What's best white acrylic or clear acrylic?

Warren recently asked: "Is white acrylic preferable over clear acrylic for use as a jewelry background?"

My response : You can create a beautiful, yet subtle, reflection of a subject in your product photos by laying the subject - be it jewelry, metal parts, perfume bottles or whatever - on a piece of reflective acrylic or Plexiglas. [Plexiglas is a brand of acrylic].

The reflective effect can be acheived by using clear acrylic or glass. However, a clear reflective surface may cause a double reflection since the subject will reflect off both the top and the bottom surfaces. Using white acrylic rather than clear acrylic or glass, avoids the double reflection, because the camera will only pick up the reflection from the top surface.


By the way, we call this the "Tiffany Effect" because it is an effect you will often see on the Tiffany web store and in Tiffany ads. (For examples look here and here.) The effect can also be created in Photoshop, but we find it's easier to do it photographically. And if you are wondering how to suspend ear rings, pendants, or any subjects, like it was done in these shots, then take a look here.