EF-M 28mm Macro - Ring Photography (PICS)
8 months ago
18
Early Sketches - trying to determine stone placement.
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Ring Design
I didn't get a chance to get to get a ring made last December due to other obligation and instead moved the project along into mid-2022. It was completed last week and I'm fairly happy with the results. The design was a little ambitious because there were two blue diamonds I needed to incorporate into the design whilst keeping the profile of the ring as low as the main stone would allow. Earlier designs leaned towards a double-claw for the center stone but I realized after making a mock-up that it was becoming more intricate and a little less elegant.
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Stone Sourcing
I sourced the Umbalite Garnet (aka: Rohodolite - a type of pink-magenta colored garnet) with certification from a gem cutter I trust in Malaysia. The African miner who dug the stone thought it was a different gemstone called a Spinel, but it stuck to a magnet (Garnets are slightly magnetic) and was later confirmed by a Swiss gem lab and grading company. The miner had natively (crudely) cut the gemstone in a manner that wasn't ideal. So it was recently recut, losing quite a bit of weight, to get a better refraction from the stone. It went from almost 5 carats down to 3 carats in weight. The result is that this stone sparkles quite a bit. Umbalites often tend to have more of a Magenta or Plum color compared to more common Garnets, which tend to have reddish-brown hues to them.
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The small kite-shaped diamonds were the largest available in Sydney I could obtain at the time during the Covid outbreak last year (though I wish slightly larger cuts were available). These odd shaped cuts are generally hard to source unless you can access some of the cutters overseas. They're also risky to set because they can shatter more easily. The two blue diamonds were sourced from a diamond importer and dealer that I used to know way back in the 90s - and I'd put them aside for some future project... which ended up being this one decades later (at the request of my wife). I thought it might be too much but it seems to balance well. These natural diamonds were treated with Gamma Rays so that they only refract blue light.
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EF-M 32mm f/1.4 lens - prior to setting - An Umbalite Garnet + 4x Diamonds.
EF-M 28mm Macro - unset Kite-shaped diamond pair. About 7mm long, each.
EF-M 28mm Macro - unset 'Umbalite' (Rhodolite) Garnet (*composite image)
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Ring Creation
I simplified the design and a computer was used by a jeweller to calculate the precise locations for the stones to sit. A blank was 3D printed out of wax (presumably setting it into a plaster or graphite mold) before a goldsmith working with the jeweller poured 18ct White Gold (mixed with platinum) into the mold, replacing the wax with the Gold. The ring was then deburred and polished before the gemsetter set the stones into the ring prior to a final polish last week.
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Photography with the EF-M 28mm lens...
The thumbnails below are rather soft but the images themselves are just right for what I wanted. Even without an external flash, the illumination from the inbuilt "ring-flash' on the 28mm Macro lens along with a couple of tiny LED lights were all I required. I was one of the very first digital photographers to use LED illumination back when digital photography (and even LED illumination) was still in its infancy - but I continue to do so today.
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I could have used remotely triggered flashes and placed the ring into a light-box to maximize reflection surfaces on the white metal. But I like to be as portable as possible so I also like to try basic or crude methods. These were handheld as I didn't care to set up a tripod.
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The EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM lens is a fantastic lens for working with in small spaces. You can actually get in tighter than I did with these images. I remember photographing a scorpion in a small perspex tank with this lens in 2020 and it was the only macro option that could fit inside the tank safely. Most of these images didn't use the Super Macro (1.2x) option but were taken with the regular 1:1 setting. They images were all captured in JPEG and edited lightly to remove specks of dust etc.
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STAR FILTER?
I also thought I'd test out a Star Filter to try to generate some diffraction spikes and see what the results might be. I'll post another from that set in a separate reply. I had a choice of 4-star, 6-star or 8-star filters as they came in a set.... and selected the 6-star filter since that's going to be all the rage now that the James Webb Space Telescope is going to be punching out similar highlights in future. I think I bought these Gobe brand Star filters on Amazon last year to use them with occasional Astrophotography - but I thought it might be interesting to test them on the ring.
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These might not be the type of photographs I'd take for a jeweller using a blank or defocused background or a lightbox with external flashes or careful lighting, but this lens enables some terrific details and the LEDs were all that were needed. The Ring Light from the EF-M 28mm Macro lens shows up in reflections, especially towards the tips of the claws. I could have Photoshopped it out but it adds direction to the shape of the claws and offers other highlights.
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EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro lens
EF-M 28mm Macro + 43mm Star Filter
iPhone 13 Pro Max (HEIC/HEIF)
