lens will aim, and sometimes poke, through this opening (photo #2), to eliminate reflections of your t-shirt's favorite saying (or other embarassing stuff) when you get around to shooting.

Next, place the cooler on that uncut side on a tabletop or desk, position the draftsman’s lamp over the cooler, shining through the opening and muslin (photo #3), and clamp the remaining lamp(s) onto the front edge of your desk or tabletop, making sure to bend it/them down and rotate the reflector back upwards, to illuminate the fabric above and beside the object you intend to shoot. By doing so, you will be creating a beautifully even "wash" of ambient lighting, without creating much in the way of “hard” lighting or "hot spots" to overwhelm the lens or the CCD. For the final touch, lay the fabric of your choice beneath and behind your subject and, placing the camera on a tripod, use the penlight to add a spark of intensity to your gems from 6” to a foot behind the camera. As you'll also notice from this photo, this entire photo studio sits neatly on a folding tray table, so it can easily be moved out of harm's way, in a flash!

Depending on the results I’m seeking, I'll sometimes also use a sheet of 1/8” Lexan polycarbonate as a background, with its ends supported by 8” lengths of 2x2” lumber (photo #4). (Ask at your local lumberyard for an unlathed Douglas Fir baluster pole, then saw it to size). I aim the camera at a spot about ½” in from the front edge, and pan back. On shots in which the white background is overwhelming to the image, or if I’m shooting Opals (which can otherwise be a nightmare to light properly), I’ll pin up pieces of that black sheet of fabric I’d mentioned, and either run it from the inside top rear edge of the cooler to the bottom front edge, under the plastic sheet, or use four T-pins to hold a small section of it above the stone, so some of the light still reflects onto it from the sides and rear. By playing with light placement and using the flashlight to create a bright glint off of just one or two facets, I can usually get results equal to or better than the commercial photographers I used to rely on when I lived in the NY area.

Another lighting trick I’ve used to accentuate the color or texture of faceted gems or carvings is done with a pair of Kodak's 8x10” Grey Cards (photo #5). I place one under the suspended Lexan and 2x2's, and the other behind it, leaning against the back wall. When you focus in on the ring, pin or gem that's the subject of your shot, the seam between these two cards vanishes, and you’re left with this stunning effect of your item “floating” on this subtle, glassy background, which “washes” into shadow… The effect is just gorgeous! A variation on this theme is the one that appears in photo's #4 and 5, and was pioneered by Gustavo. In it, an ordinary CD case's cover is drilled to accept a 1/8" bolt, held in place with two nylon nuts. Subsequent holes of various sizes are then drilled, using either a bud bur or a countersink, to create a smooth seat for a Diamond or other faceted stone. The camera is then angled downward to zoom in on it. This is how I've shot virtually all of my faceted stone images; once again, the resulting impression is that of the "floating stone", and is extremely effective, since no fabric's weave or other texture interfere's with the image's visual impact, or appeal.

Finally, if your camera offers AC adaptor and "video out" features, as many of the newer ones do, I highly recommend you plug them in and disregard the LCD image on the back or side of the camera, altogether. By attaching a cable between your camera and a TV set (photo #6), you'll greatly reduce both your level of eye and back strain, and reduce the number of wasted or corrupted shots, as well. Finally, and perhaps best of all, this inexpensive photo studio alternative enables you to store your camera, lights, fabrics and props within itself, when your shoot is done! Just pack everything gently inside, plop the lid on, and stash it on a shelf in your supply closet! Now, what could be simpler than that?