How to Photograph Jewelry: 7 Tips to Get Pro Quality Images

Photographing jewelry is probably one of the most advanced disciplines of product photography that one can master. The piece of jewelry that you intend to photograph may reflect up to 99% of the light that it receives. Even though photographing shiny metals and dazzling gems can be hard and frankly frustrating, it is worth the effort.

Here are a few tips that will help you take stunning jewelry photographs:

1. Create a Set

Create a tabletop studio to start with. Play around with the small reflectors and different colored backgrounds to get the right effects. A closed photography setup can block the unappealing reflections of the surroundings on the jewelry.

2. Choose the Photography Gear

Compact cameras with excellent macro capabilities are great tools for this type of photography. Pairing a DSLR with suitable macro lenses can provide the best results. Having multiple macro lenses, ideally a 60mm lens and a 100mm lens will give you the privilege of working closer or further away from the subject as per your requirements. It is good to have a tripod for this work. As the exposures can be longer for jewelry shots, using a remote shutter release system will avoid the vibration caused by hand tremors.

3. Get the Light Right

Create soft even light, whether you are using natural light or other sources. When illuminating jewelry, make sure that you use light diffusers to prevent the hot spots and shadows on the shiny surface. Never use the in-camera flash as it gives poor results. A few light sources that can be considered include off-camera flash, tungsten, fluorescent, and halogen.

4. Try Different Angles

Laying the jewelry directly down on a flat surface may not produce the best visual impact. Use anything that you may find useful to prop up or hold the piece of jewelry in place. Using the correct angles and unique perspectives is the key to stunning shots.

5. Adjust the White Balance

Your camera may automatically adjust the white balance setting. Make sure that the camera’s self adjustment system has done a good job. If it appears to be unsatisfactory, or your camera cannot perform this self-adjustment, you must program the white balance setting on your camera manually.

6. Get the Camera Settings Right

It is difficult to create depth and detail when working in about four or five square inches. Take advantage of the maximum depth of field that your camera offers. Choose narrow aperture settings in the manual mode of your camera to get deeper depth of field. Focus the lens to get an image as clear as possible. Your camera’s auto-focus option may be of help here.

7. Understand the Properties of Silver, White Gold and Platinum

Unfortunately, silver, white gold and platinum has mirror-like properties and reflects everything around them. Jewelry made of these precious metals should be photographed using dark or metallic-like backgrounds. Using white background would make the jewelry appear dull and unnatural. It is ideal to use a light box to minimize the reflections. However, never attempt the impossible. You cannot avoid the reflections completely.

Jewelry photography is solely for those who have patience and is willing to practice constantly. You must not be hesitant to play around with the camera settings and innovative jewelry shooting sets. Try until you find out what works the best for your subject.

Have you ever tried jewelry photography? Feel free to share your experience and results with us in the comments at our blog.