The market for jewellery photography is growing each day. Photographing jewellery is a profitable, fun, and rewarding endeavor.
And, if you’re looking for ways and tips that will make your products look beautiful and sell them better then you’re in the right place. This write-up is to help you capture great jewellery shots for attracting more and more customers and increasing your sales.
Types of Jewellery Photography
Before we can begin with the tip and which deals with clicking the best jewellery photos, the first thing to consider is that jewellery photography can be of two types. These two types include different techniques and different requirements.
- Product and E-commerce Photography
This is the first type of Jewellery photography. Product & e-commerce photography are the pictures that you get to see in the product catalogs on online shopping websites. The images are clicked on a solid colored, seamless background. And, only the piece of jewellery is highlighted.
- Editorial Photography
This type of Jewellery Photography can be seen in the advertisements of pieces of jewellery or the TVCs and they are more creative than the pictures in product and E-commerce Photography. Editorial Photography of jewellery mostly features jewellery in a lifestyle environment or often features a model.
Important tips for jewellery Photography
To click great pictures of jewellery that attracts customers and increase sales here are some tips that you need to follow:
- Choose the Right Camera for clicking jewelry pictures
You must be wondering about which camera be used for taking the pictures of your products. Luckily, in the case of Photographing jewellery, the camera is not the most significant part unlike in other genres. As clicking pictures of jewellery is a still-life endeavor you do not need to push the limits of your camera.
For e-commerce and catalog photos where you need to click standard images of the product, the megapixel count will not matter so much. The images will be small or just for online use. Some photographers prefer using Compact cameras or Point and shoot cameras. However, Amy’s mid-level DSLR will be perfect for e-commerce jewellery photos.
In the case of editorials, Choosing the camera becomes significant. It depends on whether the pictures will be for print or digital mode, or whether they will be shot outdoors or in a studio space. In this case, the needs of the clients need to be satisfied and the megapixel count can matter. So, for editorial shoots, you will need a medium to high-end DSLR. The larger the megapixel count the better is going to be the pictures in print or digital mode. You can find quite a few high megapixel cameras newly launched in a low price range.
- Use a tripod
For still-life photography like clicking pictures of jewellery, using a tripod can be beneficial. It will help in adjusting the focus very easily. And, you can also lower your shutter speed and ISO as much as you want to reduce or avoid noise. However, in the case of an editorial or lifestyle catalog, you can skip the tripod. Just stick to the commercial photography rules and keep your work sharp.
- Choosing the right lens for jewellery photography
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In jewellery photography, the camera body might not be very significant but the lens is. The lens can either make or break your photograph.
When clicking pictures of pieces of jewellery, you need to make sure that it looks as true to life as possible.
In the case of an editorial or lifestyle catalog, you have the freedom to be creative. However, you need to take care that the product looks accurate.
You can go for standard lenses which are also known as normal lenses they make the photos look roughly similar to what it appears through naked eyes. The image of the product looks natural to the viewer.
Standard lenses generally have an angle view of 50 to 55 degrees diagonally. These lenses are very user-friendly as the photographer doesn’t have to factor in any form of distortion.
The popular choice for jewellery photography is macro lenses. With microlenses, you can click the pictures of the smallest objects from a very close distance. Thus, it is considered the most appropriate lens for jewellery photography.
- Invest in the correct lighting equipment
Just like the lens the lighting setup is also going to impact the jewellery photos.
Using of continuous or ring light softbox is mostly preferable for these photoshoots. Using continuous flash can affect the images.
Right Lights is a brilliant choice for jewellery photography as it lights up the rim of the object. And a softbox can help in achieving even, nice & soft light.
The lighting has to be accurate in any sort of product photography. As mentioned earlier, you get some amount of creative freedom in editorial photography, so, you can even use natural lighting in that case.
- Settings that should be used for jewellery photography
Just like still life photography the settings for jewellery photography are also quite simple.
As the objects do not move you can set your camera on one-shot mode. With one-shot mode, you don’t have to worry about focus shifting and you can have a smooth jewellery photo session.
Mostly you won’t prefer noise in your photographs. In that case, you can use a tripod and reduce the ISO and shutter speed as much as you can to get noise-free images.
For Aperture, f/8 is preferable for getting a deeper depth of field. This also brings out the intricate details in the photograph.
If you prefer more detailed photos, go for shallow depth of field. Using a shallow depth of field will help in highlighting the details that you want to be focused on in the photos and blur away the other parts in form of bokeh.
Case of editorial photography things will differ according to what you are shooting. If you are shopping with a model you need to focus on the settings that are appropriate for portrait photography as well as jewellery photography.
- Prevent contortion lenses
Using the wrong lens can bring wrong shots of the jewellery. When you click a picture of the product the last thing you want is any viewpoint contortion. To get the right picture, you need to stick to the standard lens. In the case of product photography, using a wide-angle lens might seem logical but unfortunately, it’s not. With an angle view of around 50 to 55 degrees diagonally, using a standard lens can help you get the right shot. At the end of the day, what matters the most are the pictures that will be used for marketing the product.
- Beware of incorrect lighting or white balance
Product Photography involves the significance of using accurate colours and it is very vital. Especially with something as delicate as jewellery, colouring and lighting are very important. The initial pictures used for marketing the product are the ultimate reason why customers would want to buy the jewellery. If the colour is not similar to the picture shown on the website or magazine, customers are likely to be disappointed. Make sure that your studio includes lights that give out true white light.
These lights are often termed as “photography toned bulbs”. The resultant pictures will come out perfectly if there is the utilization of true white light as it does not cause any sort of color tints like the fluorescent lights. Adjust your settings according to the lightings in your studio. Make sure that you have compatible lighting which will allow you to keep the white balance consistent.
- Simple setup
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You do not need to have an extravagant setup to click product pictures. The only thing that it will do is complicate the procedure even more. Having a homely environment can also work well for jewellery photography. The only photography essentials that you will require are your lights, the camera, lens, and a white surface backdrop. The same thing goes for editorial photos of jewellery. Don’t let the background element of the pictures be too severe. A simple frame will work the best.
- Check the reflections
Jewelry has a mellow surface, almost glass-like, which can reflect light in disturbing ways. Due to this, the whole setup can get messed up and will result in reflection. The last thing you want is the reflection of your gear as an interference. It will only make it worse when the camera lens reflection is right at the center of the picture. The best suggestion would be to use ring lights for clicking jewellery pictures. They put light only at the rim of the item which can lessen the reflections. Otherwise, you have to edit out the reflections which will take a lot of time.
- Detailed shots
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In Product Photography, particularly jewellery, detailed shots are very crucial for marketing. Most of the time while capturing the bigger pictures we tend to leave the important features. You cannot skip detailed pictures at any cost. To you have a clear picture of the jewellery product, customers need to look at the detailed shots. Don’t wait until the client asks you to give them detailed shots as from the point of view of a photographer, every picture that holds the essential features of the product is very vital.
- Faulty frames should be avoided
Marketing jewellery depends more on its background elements and product definitions. Therefore, to hold onto the key background elements you cannot keep the object too busy with the other background props. The lesser the complications in the frame, the better the picture. Remember, that you cannot make the background story too oppressive. Keep the frame as simple as possible.
- Clean the product
Products, especially jewellery, need to be cleaned from time to time. If you don’t clean the jewellery before the photoshoot, you are making the silliest error. Jewellery isn’t as big as other products which makes it difficult to edit out the smudges that are formed due to dust. Editing will become very difficult as there are the tiniest details to be focused on. Mainly, you need to be careful about how the jewellery looks under proper lighting. Always keep a cloth with you to clean them whenever they look smudgy. Also while handling the jewellery pieces wear gloves to avoid any fingerprints.
- Right composition
When you think about jewellery photographs the first thing that comes to your mind is a necklace on a ring set on a white or neutral background. However, the composition is still very vital during the photo shoot. You cannot lack behind in the compositional characteristics just because there is a need to take simple pictures. Always walk wording to the rule of thirds and Golden ratio in jewellery photoshoot. Keep in mind that your images are to be rightly focused for at least heavily pitched.
- Spend appropriate time on post-production
Jewellery pictures are feature-oriented. Messy post-filtering work just won’t work for you. Ensure that your Photoshop work is up to the mark with no discolouration or scarcity of cloning. It is also beneficial to see the pictures on a variation of several screens. That way it is easier to find out if there is any sort of mistake in the picture.
- Sharp images
For product marketing, fuzzy or faded-tone pictures won’t do a great job at selling. Emphasize your camera’s focus and the discrepancy that occurs in your pictures. Poor quality pictures can make a bad impression in front of clients and customers. Nobody would want to purchase a fuzzy jewellery set. If the pictures are not properly emphasized and focused, the quality of your client’s products would be at stake.
Jewellery photography is difficult than different types of Product Photography. Capturing shots of shimmery objects without unnecessary reflection is not an easy job to do. Moreover, you need to be very careful with the life and adjust it according to the type of picture to be taken. Like any other genre of Product Photography, jewellery photography also requires practice and motivation.