Anyone know where I can get this in the UK?

You could try contacting a local sign maker. I used to work for a sign company and we often had off-cuts of acrylic and other sheet materials.
 
Thanks for asking this question, I've been trying to find something similar myself :thumbs:
 
Thanks for the quick replies! I'll have a look at everything suggested.

Thanks for asking this question, I've been trying to find something similar myself
Click to expand...
;)
 
When I used to photograph jewellery for catalogues I used a thick mirror positioned so it reflected the unlit ceiling, I then built a custom reflector tent for giving the needed reflections in the product. ( often a simple card tube.)
Using a mirror increases the area of reflectance as it shows on the underside as well... the object is lit as if it is in the middle of a long tube. The black background is simply a reflection of an unlit or partially lit area above. This gives far more options and control than a black plastic base. It was especially effective on small jewellery pearls and watches. I can not count the number of Items I shot this way ... it was many thousands over a two year period.

The double reflection a mirror produced was usuallyy airbrushed out.
 
I'm sure you can get this stuff on fleabay.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
When I used to photograph jewellery for catalogues I used a thick mirror positioned so it reflected the unlit ceiling, I then built a custom reflector tent for giving the needed reflections in the product. ( often a simple card tube.)
Using a mirror increases the area of reflectance as it shows on the underside as well... the object is lit as if it is in the middle of a long tube. The black background is simply a reflection of an unlit or partially lit area above. This gives far more options and control than a black plastic base. It was especially effective on small jewellery pearls and watches. I can not count the number of Items I shot this way ... it was many thousands over a two year period.

The double reflection a mirror produced was usuallyy airbrushed out.
Click to expand...

Terry, I am having difficult in picturing what you mean by the card tube and how it is positioned - could you possibly rig something up and take a picture or do you mean something like a plant cloche over the item?
 
Kerioak said:
Terry, I am having difficult in picturing what you mean by the card tube and how it is positioned - could you possibly rig something up and take a picture or do you mean something like a plant cloche over the item?
Click to expand...

Some thing like a tall plant cloche but no top.
you need the hole to shoot down and provide a reflection of the un lit ceiling, to become the background.


Mostly I used a rolled up sheet of cartridge paper and squirted a couple of spots down the inside on to the paper. the light bounces around inside and becomes very even.
I used a large monorail camera... however a SLR would be much easier.
I used a LF plate camera because some of the shots were used very large indeed ( a finger ring could be blown up to more than a Foot across.

The cartridge paper I used was off cuts of Colourama background rolls.
 
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