Recent content by Bloo Dog

BTW: I haven't forgotten about the tutorial. I am, in fact, working on it. I had to procure some jewelry first. Everything so far is stuff destined for the scrap heap to be melted down for gold when the price goes back up, so you won't see primo merchandise except for one piece that I shot last...

Many times, you can get around the line-of-sight problem posed by optical slave triggers by pointing an on-camera flash toward the ceiling or a nearby wall to trigger the flashes. If you've got really high ceilings (as in an auditorium) you'll probably have problems. Also, any...

Actually, "high key" is a specific term which applies to an image consisting of predominantly light tones. Check out the books "Light, Science, and Magic" (I forget the name of the authors-- I keep giving the book away) or "Studio Photography" by Michael Freeman. What you describe is one of...

Will do. I'll have to figure out where to place the thread. I'm new here. Keep in mind: there are several ways to photograph jewelry; none is better than the other, but certain media have certain requirements. For multimedia use (e.g., internet, web press, full color glossy, etc.) of one...

I use clear laminating wax. It's used for laminating plastic covers to artwork. You can buy it at any good art store. I've seen it marketed as "Sticky Stuff" in photography supply stores. It is very useful stuff. The trick to using it is using just enough to hold the piece in place. Once the...

This is one idiot-proof method for indoor flash: set your flash to auto (ttl) and your camera to manual with the shutter @ 1/125, fstop 8. Let your flash do the work of metering. This will get you through every indoor situation. Hand-held, you have little assurance of capturing the ambient light...

I remember when I was the cheap wedding shooter. Looking back at my work, I don't think I'd have hired myself. What's he charging for reprints?

Gary, Sometimes your best friend is a vacuum cleaner, or a polishing cloth, or a pair of cotton gloves. I once shot a HUGE man's diamond ring with a 10 ct diamond in it. Everything went so well: I got it to stand up with minimal wax under the shank. I had total control over the environment...

I've seen these light boxes. Their intended market is the jewelry store and the unskilled photographer/ sales clerk. While such setups will provide shadowless lighting, it severely restricts camera angle. They also employ fluorescent lighting which can cause color balance problems as well as...

I respectfully disagree with the opinion that specular lighting is involved in jewelry photography. In the images shown on the website, a broad light source is used. You can see it in the shanks of most of the rings. Whenever you have an expanse of shiny, mirror-like material, it will reflect...

Most of my personal photography is documentary street photography. I'm pretty passionate about it. I take what I can get, but on occasion, I get that image that works so well because of the light.

G'day, all. My Name is Bloo Dog, and I call myself a photographer.