My objective was to capture a rainbow sparkle on a necklace, but I only managed to get either the sparkle (necklace in focus) or the rainbow (necklace out of focus). Is it possible to capture a rainbow sparkle on a necklace in focus and if so, how?
Answering this from a physics standpoint, the answer is a non-absolute "no". Sort-of. The lens, defocussed, shows the different wavelengths because of the non-convergence of the diffracted light. Essentially, where the light is focussed, it is (mostly) converged, so appears white. Where it isn't converged, you see the colour spectrum (rainbows).
All that said, if you can see the colours with your eyes, while not intentionally defocussing your vision of course, you should be able to photograph it. Lens coatings and filters can reduce it however, as they are designed to reduce chromatic aberrations (which are caused by the lens focussing the different wavelengths at different points, simply because that's what happens when light passes through glass) and can filter out some of the colour as a result (if the colours are barely visible, that is).
I hope that helps! Someone else, maybe someone who does actual product photography, may have some better suggestions.
@jinximages Thanks for taking the time to reply. I've never really been into physics, but I do understand what you're saying. If the answer is a "non-absolute no", I'll just keep trying :-)
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All that said, if you can see the colours with your eyes, while not intentionally defocussing your vision of course, you should be able to photograph it. Lens coatings and filters can reduce it however, as they are designed to reduce chromatic aberrations (which are caused by the lens focussing the different wavelengths at different points, simply because that's what happens when light passes through glass) and can filter out some of the colour as a result (if the colours are barely visible, that is).
I hope that helps! Someone else, maybe someone who does actual product photography, may have some better suggestions.
> non-convergence of the diffracted light
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