Jewelry photography advice

Jewelry Discussion
1

can anyone give me advice on digital jewelry photography? I want to
take pictures myself. what kind of lighting is best? can anyone
recommend a good digital camera? any info is greatly appreciated,
thank you.

Related Readings:
Ganoksin’s Library > Jewelry Photography

2

I just simply use my “old” 3.2 megapixel digital camera, outside in
the shade, no flash, on gray foamboard. The gray foamboard isn’t as
harsh as white background. I use the close up feature on my digital
camera, and my photos turn out pretty nice. I don’t know that they
are jury quality, but I will say they are nice than most I’ve seen on
on the internet. Give that a try and see how it works.

Miachelle

3

Marya.

I think sometimes the easiest way is the best. Since I am a jeweler
and not a photographer. Back in the days when I was still using
film, setting up a place to take pictures was a use of real estate I
couldn’t afford. So I took very few pictures. Now I use a Olympus
digital camera that has a great close up lens. I take my pictures
outside. Natural light is better suited for my needs then setting up
lights. On cloudy days I can just shoot as is. On sunny days I need
a filter, as the sunlight will make pieces too shiny, and there are
bounces of blue from the sky or green from the garden. I found an
lamp on the curb that had a 12 inch frosted plastic shade. I removed
the shade, (think like half a ball). The hole in the top is perfect
for the camera to fit, and the digital screen shows me what is
there. It’s quick and easy, I can go to my computer to download my
pictures and see if they work for me, and if not I go back out and
find a better location. You can go to my website www.agte.com and
look at the half moon earrings or the when water meets the sky
earrings to see how well this dome idea works.

Yours Truly,
Elizabeth R. Agte
Jewelry Artist
www.agte.com

4 
I just simply use my "old" 3.2 megapixel digital camera, outside
in the shade, no flash, on gray foamboard. The gray foamboard isn't
as harsh as white background. I use the close up feature on my
digital camera, and my photos turn out pretty nice. I don't know
that they are jury quality, but I will say they are nice than most
I've seen on on the internet. Give that a try and see how it works.

Wow - I’m impressed! Can you post an example for reference? I’m
using a 4.0 Olympus with varying degrees of success. I’ve had good
results on black background, as well as backlit (basically shooting
indoors against a window on a sunny day with an opaque sheet of white
paper - works well for earrings that can hang but much more difficult
for necklaces that need support to position properly). I then do some
adjustments in Photoshop. I recently purchased an ez-cube with 2
day-light flourescents but it doesn’t seem to offer sufficient
amount of light - I’ve not been impressed. Perhaps as the weather
dries a bit I’ll try some outdoor shots as you suggest.

-Meredith

5

If you go to my website, www.cosmpolitanaccessories.net, you can see
the differences in my learning experiences. The bracelet in the top
left corner is an example of shooting on gray foamboard in the shade.
On my photo gallery page and my shopping page you can see the
difference in my attempts to shoot using flash at close up, sunlight,
and then the shade photographs. I definitely am a firm believer in
the shade technique.

But I’m also “lucky”…I live in Arizona, and we’re in a 113+ day
drought…nothing but sunny days to photograph in!

6

For last 2 years I use Canon 4.0 mega pixels and I find it great. It
has a macro setting for small object and when I photograph new
designs, I don’t use flash.

Danuta

7

Hi Elizabeth,

You suggested we go to your site and see how your photos work – I
loved seeing your work, really nice! and the way you use some
creative backgrounds. But, on my monitor, many of the photos seem a
bit dim.

Do you have Photoshop? Most photos can use a bit of tweaking – my
MOST VALUBLE trick is to open an image in Photoshop, go to IMAGE,
then ADJUSTMENTS, then CURVES. When the “curve” box opens, grip the
middle of the “curve” and pull up and down in tiny increments. What
you want to do is to open up (lighten) the midtones. (the middle
range in value where your photos can lose contrast or get dark) Make
sure the “preview” box is checked so you can see the image change as
you make adjustments.

You can do the same thing in IMAGE/ADJUSTMENTS/LEVELS, moving the
little arrow sliders back and forth. (the middle arrow is midtones.)
Play and experiment with the CURVES or LEVELS adjustments controls
and you’ll find them invaluable. Once one gets experienced with one
of these controls, it just takes seconds to open and image, adjust,
save, close.

I’m on a Mac, probably this works the same on a PC? (I don’t know if
Photoshop lite version also has these controls.)

Carolyn
(Sadly, still better at Photoshop than at metalsmithing…)

8

I use a Nikon D50 digital SLR, I am a big fan of being able to do
everything on manual while being able to take as many frames as I
want. I had another digital camera before and just couldn’t get the
photos I wanted without being able to control my shutter speed and
aperture. I do use natural light most of the time, gray background,
and sometimes use translucent paper or fabric to diffuse light and
eliminate shadows or spots that are incredibly shiney. I also use a
tripod so I can use really slow shutter speeds. I do experiment a lot
and continue to find ways I like better.

beth