Digital Photo Imaging
Two years ago my husband Peter & I purchased our first digital camera, the 3.1 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 995. Prior to that we had always photographed our work with a 35mm SLR camera and film. The Coolpix has proved to be a great choice for our first digital camera, and it came with a well written instruction manual.
When I first began using the Coolpix 995 to photograph our enamel jewelry I used only the "Automatic" settings, but recently I've switched to using the camera's "Manual" shooting mode.
The enamel jewelry image results I achieve with my digital camera are based on the following settings. I am sure that there are other ways of achieving a great photo, but this is an outline of what I do to achieve the images used on my website and in this article.
There are two ways of photographing with the digital camera - "AUTOMATIC" & "MANUAL".
I photograph in the "MANUAL" mode using the following settings.
EXPOSURE MODE:
Set to ( A ) which is called "Aperture Priority Auto". This setting allows the photographer to set the desired aperture, and then the camera automatically selects the correct shutter speed. I am able to set the "F Stop" manually to a higher "F Stop" to achieve a better "depth of field" i.e. depth of "in focus" area.
IMAGE QUALITY:
Set To High, TIFF format. this gives the best image quality, by producing the largest image possible, with no image file compression.
FOCUS MODE:
I use the "MACRO" Close Up Mode in middle zoom position. The focus distance of the camera is approximately 2 cm to infinity. This is a standard feature on the Nikon Coolpix 995.
IMAGE SHARPENING:
I have it set to "HIGH". This setting sharpens the image details and edges.
SELF TIMER:
I use the Self-Timer for shutter release, with a 3 second delay to avoid any movement of the camera.
The FACTORY DEFAULT SETTINGS - Auto are used for all other settings. ( Important example: White Balance" is set on Auto )
I photograph under the "Cloud Dome" using two 19w output "Daylight Spiral Lamp" light bulbs and no other direct lighting. The bulbs can be found in many hardware stores. In the US they can be purchased from "Home Depot" under the brand name "Commercial Electric".
The Cloud Dome also functions as a mount for the camera, in place of a tripod.
I place the jewelry on non-glare matte glass, frosted side up, with graduated photo paper or colored design paper under the glass & often use CD cases to raise the glass & jewelry to the optimal height for the "jewelry size to camera focus" ratio inside the Cloud Dome.
Once the picture is taken I download the images to my computer and open them in PhotoShop. In the past I used another image manipulation programme, Photo Elements, but recently upgraded to "PhotoShop CS Version 8.0.
I save the original image as a TIFF file and then make a copy of the saved image and work only on the copy, never the original - that way I never ruin the original image, and I can always make additional copies from the TIFF master image if necessary.
I then go to IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> LEVELS, and tighten up the levels by bringing the two outside levels in a little bit on the HISTOGRAM.
Next I go to IMAGE> BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST and adjust both by about +6. If any other photo enhancement is necessary for the image to look it's best I perform it at this point, e.g. the "Healing Brush", "Clone Tool", & "Patch Tool", which can be used in combination to eliminate dark shadows on the metal. The "Dodge & Burn Tool" can be used to lighten or darken an area like a gem stone. I'm still learning how best to use these image enhancement tools.
After that, to FILTER>SHARPEN>UNSHARP MASK, and adjust the amount to 20% radius, 0.5 pixels, and "threshold 5." If I think it needs more sharpening I may repeat this step.
Once I am satisfied with the results I save one copy of the modified image in TIFF format & another in JPG format.
None of the images in this article, however, were retouched or manipulated. They were downloaded in TIFF format directly from the camera to the computer, where they were resized to 1280 x 960 pixels ( about 414 KB ), saved in JPG format, and then emailed to eNAMEL Online Newsletter.
For emailing the images to eNAMEL Online Newsletter or for use on my website I would always size them down to about 1280 x 960 pixels or further if necessary, and re-format them as a JPG. For printing, the images are kept as full-sized TIFF files for the best possible print quality.
To sum things up, I've found that this set of steps works for me. What I strive to achieve is for my enamel colors and Peter's gold jewelry settings to appear on a web page or in an email just like they do in real life. Using the stepwise process outlined above I can produce images that capture accurately the beautiful colors of the enamels, show the dimensionality and depth of the work, and result in gold metal tones without too many dark shadows or burnouts.
Eventually my wish is to buy another digital camera with even higher megapixels ( allowing a bigger image file ) - perhaps a digital SLR. I love the Nikon that I have, but higher megapixels would be even better !
by Alexa Smarsh, as told to Sharon Scalise.
* Alexa also used the Coolpix and Cloud Dome to produce the images in Gallery 4 on Sharon's website.
Click on thumbnails for large pictures, use "BACK" button to return to this page.
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"Cloud Dome"
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"Cloud Dome"
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all of which are copyright © Enamelights.
"Enamelights" website.
