For a modern jewelry look, we decided to shoot these tension rings against a sheet of brushed aluminum. We picked out two different sizes and secured them upright on gray ring stands. We placed the smaller one in front so that it would appear similar in size to the rear one from the camera's point of view (figures 1 & 2).

Since we were shooting on a curved shooting table, we had to shim the front stand with a piece of foam core to keep the surface level (figure 3).

Next, we set up our first light source, a Photoflex Starlite Small Digital Kit. We attached the SilverDome soft box to the Starlite head and secured the head to a Photoflex Boom, mounted on a Photoflex Boom Stand. Then we positioned it over the set to illuminate the tops of the rings and aluminum (figure 4).

(Notice in figure 4 how we propped up the sheet of aluminum by clamping a Photoflex LiteDisc Holder to the edges and securing it to a LiteStand.)

Next, we mounted a digital SLR camera to a tripod, turned the power on and zoomed all the way out on the lens to keep the rings proportionally sized to each other. We set the aperture down to f/11 to maintain a large depth of field, set the shutter speed to 1/30th of a second and took a shot (figures 5 & 6).

Looking at the image playback on the LCD of the camera, we realized that we needed to be able to come in closer than our standard lens would allow. Note that you can get Macro lenses for most SLR cameras, but that some cameras, like the one we were using here, have an optional macro lens attachment (relatively inexpensive).

We attached the lens attachment, came in a little tighter, and took another shot (figures 7 & 8).

In this result shot, notice how the attachment lens helped our composition by minimizing the relative size difference between the rings. Even though the light from the overhead soft box had lit the top and bottom of the rings nicely, the sides of the rings appeared dark and flat.

To add more dimension to the shot, we set up another Starlite Small Digital Kit, positioned it off to the left hand side and took another shot (figures 9 & 10).

The result shot shows a big improvement. The transition between light and dark is smooth, and interesting shapes are formed by the addition of this second soft box.

Next, we decided to add another Starlite Kit to the right side to balance the reflections of the ring. Without changing the camera settings, we took another shot (figures 11 & 12).

Although this third light source filled in the dark areas and balanced the reflections, it still maintained a good contrast level to the shot and a sense of dimension to the rings.

The addition of both side lights, however, brightened the background considerably. To keep the light solely on the rings, we attached grids to each of the side soft boxes, and took another shot (figures 13 & 14). Grids will restrict light output from the soft box to directing forward. Side emitting light is eliminated.

Notice how the background has darkened, and yet the light and reflections on the rings have not changed (figure 15).

Next, we wanted to brighten up the diamond a little, but keep everything else the same. We set up a fresnel (focusing) light on a small LiteStand, turned off the Starlites, and focused the light so that it only hit the diamond and the adjoining parts of the ring. This helped to draw more attention to the diamond.

We turned the Starlites back on and took another shot (figure 16 & 17).

Reviewing the shot on the camera's LCD display, we noticed that the tone of the rear ring was a little too close to that of the background. To create more separation, we decided to cut the light hitting the aluminum even more by placing a set of Louvers on the face of the overhead soft box. Louvers are designed to keep the light trained forward, so that it doesn't fan out onto background or foreground areas.

Once these were in place, we took another shot (figures 18 & 19).

As you can see, the Louvers made a tremendous impact on the lighting of the background, while keeping the light the same on the rings. Witness the power of light control!

In reviewing this result, however, we felt that the rear ring was a little too much in focus for the look we were going for. So, we opened the aperture on the camera to f/2.4, adjusted the shutter speed to compensate for exposure and took another shot (figures 20 & 21).

The result shows that f/2.4 made the rear ring so soft as to be almost unrecognizable. We decided to split the difference, set the aperture to f/4.5, adjusted the shutter speed, and took one last shot (figure 22).

After the shoot, we opened the final image in Adobe Photoshop Elements and used the Rubber Stamp tool to erase the metal clips that held up the rings. We also boosted the contrast in the Photoshop Curves palette a little more to make the background appear even farther away (figure 23).

As you can see with this lesson, once you understand how your camera functions, how to control your lighting, and how to think creatively with respect to backgrounds and digital editing, the sky's the limit with what you can create.

Remember to experiment and have fun!