OT/AD ummm oh and critique please!

Nice work David. I have a suggestion. The leaves you used in two of your picutes make the items a tad bit hard to see. Especially on the first one where the colors of the leaves are very similar to the colors in the piece. The second one with the pearls is nice, but the leaves are a bit to dark for the pearls I think. If you used all or mostly green with a couple red or what ever tossed in, I think it would look better and show off the pearls more. I like the ones with the pieces draped over a bottle. Those were very unique. I also liked the one with the piece draped over that pumpkin. That was also unique. Thats just my 2 cents. I am in no way a professional photographer, and won't ever claim to be.

Marissa

hmmm - well, Shot's number 1 and 2 on black are good for websales. Shot three - amethyst on white is too pale.

Iin shots 4,5 and 6 I think the leaves were too overwhelming for the size of the pieces... they kind of get lost...

I did like Number 7 and 8 the old beads on the old bottle...

and the pumpkin shot would be good for a fall theme catalog....

Cheryl of DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

Well, a couple of the photos I like, and the rest are just ok, except the amythest on white, I don't like. I like the pearls on the leaves ok. They seem to show up pretty well. But the other necklace, on the leaves, seems to get lost. I like the green (adventurine?) on the bottle too.

I really love your portraiture! Beautiful work!

I agree with the comments of others regarding backgrounds that work.

I think you have a conflict of instincts. Several of your photos show your sense of composition fighting with the portrait of jewelry details.

Your offer of photos for beads is a great opportunity!

Tina

I'm assuming that the reason for the pictures is to promote your jewelry (as an end result). Everything I'm about to say is with that end in mind. The white is too stark. The leaves are too distracting. The pumpkin is cute, as is the bottle. But at least one of the bottle shots made the jewelry seem like a prop as well. And the lighting didn't really "pop" in any of them. Artistically most were very nice. But is that why you are shooting them? If it's to showcase the jewelry, then most of them are missing the point. Soft, slightly diffused lighting is very nice in a portrait or landscape, but not to highlight jewelry. The thing you want everyone's attention on needs to jump right out of the picture and grab you. The pumpkin shot stands out in that regard. There is no question that the necklace is the center of the photo. And there is my 2 1/2 cents worth :-) Barbara Dream Master

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~~ Albert Camus

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I agree with Barbara about the lighting being too diffuse. For me the lighting was way too ho-hum and didn't really do a thing to accent the beads. I also found everything to be too far away for me to really get a feel for what the beads looked like. The presentation of the beads wrapped around the bottles worked for me and I like the idea of the pumpkin but the beads still didn't really "pop".

The quality of the photography is obviously very high but I didn't feel like I got excited about anything I saw as far as the jewelry went. Sorry.

- Sandy

Sandy, Don't be sorry, this is a learning experience, if everyone says OH THEY ARE GREAT! because they worry about hurting my feelings it doesn't help me a bit. The lighting was with a large studio umbrella, about 6 times wider that the necklace lengths, so it was very soft. Next I will try barebulb shooting and try to get more contrast and highlights. Also as I said before, I was using the props I had on hand and will be looking for more. This group has given great critiques....unlike the jewelry group who had insulted me and my photography (which I am confident enough in to stand up for hehe).

I was serious about possibly ofering this as a service for bartering in the future, but if I am not doing a quality job, won't be worth my or other artisans time! Be safe D

You know, I really like jewelry pictures shot with bare bulbs. The shadows and contrast and bright point just work better to bring out the sparkle and depth, IMO.

I also like your ability to accept and work with criticism... so many can't, and it's an admirable and valuable quality.

hehe they are just lucky we weren't playing ball.. I woulda taken it home wit me!!!! hehehee