Ever wondered how to take nice pictures of the jewelry? Photography can be something very difficult if you don’t know what you are doing, especially with jewelry. Jewelry is hard to photograph because it is small and without proper set up can look dull and bland. So we sat down with Amelia who is a photographer and takes all the photos for our instagram account (you should check them out). She gave us some tips on how to take amazing photos of jewelry.
What is your background in photography?
I am a portrait and wedding photographer, still relatively new to photography. I got my first camera for Christmas in 2017, and I've been practicing ever since! I mainly shoot couples and families, and I have recently started doing a lot of jewelry photography as well.
How to get started
First off, get a camera! You can't really practice without one. Then I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos and looking up different camera setting to learn what everything did. I only shoot in manual mode, which means I am adjusting all of my settings manually to get the exact look I want.
Next, you will need some equipment. In addition to a camera and a lens that allows you to get a nice tight shot of tiny rings, the best thing I have found to take jewelry pictures with is a lightbox. This gets plenty of light into the stones, which really makes the rings look nice in photographs. You can buy a lightbox on Stuller, or other jewelry supply websites. You may also want some small props such as ring boxes, flowers, colored paper, etc., to add some interest to your pictures.
What type of camera do you have (and how important is having a nice camera?)?
I have a Canon T6 which is a pretty basic starter DSLR camera. For my jewelry shots, I just use the basic kit lens that came with it. I'm sure I could get better pictures if I had more expensive gear, but honestly it's more important to know how to properly use the camera you have than it is to have the nicest, most expensive camera. If you don't know what you're doing, getting an expensive camera isn't going to make your pictures look nice automatically. I am glad I have started out with a cheaper camera, it has been great to learn with and now I feel like I could handle a more expensive, fancier camera. Taking good pictures is more about the photographer, and less about the gear, although nice gear does help.
Special tips for jewelry photography
Even if you don't have a lightbox, make sure you are getting plenty of light onto the jewelry. I've found that using a small reflector, such as a sheet of tinfoil, helps to bounce light into the stones and give them a lot more sparkle.
Also when you choose a focus point, make sure you are focusing on the center stone. Our eyes are immediately drawn to a center tones, so that is the most important part of a ring to get in focus, unless you are trying to showcase a certain part of the ring or jewelry piece instead.