Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

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m76steve
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Location: Maryland

Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by m76steve »

8-)
23 frnt + prime.JPG
Lighting opal is always a challenge so i usually use multi-lights & rotation to show as much color/material as possible-these are old pics but they help to ID the Australian material as it is. The Mex fire opal is just a good example of good material-
025.JPG
008 post.JPG
009 post+mex fire opal.JPG
Artfldgr
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by Artfldgr »

you should also white balance... as it looks like your using automatic and under tungsten lights (incandescent light-bulb)
Artfldgr
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by Artfldgr »

easy to make diffusers.

1) wax paper
2) greased paper
3) grease glass
4) sandpaper plastic

and for fun... cut a star pattern on the bottom of a cup and photo through that..
its a dream view with white blurry sides..
[you can use vaseline too, but you have to clean it too]

and when you dont have a tripod and are doing macro.
Image
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and a foam diffuser cup for flash
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here is a bounce diffuser for flash
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macro flash diffuser
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i have used white trash bag put over a chair..
then use lots of lights on the outside and photograph underneath where the legs are
you can ALSO get a semi transparent white storage box..
you can make a wire frame and put the trashbag on that. you can even select semi clear, full white, and even other colors

use your imagination.. the image only cares about the light, and how you get that mechanically isnt recorded.
the white trashbag i use when i have to do this (in a pinch)
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to do a shot like this, use the techiques above
but ALSO, have a tiny stick, and glue the ring to it, and put it through a tiny hole
then you can swivel the ring and make it float. :)
Image
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SwordfishMining
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by SwordfishMining »

Thanks for the tips. Definitely shows the effort.
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
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PinkDiamond
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by PinkDiamond »

Ingenious homemade equipment Art. Thanks for the tips. :!:

Oh, and nice pendants m76. :)
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


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((¸¸.·´ ..·´ There are miracles left for you to do .... -:¦:- -:¦:-
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m76steve
Posts: 281
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:55 am
Location: Maryland

Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by m76steve »

Very good advise & some trade tricks that are effective-thanku- 8-)
m76steve
Posts: 281
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:55 am
Location: Maryland

Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by m76steve »

All my pics are with tripod, my lighting is led's, fluorescent, & incandescent very basic, my camera is point & shoot auto-focus that should be upted to a manual focus for better results, so i work with basics-one of my better sets of pics is the alexandrite pendent photoed in a lighted room, in a dark room using 2 candles w/tripod, & same condition under UV light in a dark room, the pics show pretty well what good alex shows under different light conditions-no photo-shop just time involved with good results- 8-)
alex aligned feb 2015 A+  daylight.JPG
alex aligned feb 2015 A+ candlelight.JPG
alexandrite aligned UV light A+.JPG
Artfldgr
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by Artfldgr »

Wonderful stuff... keep em coming... :)

photography as an art form is VERY interesting compared to others...

three1.jpg

KJR_3891vsm.jpg


and here is a hard lesson... a whole days work it affected
KJR_3966vsm.jpg

KJR_3943vsm.jpg


took a bit to get that off my sensor... sucks.. eh?
whole mornings work (which is the day for light), gone...
yeah, i can remove it from the second shot, but SOOL on the first. :lol: :oops:
m76steve
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Re: Photographing Opals - Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Post by m76steve »

Ive posted pics of my pendents before, this is a little info on what i used for the shots & rotating the lights to best show the stones. the dumortierite stones & the ruby pendent were hung on a bannana stand with a movable hook for rotation, lighting was moved, shaded or altered for best results, all pics on tripod w/timer to reduce movement of camera. The dumortierite 3 stone item is a timed shot, the upper stone is in the mounting,
Dumortierite pendent front 1.JPG
crown side down to show the crystals in the quartz, all 3 stones are brazilian & show the slight blue color of the dumort crystals pretty well. The ruby pendent shows 4 stones, the 3 rubies are quite clean & show untreated silk in all stones, the pendent was shot to show clairity & color while reducing glair on the stones. The pendent is shown in daylight & UV light, the rubies show as hot coals & are mozambique origin. The 2 stone topaz & tourmaline is a favorite, the stones were extremely well cut in Pa. The material is flawless, colors & clairity are such to appear as clean crystal, both stones are over 11cts. The pics show even color, & cut about the best- 8-)
Dumortierite pendent side.JPG
DSCN8086 + daylight.JPG
DSCN8082 in UV light +.JPG
topaztourl pendent ft A+.JPG
topaztourl pendent ft AA+.JPG
watr melon trml 1 side.JPG
watr melon trml 1 side.JPG (28.04 KiB) Viewed 1354 times
pnk tpz 36.JPG
pnk tpz 36.JPG (34.05 KiB) Viewed 1350 times
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