Jewelry Photography

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Hello all!
Just wondering if anyone can offer some tips on photographing Jewelry.
Mainly Silver rings, chains and pendants, and collectible items.. Gem stones etc for a couple of clients.

Read online, but the available material seems limited.
i will be using 2 strobes & 1 sb700 flash (if needed)
looking for any advice on lighting, positioning of the items, post processing etc

for anyone who may have missed me, lol, i quit my earlier job, went out of the country for a holiday to Dubai (will post pics soon) & my studio is almost completed..i just started work and been slowly spreading word of my interest in photography :)
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
my guess is to find a source for the jewelry box ring holders and use a good macro lens...but you already knew that I'm sure. My appraisals were taken using nothing more than a coolpix type camera and a little counter top backdrop. The pictures turned out great!
 

Vixen

Senior Member
I want to photograph my own personal jewellery. I am going to buy a black plastic hand off eBay for photographing my rings, or maybe some ring cones. One of my local jewellers has her necklaces displayed on ceramic bottles and I have to say it displays them well, so would also be a nice idea for photographing them. I have one of those small light tents that has 2 small lights either side.

I posted this pic yesterday of a couple of silver rings I made on the weekend. I photographed them on black perspex so you get the reflection as well. I thought they came up well

15A_9604_webshot.jpg

I also took one last year using a nice box as a prop. Plenty of scope when it comes to jewellery
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Thanks Vixen & SonicBuffalo
For this shoot, the client needs no props & nothing other than a white background :)
although it makes things easier in a way, it makes it a little difficult too..
shooting silver & reflective stuff on white with minimal or no reflections maybe challenging.

Alex koloskov has a 22 hour video course on jewelry photography & post, but it costs a ridiculous amount of money.. something like $600 or so !!!

Jewelry photography tips - how to take pictures of jewelry
Jewelry Photography - How to photograph fine jewelry including diamonds, pearls, gemstones and precious metals

2 detailed articles i found if it might help anyone
 

Mike150

Senior Member
You might also consider building a soft light box. There are plenty of examples on youtube.

These can diffuse the light evenly to eliminate glares and shadows.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I've shot quita a bit... with a white table-top setup and a couple of simple fluorescent floods at 5500ºK... You'll get frustrated quick enough with strobes, and start looking for fixed lighting...
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
Thanks Vixen & SonicBuffalo
For this shoot, the client needs no props & nothing other than a white background :)
although it makes things easier in a way, it makes it a little difficult too..
shooting silver & reflective stuff on white with minimal or no reflections maybe challenging.

Alex koloskov has a 22 hour video course on jewelry photography & post, but it costs a ridiculous amount of money.. something like $600 or so !!!

Jewelry photography tips - how to take pictures of jewelry
Jewelry Photography - How to photograph fine jewelry including diamonds, pearls, gemstones and precious metals

2 detailed articles i found if it might help anyone

Great articles....I did see the appriaser using some sort of light tent. Of course he used a tripod. I don't know about the Diamond Dazzler lights, but if I were shooting jewelry professionally, I would definitely use one. Thanks for the informative articles, many good points I haven't thought of.
 

Vixen

Senior Member
Thanks Vixen & SonicBuffalo
For this shoot, the client needs no props & nothing other than a white background :)
although it makes things easier in a way, it makes it a little difficult too..
shooting silver & reflective stuff on white with minimal or no reflections maybe challenging.

Alex koloskov has a 22 hour video course on jewelry photography & post, but it costs a ridiculous amount of money.. something like $600 or so !!!

Jewelry photography tips - how to take pictures of jewelry
Jewelry Photography - How to photograph fine jewelry including diamonds, pearls, gemstones and precious metals

2 detailed articles i found if it might help anyone

Ah, see, you neglected to mention this in your original post ;)

I would look at a light tent. They are cheap enough to buy, mine was AU$20. You could go solid white gloss perspex sheet which may cost you another AU$30 (what my 2 sheets of black cost) and you'll get a nice white background and maybe a little bit of reflection, or maybe a matte white if NO reflections wanted. No props makes it harder because jewellery display props are designed to show jewellery at it's best. They will create shadows tho and light and shadow will be the hardest bit to get right I'm guessing.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Thanks again everyone..
All i have are strobes, so continuous lighting is not an option i can think of now.

Regarding the lightbox, am wondering if that would be necessary as i would be using pretty large softboxes with decent diffusion material on them (from elinchrom)?
 
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