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Sparkling diamonds
I am shooting some jewelry for a client. I’ve built a small turntable inside a small lighting tent. How can I get the diamonds to sparkle as they turn?
I’m thinking that an led light aimed just at the gem will play off the facets and give me sparkles.
Anyone got a better idea from experience in shooting jewelry?
Randy
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6 Replies
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[Raymond Motion Pictures] “How can I get the diamonds to sparkle as they turn?”
Very similar to something I did, turntable and all. I tried star and chromatic filters over the lens, which looked okay, but not great. The emotional resonance of seeing something sparkle somehow exceeded the actual sparkle that the camera recorded.
In the end I cheated and did this in post. If you use After Effects there are a number of filters available (for extra $ in some cases) which will allow you to dial in a sparkle to your heart’s content.
— Bob C
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I’ve done tons of jewelry spots; it’s not too hard but takes patience to get right.
I’ve typically used a combination of large reflective surfaces for the precious metal settings and small hard sources for the sparkles. Some people use a single source and several mirrors to reflect into the facets.
You can try star filters, but they can get cheesy very quickly.
One note, most turntables are not smooth enough when you are shooting such extreme close ups; a lead screw is often necessary to reduce the screen bounce. Many rental facilities have them.
Good shooting!
Leo
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I always thought they used special lights in theh jewelry stores to make the diamonds glitter.
Have you asked a jewelry store what they use ?
Ty
Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
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[Ty Ford] “Have you asked a jewelry store what they use ?”
The ‘viewing area’ for diamonds has a focused track light shooting straight down – when the salesman turns the diamond in that light – it sparkles like magic. Out of that beam – it kind of dies…
I did some test shots using a tent and an led beam funneled through a little white funnel I taped to the lite – works great.
Now my problem is getting in close enough to fill the frame. Best I can do with my Canon lens is about 1/4 of full-frame.
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Innovision makes some great specialty lenses and you could explore a set of diopters for extreme cls ups. Also, I’ve used a magicfire flashlight (halogen bulb) mounted on a c-stand and armed in.
Visualeyes
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My nifty turntable worked great! I hung the rings upside down, dangling on a stiff wire (mandolin string) – looks great on flipped video with highlight sparkles inside a light-tent. Client was pleased with rings filling only a quarter of the screen and his logo and ring description taking up the rest of the space…the ring via my rig seemed to be floating in space. Yeah, I lucked out..
Lesson learned…The challenge to filming jewelry is about lighting as much as it is about optics – read: macro lenses.
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