what surface should i use???

Ruth.Adele

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My work has recently bought me a flash to add to the set up i aldready have.
I use a opaque white light box, and i'm thinking the best place to put the flash would be underneath (i photograph jewellery). what type of surface do you think would be best to place the jewellery on, so that the light comes through?
I tried on white paper, but i got a strange blotchy effect from it.

Any ideas?

Thanks / Ruth
 
yeah, i was thinking an opaque white perspex.
Olie just told me about some canvas thing thats used for video film or something... not sure what its called tho..
 
Down at the studio we use a white perspex table with either a flash or 1 kW lamp underneath. Just make sure you light the jewelry from the top as well. :)
 
Opaque?

Like I said before, the light tables are made of frosted/translucent acrylic. You can pick some up at a plastics supplier or even somewhere like Clark Rubber and even some art/craft supply stores stock it (though perhaps not in the size/thickness you want).

Light it from below. You should use black card to reflect in parts of the jewellery to add depth/definition. I don't know whether you have a hand held meter or not.

Edit: Oh, and the plastic will melt if you put the light too close for too long, even the modelling light of your strobe.
 
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Yes, opaque, with a rough underside and matte topside. It's also made from a very heat resistant material, which held out to the heat off of the 1 kW lamp without a sweat for 2 hours at a time (while I was slowly being cooked alive). Also, the black card is a must, otherwise everything will feel 2 dimensional.

You'll end up with something looking like this if you get a glossy surface:

https://pic.armedcats.net/i/ic/icebone/2009/09/28/depuhl_081116_08dm01-snc-2630-bp-cz-486.jpg

Or you could alternatively get a lighting tent, which greatly simplifies things:

Light_tent_light_kit.jpg


You automatically get soft shadows with that.

Also, here is what a black card does to reflections:

diamondlite3-782954.jpg
 
Opaque in general English means something that doesn't transmit light. Translucent would be a better term.

not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through.

I've seen light tables melted, I'm just giving the warning (I may be wrong about the modelling lamps though, I assumed it was from that as the tables were being used exclusively with strobes at that time, but it could have happened with tungsten).

She already has a tent, the table is to eliminate shadows completely.
 
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thanks guys.

Yeah, i have a tent already, and two studio lamps for lighting from the top. I've only just got the flash, which i was hoping to use underneath, because the main problem i seem to have with my photos is that the background never comes out white (and i mean never). The only way i seem to be able to get it totally white is if i waaay overexpose, and then you can't see the jewellery.... gah!
So i was thinking that if i mount the flash under my light box, and sit the jewellery on a transluescent peice of acrylic or whatever, technically (in my brain anyway) i should be able to obtain a perfect white background, without over exposing the jewellery.

...does this make sense? or am i totally on the wrong path?
 
I assume the lamps you're talking about are tungsten (continuous light source), so then you'd have mixed light sources which would make white balance difficult. You're better off sticking with one type of light source.
 
Or get an 80A* gel filter for the flash and there is no more colour temperature difference.

* daylight to tungsten
 
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