Jewellery is
very difficult to photograph as it reflects maximum light that it receives due
to its shiny high-finish glossy surfaces, gemstones and diamonds. Taking good
quality pictures of jewelry for most is an unsolved mystery. The key
elements of table top jewellery photography consist of sharpness, lighting, maintaining white balance, elimination
of unnecessary shadows and creating some sparkle in case of gemstones. There
are some simple techniques used by the professional photographers to obtain
dramatic results with minimal effort.
The set-up: The solution to Jewellery photography is the use of an
enclosed lighting system. The enclosed system wraps even and balanced
light around the entire product you’re photographing. The advantages include an
even distribution of light, consistent natural lighting, elimination of
glare, and illumination of hard to reach spots. Accessories such as true color
daylight balanced compact fluorescent bulbs, a special diamond dazzler LED bulb
to light up the diamonds and faceted stones, a tripod, Mx- Photo Box are key to
sharp images.
Diffused Lighting: When illuminating
jewelry, you have to make sure never to expose it to light directly, as direct
light will be reflected on the jewelry, and will create hot spots and shadows.
You have probably already discovered that an on-camera flash does not lead to
good jewelry photos. Not only is the camera's flash too bright at such a close
distance, but it is probably in the wrong position to actually light up the
jewelry properly. On camera flash will also create harsh and distracting
shadows. Rather than flash, we like to use continuous lighting for product
photography. Using continuous lights makes it easier to visualize what the
final image will be like.
Continuous natural daylight lighting:
The key is to use continuous natural light which has the ability to evenly and
accurately reproduce all the spectacular colors found in the different elements
of jewelry. Therefore, for photographing jewelry use fluorescent daylight
light. Fluorescent compact bulbs provide nice, natural-colored light and they
produce very little heat so they can be left on for long photo sessions without
over heating the photographer.
White Balance: Maintaining white balance can be a
much of a task but a definite way out to successful product photography.
You need to be able to program the white balance setting on your camera.
Although many cameras will come with pre-program options or presets you need at
least one custom white balance option. This means that the camera can
"read" and self-adjust itself to be able to take pictures under many
light conditions. If your camera cannot perform this custom adjustment, it’s
very likely that you’ll end up with badly colored product pictures, especially
if you are trying to take pictures of products against a white background.
You’ll likely end up with all kinds of color variations: yellow, blue, magenta,
green etc.
Avoiding unnecessary shadows and
reflections: When photographing
jewelry, there are certain shadows and reflections that might be necessary to
create a three-dimensional look. Yet, there are other reflections and shadows
that are unnecessary and that you want to avoid in order to have a photograph
that presents your jewelry in the best way possible. The first thing you need
to understand about reflections and shadows is how they are produced and why
they appear or exist and then work on lighting to have the desired effect.
Positioning
your jewelry - using different jewelry accessories: There are many
accessories you can use to hold jewelry items while photographing. Jewelry
accessories will help you position rings, earrings, pendants, loose stones,
diamonds and other pieces in various positions and angles in order to get a
photograph from the perspective you desire.
