photoshop CS3 (re:jewellery shots)

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albedo_0_39

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garry
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A friend of mine asked if I would help photograph some jewellery using his lightcube, 5kW daylight bulbs etc. Before embarking on this project I read several articles to get a good understanding of how to do it. Even though I got decent photos I found myself facing a problem, similar to that of bland skies in landscapes that need new skies. Although an exposure for the jewellery (e.g. a ring with a gemstone) was acceptable the background , which was whie, came out greyish and if exposing for the background the ring was overexposed. I came up with the idea of taking two shots, an exposure for the ring and an exposure for the background. My problem now rests with "what is the best way to bring them together in photoshop CS3? how could I blend them leaving the ring (centre of image) exposed correctly with a white background?. what is the best method for doing this? Can someone please help me.

thanks in advance
Gaz
 
Look up layer masks, thats probably the easiest way to go.
 
Look up layer masks.

The technique is to have two images superimposed on each other, but on separate layers.

Then by using layer masks you "paint" away the part of the foreground image you don't want revealing the background image.

Not difficult to do, but may take some time if you are working with fine detail.

Easier of course if you could get the background white in the first place, but that it seems is not an option at the moment.
 
Adjustment layers are the answer. Basically uses a layer mask to adjust the image.
Make your selection of the grey area using one of the maraquee tools (the magic selection tool can work well in this case (I use that for my studio floor shots)

Now once the area you want white is selected feather the selection by a few pixels and then create a layers adjustment layer. When the adjustment box comes up you will see the right hand side of the histogram shows the pixels not white in your selection. Move the right hand (white triangle left and you'll see the background turn white. Stop when you are happy with what you have.

Takes me 2 mins on my studio shoots however it's more difficult to get looking great on close up shots.

Careful use of lighting would help more. Editing is a pain!
 
I had a crack at this but i have found that using the magic wand etc the areas that get selected tend to 'bleed' onto the ring in some parts. obviously, the tones are very similar if not the same. Is there a way, after the magic wand initial selection to cut back the selected areas on the ring ?
Unfortuantely, I am not a cs3 guru by any means. I had thought of trying to find a different *** of photogrphing it using the lighting setup, hopefully trying to ensure that the tones of the ring are much different to the background.

thanks
Gaz
 
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