Gemstone Photography and Composite

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Doug Simon

The annual Gemstone Show was back with its regular month schedule for February 2022!

Our client wanted a layout with raw turquoise stones, the caliper and a polished stone, but with some sort of staging. We suggested using a stock background as a great affordable choice to create a wow factor for website photography. The original stock image provided the texture and grit; and photo editing layered on eye catching dimension. We shot a catalog of turquoise gemstones, but the lighting for the unprocessed turquoise and caliper required lighting adjustment and filtering.

Equipment Used:
Canon 5d Mark III
Canon Macro Lens EF100mm f/2.8
Multiple Softboxes
Multiple Gradients

Gemstone Jewelry Photography

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Doug Simon

Jewelry photography requires a lot of time for trial and adjustment. Gemstones are often translucent so the lighting is critical to capture the many shades and the way the human eye will perceive it when worn. Manipulating the backlighting is key coupled with light modifiers to direct the light.

No flash was used. The difficulty in photographing jewelry is the highly reflective surfaces. With more stones and beveled cuts the number of reflections multiply. We used one softbox for continuous lighting, scrims to create gradients and foam core for bounce. Shooting an entire product line with few “like-products” requires a new setup for each piece.

Shot using a Canon f2.8 100mm Macro lens and a Canon 5D Mark 3 camera.

Health Food Bottles – Product on White

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Doug Simon

Dark glass bottles shot on white background are a challenge. (The largest bottle above is plastic.) The goal is to manipulate a soft subtle reflection on the face of the glass. Backlight was critical to bring out the depth of the bottle without blowing it out. The backlight had to be focused and controlled. We shot 90 products in a range of sizes all light modifiers had to be adjusted for each size and shape.

We used no flash, multiple diffusers, continuous lighting, 100mm 2.8 Canon Macro lens and one softbox.

Product Photography on White with Multiple Angles

Posted on August 20, 2019 by Doug Simon

Some products are just gorgeous due to their exterior surface. This diamond pattern is lovely! The reflective nature is the tough part about photographing this product. Our client is launching a new product line with two sizes of this unit. They also wanted to show the quality of craftsmanship, details and a product styled use image.

Product styling always sounds simple: Grab some items and stack them inside. The last thing you want for your product is distraction from the unit. In this case we discussed colors of soda, lid options, choice of cans, what to put on the top rack, position of the labels and making sure everything was “balanced” to the eye–and keep these items from moving/rolling. Attention to detail pays off in a well laid out composition and the product “shines”. In this case–it always shines!

Reflective products (glass, metal, jewelry, high gloss acrylic products) offer challenges. Once the lighting is in place-then you begin to block out reflections you don’t want – inclusive of the photographer in the product. Controlling the light to not blow out the high reflection, yet show off that very shiny surface we all love. The diamond metal pattern here controlled some of the typical hot spots. We were also able to make use of massive overhead natural lighting and several white reflectors to obtain an even product surface look. Working all of the elements together takes a lot of time. We spend more time setting up a shot, than shooting, typically. Shooting multiple angles meant repositioning everything (continuous lighting, white reflectors, c-stands, every clothes pin and re-taping) with each change of angle, and the second unit.

When you’re selling online any product photography should include an all-the-parts shot, manuals included. Let prospective clients know what’s in the box. We’ve also been asked to edit the photos adding the dimensions for clients. Make it easy for people to buy your product!

Continuous Lighting
Natural Lighting
White Reflectors
Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Lens
Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro Lens

How Do I Stage My Product?

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Doug Simon

Cabin Decor

You have a great product and you’ve got your product on white shots, but you need that one great shot-often referred to as a “hero” shot for your Amazon product page. Even with minimal equipment you can maximize your composition to stage your product.

This rustic cabin decor lamp with painted shade and metal art; and small wood carvings against a tongue and groove wood wall serves as the canvas to creating more dramatic photography. This is your stage and these are the basic elements to arrange as you look for the shot you’re after. This isn’t about being quick-it takes time and a lot of shots. Beyond arranging what you see through the lens you’ll change up the shutter speed and focal length for a wide range of variables to find that end shot.

Cabin Decorating Theme
Turns out less is more. Rustic Cabin Hallway
Adding a floral stem to the very foreground adds shadow and depth. The focus is clearly on the cabin lamp with the floral having the bokeh. This is using a very slow shutter speed and wide open aperture (2.8).

Bokeh
Here the focus is reversed-bringing the floral into focus maintaining the same slow shutter speed and aperture. This might work for a backdrop image for marketing text while you still display your product.

Cabin Rustic Decor
The experimenting continues, same lens settings, but rearranging the floral, playing with the light. This, too, can be a nice backdrop drawing the eye to the foreground where you might add your marketing message for a website slider.

Rustic Cabin Decor on Tongue and Groove paneling

Then often you come full circle to include parts of several variations of your composition. This used the same settings, pulled in the wood carvings and feathered the floral to a wider angle for a beautifully balanced and bokehed rustic cabin decor photograph. This gives a lovely staging while highlighting the lamp and giving a vision of how it will look and feeling it creates once brought into the buyer’s home.

Canon Lens EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM
Slow Exposure 0.3 seconds
Rotolight to spot

Executive Portrait Photographer in Tucson, AZ

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Doug Simon

Corporate Executive Portrait

This executive portrait session involved a bit of time to choose the ideal setting for the bokeh. This turned out beautifully for a fresh inviting background for this financial institution. We shot staff portraits, group meeting shots, lots of casual lifestyle work station shots and executive lifestyle (AKA environmental) shots in their office setting. This full day shoot was accomplished with organization and time allowance for moving lighting equipment and set up time-it was a flawless shooting schedule with all the objectives achieved. Using a Westcott Rapid Box, Paul Buff Einstein and Canon 70-200 mm lens yielded stunning quality shots with the depth this lens is known for.

Executive Lifestyle Portrait

Product on Black Acrylic

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Doug Simon

Product on Black Acrylic Staged

This innovative speaker design offers stunning sound. The product photography needed to reflect the mood.

The photographer used two Arri 650T fresnel lights with 300 watt bulbs and two Matthews 48″ x 48″ artificial silk scrims, 1.6 stops. Also used a Rotolight NEO matching the Arri tungsten temperature for the top of the speaker.
Canon 5D MarkIII
Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens

We used a sheet of black acrylic to create a classic look. There is nothing in the background, but shooting at a 9.0 aperture kept the product in sharp focus while turning the background completely black. This shot is straight out of the camera, no Photoshop adjustments or editing.

Speaker on Black

Simple Product Staging on Black Acrylic

The designer requested a size perspective so we added wine glasses for a simple staged product image.

Jewelry Lifestyle Photography

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Doug Simon

Lifestyle jewelry photos are a great asset to show off your jewelry collection and add “eye candy” to your website. Showing your jewelry worn breathes warmth and personal connection to your gemstone jewelry – rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces. This session was shot at the jeweler’s store within a two hour window.
Lifestyle Jewelry Photography
These lifestyle images were shot using a Paul C Buff Beauty Dish with a 20% grid using an Einstein studio flash, hand held reflector and a Canon 24-70 mm lens.
Gemstone Necklace
We also shot environmental jewelry product pieces in a couple of settings. Creating a stunning bokeh background to set off the sparkling gemstones.

A tight crop (below) brings the ring forward.
Jewelry Product Photography
This diamond ring (below) was set into a succulent. We manipulated the image with photo editing to keep the focus on the ring. These product images were shot using a Rotolight and a 100mm 2.8 Canon lens.

Environmental Product Photography

Flat Lay Product Photographer in Orange County

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Doug Simon

Flat Lay Product

For flat lay product photography an overhead camera rigging system with an HD monitor gives the Macro lens the flat, level shooting plane for tack sharp focus. We lit using 2 soft boxes and a quarter stop 48 inch scrim with a 3rd flash behind.

Sequined Bikini Product Photorgapher

The sequins took a bit of light modifying, to maintain the jewel tones without blowing them out. We used foam core to create a box to channel the light.

Swimsuit Photographer

Flat lay product photography requires one essential tool for setup: pins. Lots of pins, lots of foam-core layers and additional time. Spandex can be a bit of a wrestle due to the elasticity, but pinning does the trick.

Bride at Grand Piano in Rancho Cucamonga

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Doug Simon

This is the final wedding couple portrait in the series of three (see below). The bride wanted a beautiful shot at the piano and we decided to embellish with a story.

Shot 1 – Lonely Bride, with little light.

Shot 2 – Enter the Groom, the light of her life.

Shot 3 – Both engulfed in light – on the brink of the kiss.

This was shot at night. Outside the window we set up an Arri 750 open face. The choice of tungsten light created the desired sunset effect through the wooden blinds.
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon lens 24-70 2.8

Visit our Wedding Photography and Engagement Photography pages.

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