How To Photograph Jewelry Suitably
If you have started an online jewelry business, you don’t get to interact with your customers the way brick and mortar businesses do, what you can do is set up a first-class gallery that will showcase your jewelry products for they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and clear, crisp images will tell your customer how exquisite your collections are.
Jewelry pieces are small and often are shiny and lustrous on its own, so understanding how photography works will let you enjoy taking good pictures of your product. Taking good pictures of your jewelry pieces will enhance the marketability of your products; however, there are certain points in jewelry photography that needs to be well taken care of. Among these elements are: lighting, sharpness, contrast, and exposure.
You must learn to study the effects of the components in jewelry photography, creating a sparkle that doesn’t strain the eyes, using “black ice”
Lighting, Sharpness, Contrast, And Exposure
Lighting
Have you ever noticed that when you photograph your own jewelry using a bright flash creates a very bright finish that usually lessens the beauty of your jewelry?
Lighting is the key; this is the most important component of jewelry photography. Normal diffused or soft lighting works best for jewelry photography. A good example for very good lighting is this 18k ring that is simply stunning. All the needed elements are found in the image and will lure your customers to buy one of your pieces.
It is not advisable to use an on-camera flash as I think you have tried many times and it did not do any justice to your piece of jewelry. Rather, use continuous lighting to visualize the finish result of your photograph. Proper lighting will illuminate and highlight the focal point of your jewelry and will hide blemishes if there are, plus the fact that you can actually edit the photograph afterwards.
Sharpness
One trick to that is putting your camera on a spot-focus mode, DSLR and digital cameras alike have this feature, you just have to scan your camera’s manual how to put your camera in that mode. Spot-focus will only mean that the camera is looking at a wide area and base the focus on that area.
For a sturdy capture of your jewelry designs, a tripod is a must; this will minimize flimsy images so purchasing a good tripod will be an investment.
Contrast
Think about it, if you are trying to capture an image of an amethyst beads bracelet, will you put that in a purple filled background? You have to visualize contrast where your jewelry piece will stand out as the center piece of the image.
You can use a background color that will compliment the jewelry’s color, hue, and texture. This necklace with quartz pendant is an example of complete contrast.
Exposure
If you are a beginner at jewelry photography and you want to get smart ideas about exposure in photography, visit this page where it has a clear explanation about EV or exposure value. This will surely help you a lot in achieving the correct exposure for your image.
How To Make A Gemstone Sparkle In Jewelry Photography
It is difficult enough that you can’t photograph a jewelry right; it must be very difficult to take a picture of an image of a faceted gemstone. A light tent or box will do wonders for that problem. You can buy an EZ Cube light tent or make one of this light box that works perfect for all your homemade jewelry projects. Both works magnificently depending on your budgets, as I said only your imagination and creativity is the limit!
Normally, there are two lights positioned on two sides of the light box or ten, you need another light for the “sparkle dazzle”. You need to adjust the brightness because the third light is not diffused by the light box or tent. Make sure that the “sparkler light” illuminates the gemstone well to create a sparkling effect.
Black Ice Jewelry Photography
A black ice is a term used by motorist that creates an illusion of a matte-surfaced road that looks clear and dry, making it dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorist to pass by these seemingly safe pavements.
But what is black ice photography? Why use the metaphor? It is simply the use of a black acrylic sheet with a soft background that creates a dramatic effect, plus the ice creates a certain coolness effect of the image that gives a certain glow on the covers of catalogues or magazines. So that’s why images in these publications look great, don’t you think?
If you want to make one of these you can set aside an hour or two of your time and make this homemade black ice photography kit at your own convenience at home, or buy this Table Top Studio black ice photography kit that will lessen your worries in making one.
So really, as much as their a thousand and one rules in photography, it is best to follow the basics. Lighting, exposure, contrast, and sharpness; all the rest are just pieces of your imagination that will bring out the best of your beautiful creation. What’s important is you believe in your product and taking a photograph would just be the sum of the effort that you gave making it.
Enjoy this new applicable knowledge and make the best of what you have. You will never know how to photograph jewelry properly if you don’t try. Go ahead, make that click! Click!
