Opinions on Scale

[Tela]

I made this piece yesterday and got some pretty good pictures. Have a look and let me know, by viewing the pictures, do you have an idea of the scale of the piece? (please

I don't think the scale is evident and I am trying to figure a way to show it without using a coin or something.

[christine]

It looks like a large cab to me..maybe 32mm tall? What type of stone is it? I love all of the colors and you have wrapped it beautifully.

[Tela]

The cab is almost 60mm long and the blue beads are 16mm. It's a humungous, exquisite Mexican Jelly Bean Jasper. I love it! I fell in love with the stone in spite of its size. I tried to downplay the size a bit with the setting and necklace and I think it worked too well. I really like this piece a lot, but need to figure a good way to emphasize the size.

[christine]

WOW Would not have guessed the beads are 16mm. Now that I know the bead size, I can envision the size of the cab! It is a big and beautiful one. Hmmm..I do think you have down played the size very well. Coins are the most common way I have seen to show scale. Maybe state the measurements in mm and inches in the description.

[Tela]

Thanks Christine. I took another with quarters. I took one with a ruler,too, but the stone was at a slant so the size didn't show up very accurately. It is about 3 inches long.





So, if the ruler was better positioned to reflect size, would it or quarters be better??

[Renate]

It does look like a big pendant, but like Christine, I tought rather 3cm and wouldn't have guessed that it is *that* big. Guess it will have to go into the description. I think the weight is also a helpful information in this case. I once figured out that pendant beads over 17gr tend to be on the heavy side.

I prefer the coin picture to the ruler by far. If you use the ruler, I think a right angle view from the side or from above would look better.

I have seen opened books used as a scale. It usually works well (for me), provided you figure out the average letter size for reference.


modified: Forgot to add that I love the chain, the stone, the bail, everything. Beautiful as always. The light blue of the beads is just gorgeous with the patinated wire.

[kay]

Wow, pretty (and big!) stone. I love your swirly bead wraps in the chain.

I agree with Renate--I prefer the photo with the coins to show scale. I would not have come close to estimating the actual size of the piece without the reference point.

[Tela]

Thanks all!! I guess for very small and very large pieces a coin should be used, but I like the book idea and may try that, too.

[wickwire]

That's one piece I would love to see on a model. It's a spectacular piece. This is just my own personal opinion but I get a better idea of the scale when it's photographed being held in a hand. I know hands can vary a bit in size but it's something everyone can relate to. Your foreign customers probably can't visualize the size of American coins.

[Tela]

Hi Nancy and welcome! ;D

I have wondered about the coins being American, too. I agree that a photo with the hands is good for scale. Because of a medical condition, I can't always count on being able to do that. Which makes me want some Audrey Hepburn gloves... That would be cool, come to think of it.

Thank you for the compliment. I enjoy your work and blog, too.

[Renate]

Hello and welcome, Nancy!

Being German I can give a first hand account about foreign coins as scale. ;D It IS confusing, and it gives you only a rough estimate of the size. Certainly it helps to avoid really big mistakes, in particular if you are a rather inexperienced online buyer. Been there, done that.

Thanks to gazillions of purchases of beads, supplies and tools, meanwhile I consider myself a savvy online buyer, and remember most of the time to check the description closely before I bid. Operating word here is "most of the time", only yesterday I forgot and won a tiny kyanite, about half the size I had assumed. ;D

Btw, 5 cents Euro are exactly the same size as 5 cents US$. Though for European buyers the reference coin may be the Euro, which is slighly larger. Actually I have already used both coins, Euro and 5 cents US$, in a photo.


PS: much much more confusing than anything else are the broken down inches: 5/8 inch, 3 inch 1/4...?

[Tela]

I used to have a graphic in every one of my ads that had a line up of all the US coins and the metric sizes. I got lots of emails thanking me and claiming it was helpful. Maybe, I can do something similar again.

I have also started using metric in my ads. When I have the time, I will go back and update the older ones. I have a really cool caliper my DH let me use that lets me convert sizes on the fly. Mine doesn't do that

I know what you mean about fractional inches. I don't like them myself. I especially don't like any smaller denominations than eighths- I simply can not visualize it.

[glenda]

First off ooooeee I love this piece!!

It is soo hard to show the scale of a piece isn't it.

Ignorant little me wouldn't really be enlightened by a euro or cents!!

Personally I think pictures without coins (where do you draw the line? A coin for everycontinent, country.....) look better. No distractions. If measurements are within the item description potential buyers can always grab a measure and check it out!!

I wouldn't have guessed it was as big as it is because of the larger beads used within the necklace.

It really is a beautiful piece Tela!

[wirewrangler]

I agree with Nancy W. on this one. This stunning piece should be showcased on a gorgeous neck. At some point, every artist has a "stable" (yes, that is what they are called, unfortunately) of models. The lucky artists are those who are related to excellent models, but, then, in a pinch, sometimes you just have to pay.

I always appreciate Nancy's hand shots. Gives one an immediate idea as to scale without the problem of translation (the coins need translation if you will).

I would add this as an additional point: There is an advantage in using models over the hand shot: one can better tell how the piece wears and, how certain elements fall on the body. For example, with earrings, where do they fall in relation to the jaw? to the shoulder?

There should always be an inclusion of the size in the description. And yes, metric. You can always have some kind of link or conversion table, whatever available for whichever venue.

Scale shots are only an addition to your main "beauty shots". Why clutter up your beauty shots with coins or whatever? To my mind, whenever I see a penny or a dime in a beauty shot, I am wondering if the subliminal message is the value of the piece?

Okay that is my five cents worth. Get it?
Have fun!
WW

[sarahsequins]

Tela,

First of all, the necklace is beautiful!

I couldn't tell what size it was. Showing size in photos is something that I always wonder about, which is why I've been thinking of using models -- just not me, since I'm very tiny, which would be misleading!

Now I guess it's a matter of finding and bribing the right people.

Someday I'd like to get a mannequin to display my jewelry. The only thing is, they're soooo expensive.

[Tela]

WW and Sarah, thank you. I agree a model would be fabulous, but I don't have the money for that and wouldn't know how to find a professional. Maybe I can get a pretty, young daughter to do it?? I have two. One is camera shy, though.

I'm not crazy about using coins either. But, I'm drawing blanks on what to do.... Man, I wish I could hire someone for the tedious picture bits.

[Dearrings]

Although I have used coins to show scale in the past, I'm not a fan of them either.

One thing I look at when viewing other people's earrings is the hook. Since earring hooks seem pretty pretty standard in size ( am I wrong??), I can generally get an idea of how big the rest of the earring is and where it will fall.

Can the same thing be used for other pieces of jewelry? (Granted, not all necklace clasps are the same size but for general sizing? ) This way, an unobtrusive referent can be included in the picture and still give the idea of scale without taking away from the piece?

[wirewrangler]

Yes, an earring hook or any other standard finding can be a good reference and after one has viewed thousands of shots of jewelry one gets pretty adept with judging scale based on some known standard. I would venture a guess that most jewelry folks fall in this class. However, if presenting ones's work to the layman, or, to potential clients who are not as adept, the human form is more universally understood. And then, when you get away from standard findings into hand crafted earring hooks, clasps etc, then, scale becomes even more important.

It is surprising how easy it is to find models. I prefer the less professional, they are far more amenable to 'playing around' so to speak. Experimenting. The pro's want to get in and out and get their $$. 'Plus you are using only the ear, the arm, hand, or the neck. I really do not like full faces, again, it detracts from the jewelry. This is how it goes for me: I will be watching someone's hands and commenting on how lovely and before I know it, I have a willing hand model. You never know when you just might be inspiring a career for someone.

Bartering works great! A head shot for time. A piece of jewelry for time.
Tela, you are lucky that you have two daughters, they would be perfect! Remind the shy one you are only focusing on the jewelry and a part of the body, no one will really know!

Then you have to think about how you are photographing. I never did use the photo light boxes because of their limits, hard to get a body in one of those. But then I began photographing figures early on and I have had to learn to scale it down for jewelry shots. I use what is called an 'open' set up.

Okay, enuf of my opinions.
I hope this helps!
WW

[Tela]

WW, I wish I had your social initiative! I'm far too introverted to approach someone like that. It's nice to know that people are open to the idea, though. Come to think of it, when I was younger, I was approached several times by photographers about modeling and I was flattered. (I didn't do it,though.)

Thinking of doing modeled photos of my work brings up a whole new can of worms to consider. Do you care to share how you do it? I mean, do you do it indoors with a studio set up or outdoors in natural light? What is an open set? I have an idea, but I'm not sure. Is that with sheets and lights? After finally getting a small tent set up, I can only imagine the headache of a large one.

[wirewrangler]

Hi Tela,
Briefly, the open set is just that, open, not enclosed. Mostly inside shots in our studio. (Yes I am fortunate to have a studio that hubby and I share). Daylight lights and reflectors, diffusers, gels if needed.

I am sure you have seen the Table Top Studio's web site? Here is my set up, of course I have augmented it a bit by now, I will try to get a kodak of how I set up sometime but here is the link of where I started with Table Top Studio: click on the link to the open set:

tabletopstudio.com/jewelry_photography2.html#openset

Have fun!
WW

[Tela]

They have a great site! I got my studio there because I don't have room for much of anything. In fact, after all the kids moved back in, I lost my photo room to my granddaughter and now it is on top of my dresser.

Thank you for explaining your set up. I get it now. I was envisioning something else. I'm glad you have a dedicated area. I miss mine.

I did talk to one of my daughters about modeling. She's game. She's so tiny, though! Trying to be delicate, but she is quite big in the bust, think Dolly Pardon. She could do rings with her pretty little hands. She may be distracting for necklaces, though. My other daughter is more average sized with the most fabulous skin. BUT, she has a flipping panda tattoo right where it would be seen! I'll have to talk to her and see if panda will be a problem and if he can be cloned out.

rambling... just woke up....