The 5 best Jewelry Photography Tips
Jewelry photography is one of the most difficult skills to pick up, posing a wide number of different challenges as you work to get the very best photo. Even though jewelry in itself is absolutely stunning and would appear to make the perfect photograph, it is very reflective which can make it difficult to get the right lighting. To make things even more difficult, its small size means that getting the highest quality photo requires a precision camera and a highly skilled individual. Here are the 5 best jewelry photography tips for those who are getting started in the industry on how to shoot amazing photos and how to sell jewelry.
photo courtesy of ascot diamonds dallas
- Make Use Of Simple Backgrounds and Minimize Props
There is a reason why the majority of jewelry marketplaces require most of their products to be shot using a white or neutral background. This reason is simple. A simple background ensures that the key focus is solely on the product that they are selling, which shows that the customer is interested in the product itself. Another popular colour that is used for jewelry is black, however, for some marketplaces black is not allowed and this particular colour will not work for all jewelry. If you are someone who is new to jewelry photography, you should start with white and other lighter backgrounds. This will allow you to build up your basic skills, then once you have mastered these backgrounds you can begin to try out more tricky challenges.
Once you have build up the experience you need, you can then begin to include a number of different props or models within your jewelry photoshoots. However, it is important to remember that such shoots are more effective for magazine covers and editorials and as a result should not be used to showcase the product itself.
- Consider All Reflections
One of the most difficult aspects when it comes to taking photos of your jewelry is the reflection. Gemstones are metals such as silver, gold and platinum can be extremely difficult to get a great photo of due to their reflective surfaces. It takes a considerable amount of practice in order to get the perfect photo without reflections. Here is a tip to help you reduce and completely remove the influence of reflections on your photo.
Start by placing your jewelry on a flat surface of your choice and position two studio lights, one on either side of the item. Make sure you diffuse both of the lights using umbrellas and use a roll of high-quality spotless white paper both behind and underneath the piece of jewelry. For added effect, you can also attach paper to the bottom of your camera lens in order to block off any potential reflection. This set up will help you to fill your frame with light, without the impact of reflections. It is important to remember that when you’re first getting started you are going to have reflections on your shoots. This is something to be aware of and something that you will begin to overcome as you grow and develop your skill set. Over time, you will eventually remove all reflections and that’s when you will begin to take those ‘perfect’ images that you’re aiming for.
- Develop Your Photo Editing Skills
If you aim to create the best looking photography in the market, it is important that you develop your photo editing skills. A poor quality edit is one of the best ways to completely ruin a photo. Poor photos not only degrade the quality of your jewelry, but also work to destroy your customers trust in the product itself. Take a class in a software such as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, or if you have an extra budget you can always hire a professional to complete the editing work for you. To speed up editing in the future, you can create a number of templates that consistently work to crop, set margins, and align your product images. Remember that when you’re creating your product portfolio consistency is key. Ensuring that all of your images make use of the same format helps to ensure that your products are of a high quality. If a potential customer visits your page and believes it looks messy, they are likely to leave the site without even considering a purchase.
photo Koshy Koshy
- Be Aware Of and Understand White Balance
Now, you may have heard of this phrase before, but what exactly is white balance? White balance is ensuring that no other colours impact your white lighting, such as a yellow or orange lightbulb. If your white balance is off, you may see white gold as yellow gold, which can be deceiving to the customer. Gemstones may also appear inaccurate, which can result in poor reviews, especially when a customer is dissatisfied with the product they have received.
Before you start any photoshoot, make sure that your what balance is set as accurately as possible so that you can capture the exact colours of each piece of jewelry. You can do this manually, although many cameras will have an automatic mode to ensure that you get the highest quality results.
- Make Sure You Get Images of Each Aspect Of The Jewelry
A common mistake for many individuals who are new to the market, is that they overuse a shallow depth of field. Whilst this is a great way to create art-like pictures, it will not provide you with the end result that you are looking to achieve. When using wide apertures, you are only able to get an in-depth image of one part of the product. This is particularly problematic for your customers, as they will want to see more detailed aspects of the jewelry that you are selling. Make sure that you take a wide range of photos, some of which should include sharp, detailed images, which helps the customer gain a better understanding of what they are looking to buy.
By following these 5 tips, you will soon be producing perfect images of your jewelry in no time at all!
Author: Here Kitt
