# Rings continued



## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

Wow...!! that is the first time i have ever started a thread that went that far...you guys are great...so much help and usefull comments...I did somemore work on the diamond ring and here is what I came up with...I have a good shot of the Aggie ring..just need to work it up...here you go!


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

i just have to say, that is a really beautiful ring. 

the photo is wonderful also. do you want nitpics again? i have two, they are minor. let me know.

rosesm

k


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

I like the shot, but the color looks a little bit off to me. On my monitor, it appears a little green.


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## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

I agree. I'll work on it...thanks fish...
and Koru...I am always up for improvements so fire away


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

beautiful is right


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

samurai_ag said:


> I agree. I'll work on it...thanks fish...
> and Koru...I am always up for improvements so fire away


this time it's not the ring (yet  ) it's what the ring is sitting on. more precisely, the back edge of the white against the black background. the first thing that distracted my eye from the ring, was the shadow that's on the right hand area of white behind the ring, and from there my eye followed the 'not straight' white against black line.

if you've used post processing to blacken the background, then perhaps using it at a much higher magnification will help to keep that white/black line straight. i'm not sure if i've guessed right, but thought i'd share anyway.

that shadow is distracting and it doesn't equal what my eye would expect to see i.e. what is causing the shadow in the first place?

hope that's helpful.

rosesm


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## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

ok i worked on it some more...here goes...koru...let's see what you got...lol....I know Russell is lurking around here some where...


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

wow you got my other nit too without me even mentioning it. nice clean up! 

i'm liking it lots.

rosesm


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## Ibeafireman (Jul 24, 2006)

I usually show my wife all the pictures on here but I think I am gonna pass on this one. I dont want her getting any ideas....lol....nice ring and picture of it also.


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## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

OK...it's time for the story...

The center stone is a gift from my Grandmother that saved it for her eldest grandson...lucky me...
It was given to my grandfather by his God mother who was a very wealthy southern widow. It was actually a diamond from a set of diamond ear rings. It is over 100 years old and was a hand me down in her family. So, there is a lot of sentiment in it. I could have never had such a ring made otherwise. I found a design similar to it and showed it to a jeweler in Galveston...John Ford Jewelers...he being an Aggie took very good care of me and made the ring for almost no profit. I am forever in his debt because I was able to give my future wife something that most women dream of. I thank you for all of your kind comments and help in perfecting this image. I don't think it is perfect by any means but it has helped me move forward with my macro skills and has been a great challenge...Thank you guys for taking the time to comment on it!!!!


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Trey,

I'm going to be tough on this because I know you want it to be perfect (and of course because you called me out).

Nits...

Focal point to me is the center of the stone. It's a little off center. Consider repositioning it in the center of the frame 1/3 of the way from the top. See example. Grayfish don't lay down the grid on me 

I agree on the color cast. I made a selection on the stone and increased the blue highlights a bit. See example.

I don't shoot jewelry, but I'm assuming the same exposure rules apply. If so the image is overexposed and detail in highlights have been lost. See example with histogram too far too the right.

If you reduce the exposure you can stop the lens down to increase your depth of field. It bugs me a bit that the back of the ring is oof (out of focus). If a shallow dof is what you're looking for the look then make it more extreme. Here it looks like a miss.
Tough love here I know, but it's a lot easier to be a critic than a photographer. :an2:


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## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

Very good points...it was very hard to get the stones to look good without slightly overexposing...I tried multiple techniques to get the exposure and detail where I wanted it but i really wanted the diamonds to be distinct...please note that the diamond is a yellow diamond which is why I left it the color it was....
as for the focus I more that agree however being as though a Nikon D200 will not cannot auto focus on diamonds for some reason I didn't want to manual focus because my tripod was on carpet and every time i did the focus was wrong...so I settled for what I could get....
lastly...unfortunately it was stopped down quite a bit...that 60mm macro has a very shallow depth of field but it was all i could afford at the time....i really need a 105mm

I knew if i said something to get you fired up I would get a good critique...I'm hoping to shoot it again soon...and I will pay close attention to the points mentioned....thanks!!!!!

i'd say not bad for the 3rd time i've ever messed with it...


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## bzrk180 (Jan 7, 2008)

Beeeee-utiful ring!!


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

samurai_ag said:


> OK...it's time for the story...
> 
> The center stone is a gift from my Grandmother that saved it for her eldest grandson...lucky me...
> It was given to my grandfather by his God mother who was a very wealthy southern widow. It was actually a diamond from a set of diamond ear rings. It is over 100 years old and was a hand me down in her family. So, there is a lot of sentiment in it. I could have never had such a ring made otherwise. I found a design similar to it and showed it to a jeweler in Galveston...John Ford Jewelers...he being an Aggie took very good care of me and made the ring for almost no profit. I am forever in his debt because I was able to give my future wife something that most women dream of. I thank you for all of your kind comments and help in perfecting this image. I don't think it is perfect by any means but it has helped me move forward with my macro skills and has been a great challenge...Thank you guys for taking the time to comment on it!!!!


i knew there was going to be wonderful history with this ring. what an honour for your fiance. gosh there's poetry in this.  you've set that diamond off beautifully. Mr Ford has done a great job.

rosesm


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

RustyBrown said:


> Trey,
> 
> I'm going to be tough on this because I know you want it to be perfect (and of course because you called me out).
> 
> ...


when you do this, i learn too Rusty, so thanks for taking the time. (of course i need a dictionary to figure out half of what you're sayin' but that means i'm understanding half now. lol)

what does 'stop the lens down' mean in English?


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## samurai_ag (Mar 31, 2008)

Thanks Koru!


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

I *NEVER* use AF on a macro shot. Did you try a remote flash from the back to get some light into the diamond? Also might try a narrow cardboard "snoot" on a flash to make a "spotlight" on the diamond. Might be an interesting subject to light paint too..


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

I agree with Arlon. Backlight with a snoot would be cool and manual focus is a must.


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