Tips from a Novice Jewelry Photographer
Published On: 12-11-2011 08:10pm
Comments: 2 - Hits: 59
Category: Craft Talk
I learned a
lot of lessons in photographing jewelry over these past several years and it wasn’t expensive thanks
to digital technology. Did a lot of reading and got some advice from
friends. Re-photographed my products dozens of times trying to get a good image.
So, I thought I would pass on some things I learned. I know I still need improvement but I have come a long way.
1. Using a white background for jewelry works best. I use white satin fabric.
2. I try to lay my jewelry so that no shadows are created; just lay them flat or for example on a necklace display.
3. For lighting, I use two lights at either side of the art work and adjust the angle as needed for best lighting.
a. I use two lamps that are inexpensive. Lowe's Hardware.
b. The light bulbs I use are the fluorescent type with a color temperature of 5000K; this simulates outside light or natural lighting. Bulbs can be found at hardware store or craft stores, the color temperature should be stated on the packaging.
c. I found that on certain gemstones I can see the light bulb right on the gem. So, I diffuse the light by taping a paper towel over the light on both lamps. The lamps get warm but just make sure you don’t leave the napkins on too long.
d. Sometimes I can even see my reflection off of a shiny gemstone which shows up on the image. This is hard to correct, so I just take the picture at different angles to reduce my reflection off the stone and I wear white gloves and a white long sleeve shirt. All light will reflect off you onto your jewelry.
4. I have a mini photo station set up in my craft room. Using a white milk crate that is lined at the top and sides with something white, like mat board or cloth. This is very inexpensive and gets the job done.
5. A tripod is necessary, Radio Shack, $15 for a small tripod, works great; I use it all the time.
6. My camera is a 16 MB, digital Panasonic point-and-shoot camera.
7. Settings for the camera are: manual, no flash, macro mode, and 28 mm lens (my camera has the 28 mm but most of the point-and shoot cameras have 35mm). I found that trying to zoom in on the jewelry by adjusting the camera to 70 mm doesn’t focus very well and comes out blurry. So, I leave it on 28 mm. I adjust the aperture and speed manually since I don’t like using the flash, because this camera tends to overexpose my art work especially sterling silver. If you have a more sophisticated digital camera, you may be able to use Auto, but you need to experiment.
8. Using a prop, doesn't work for me and using a fancy background doesn't work for me either, just a white background for all of my jewelry photos. Sometimes I place my jewelry on an agate rock, but I think it is still too distracting. Although, I have seen some people use props that work well, but it just doesn't seem to work for me.
9. A mistake that I just recently made and telling you to avoid, is that my Panasonic camera is red. I wasn't thinking when I bought the camera; I just liked the red metal. I should have bought the silver metal version. However, depending on what your shooting, the red metal doesn't always show up on my jewelry; when it does pose a problem, then I just use a white sheet of paper with a hole in it and place it over my camera.
Well, I think that’s it. Hope this helps out my fellow crafters. Good luck.
©2012 DianesDangles, LLC All rights reserved
So, I thought I would pass on some things I learned. I know I still need improvement but I have come a long way.
1. Using a white background for jewelry works best. I use white satin fabric.
2. I try to lay my jewelry so that no shadows are created; just lay them flat or for example on a necklace display.
3. For lighting, I use two lights at either side of the art work and adjust the angle as needed for best lighting.
a. I use two lamps that are inexpensive. Lowe's Hardware.
b. The light bulbs I use are the fluorescent type with a color temperature of 5000K; this simulates outside light or natural lighting. Bulbs can be found at hardware store or craft stores, the color temperature should be stated on the packaging.
c. I found that on certain gemstones I can see the light bulb right on the gem. So, I diffuse the light by taping a paper towel over the light on both lamps. The lamps get warm but just make sure you don’t leave the napkins on too long.
d. Sometimes I can even see my reflection off of a shiny gemstone which shows up on the image. This is hard to correct, so I just take the picture at different angles to reduce my reflection off the stone and I wear white gloves and a white long sleeve shirt. All light will reflect off you onto your jewelry.
4. I have a mini photo station set up in my craft room. Using a white milk crate that is lined at the top and sides with something white, like mat board or cloth. This is very inexpensive and gets the job done.
5. A tripod is necessary, Radio Shack, $15 for a small tripod, works great; I use it all the time.
6. My camera is a 16 MB, digital Panasonic point-and-shoot camera.
7. Settings for the camera are: manual, no flash, macro mode, and 28 mm lens (my camera has the 28 mm but most of the point-and shoot cameras have 35mm). I found that trying to zoom in on the jewelry by adjusting the camera to 70 mm doesn’t focus very well and comes out blurry. So, I leave it on 28 mm. I adjust the aperture and speed manually since I don’t like using the flash, because this camera tends to overexpose my art work especially sterling silver. If you have a more sophisticated digital camera, you may be able to use Auto, but you need to experiment.
8. Using a prop, doesn't work for me and using a fancy background doesn't work for me either, just a white background for all of my jewelry photos. Sometimes I place my jewelry on an agate rock, but I think it is still too distracting. Although, I have seen some people use props that work well, but it just doesn't seem to work for me.
9. A mistake that I just recently made and telling you to avoid, is that my Panasonic camera is red. I wasn't thinking when I bought the camera; I just liked the red metal. I should have bought the silver metal version. However, depending on what your shooting, the red metal doesn't always show up on my jewelry; when it does pose a problem, then I just use a white sheet of paper with a hole in it and place it over my camera.
Well, I think that’s it. Hope this helps out my fellow crafters. Good luck.
©2012 DianesDangles, LLC All rights reserved
Reader's Comments
By botanicalsforbeauty on 05/05/2012 @ 03:18pm
Great tips Diane. Sounds like some of the problems I have been having. It's amazing how sensitive these cameras can be. finding the right lighting and positioning of the light is really tough. so you don't use Ott lights. Many people swear by them. Why don't you post this in the forum or at least say: Photo tips and put the link out there. I am photographing packaging and some of the same thing applies. But I haven't seemed to had problems with the color of my clothes or anything like some people say. Mostly it's glare, cropping so it looks good square and lighting issues (too dark, to over exposed or the opposite too under exposed), Thanks for writing this.
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By FireSpiritBeadsandSupplies on 05/06/2012 @ 08:38am
Laura, from Botanicals for Beauty gave me the link to this article. It has some very good pointers and at least let's people know that they don't have to have a lot of expensive equipment to take good pictures! :D Good article! Thanks for sharing :)