Rainbow Bling
Yes, plastic can be blingy, too, at least in a blingy shape and topped by something sparkly, like this fun ring made of clear plastic and a purple glass stone. I had considered photographing this ring for other MM themes a few times before, but could never quite make it work – until now.
The setup was fairly simple: I placed the ring on a single hexagon of the shiny mirror tile with the warped surface (that tile no longer exists in its original shape, as I cut the reinforcement fabric apart to obtain single pieces that are easier to use in macro projects). Behind it, I placed the packaging of a recent order, a magnetic ring holder/stand for my phone. That packaging has a nice, iridescent coated pattern printed on the front side that sparkles in different colours depending on the angle of the light source. When I unwrapped the parcel the other day and noticed that pattern, I immediately thought "photo background!" – another item other people throw away but I keep as a photo prop ;)
I tried focus stacking to get all of the ring in focus, but I liked the single shot more because the background looked more organic. And for this scene, I also preferred a little blur on the ring. My light sources were the natural light photo lamp (from above) to illuminate the ring, and my two LED lamps placed to the left and right of the subject to bring out the colours and pattern of the cardboard packaging.
HMM, Everyone!
Rainbow Bling
Yes, plastic can be blingy, too, at least in a blingy shape and topped by something sparkly, like this fun ring made of clear plastic and a purple glass stone. I had considered photographing this ring for other MM themes a few times before, but could never quite make it work – until now.
The setup was fairly simple: I placed the ring on a single hexagon of the shiny mirror tile with the warped surface (that tile no longer exists in its original shape, as I cut the reinforcement fabric apart to obtain single pieces that are easier to use in macro projects). Behind it, I placed the packaging of a recent order, a magnetic ring holder/stand for my phone. That packaging has a nice, iridescent coated pattern printed on the front side that sparkles in different colours depending on the angle of the light source. When I unwrapped the parcel the other day and noticed that pattern, I immediately thought "photo background!" – another item other people throw away but I keep as a photo prop ;)
I tried focus stacking to get all of the ring in focus, but I liked the single shot more because the background looked more organic. And for this scene, I also preferred a little blur on the ring. My light sources were the natural light photo lamp (from above) to illuminate the ring, and my two LED lamps placed to the left and right of the subject to bring out the colours and pattern of the cardboard packaging.
HMM, Everyone!