I suggest f/8. Product images that are soft or fuzzy wont sell very well. There are plenty of other angles that you could photographjust remember to stay consistent! For each piece, take details of all sides. Download your free 30-page e-book revealing my go-to lighting setups from 25+ years as a professional photographer. Once this is complete, you can simply continue with any other post production work you had planned. There are two types of colour modes CMYK and SRGB. As you can see, the left image has a short depth of field and the focus falls off fairly fast, the further the product is to the camera. While these lenses are great for photographing lifes moments, they arent suitable for smaller objects like rings or earrings.
Have a simple clean background on all of your product images. You can use shallow depth of field to bring attention to details of the jewelry and blur the background. As with the necklaces, I used a bare bulb point light source as my key light. The image above is the final photograph of the diamond necklace. Add a tripod, and you can afford to use a lower ISO number and shutter speed to reduce noise. The depth of field choice gives you stylistic opportunities when it comes to taking jewelry images. This will be the case, but there is a significant disadvantage. Pay attention to reflections and prepare to move lights around until you find the perfect configuration. Only once I was happy with the background choice and positioning of each shot did I start experimenting with my lighting. It is a terrible experience for the shopper if they are looking for something that is gold and the item actually turns out to be silver. Remember, youre selling jewelry! So if you only have a black jewelry bust, cover it with a white cloth and then take your photo. What to Sell Online: How to Choose the Right Products to Sell, 7 Easy Steps To Build An Unforgettable Ecommerce Brand, Product Photography Tips: Increase Sales With Great Product Images, When it comes to photographing jewelry, a lot of. So think about colour, textures and shape and how this will work with the styling of your image. Instead of dealing with harsh lighting, photograph your jewelry in soft, natural sunlight streaming in from a window or in soft, artificial studio lighting. Embracing these principles in jewelry product photography, can really help boost the professional look of your website and hopefully, boost your product sales! Dont make the story-telling elements of your image too overwhelming; keep the frame simple. Not only does it really showcase how your products can be worn but it also can help to build your brand image for your ideal customer. For still life product images like jewelry, youll want to use a tripod. The result will be the correct colour. The second necklace I shot was far less textured rather, it was smooth, polished metal with two diamonds. With a model, you will likely keep in tune with the requirements for portrait photography! Love the simplicity that highlights the awesome beads. A big benefit to the macro lens is the fact that their focusing limit is very close to the glass. It is hard as a shopper to visualise an item if you only provide one photo. Sloppy post-processing work just wont fly! For each shoot, I experimented with the light placement, testing the effect of moving the light closer and further away, left and right, and up and down. As for white balance, check your settings and ensure you adjust according to the lighting you are using. Editorial photography is the jewelry advertisement and is a lot more creative.
With Instagram and Pinterest being so popular with consumers, they rely on shopping via photos. Aring light is brilliant for jewelry photography lighting because they light the rim of the object. Privacy Policy Terms of Use, Youll learn how to create attention-grabbing photos in a few simple steps, In this 15 minute video you will learn about, Do you have paintings at home that you'd like to share online? What you need to do is choose one style for your jewelry photos and stick with it!
You can set the white balance manually, but we recommend simply setting your camera to automatic white balance mode; this will allow your camera to recognize the type of light source (natural sunlight, light bulb, flash, etc.) Working with models can be expensive but it can really pay off. Get photography inspiration, photography tips and special offers straight to your inbox from Karl Taylor Education. It is especially important to provide a photo in-context when it comes to jewelry as it is challenging to know how big (or small) the product really is.
You want to avoid this as much as possible as when it is online, the shopper wont be able to see the detail. Instead of using a macro lens, I used, To bring out some more colour in the blue gemstone, I then added a, In fact, in the first shoot, I could almost certainly have achieved the same results with. CMYK is used for printing and SRGB is for online use. These are some of the common mistakes that you dont want to make: Clean your items and polish them before you start shooting. Nothing looks worse than a gorgeous emerald ring with a camera lens reflection right in the centre. Note that this doesnt create the focus stack, it only aligns the opened images and makes sure they are all the same magnification. As with the previous shot, I created a smooth gradient light by shining a light through the acrylic sheet before placing white panels in front and above. Before you start thinking aboutlens choice or lighting, you first need to decide what background to use. Harsh lighting is a big mistake in jewelry product photography. Karl Taylor Education, Unit 11, Les Caches Business Park, Guernsey, GY4 6PH, UK - Tel +44 (0)1481 233222, All website content Copyright Karl Taylor Photography. Unfortunately, this doesnt work for product photography. Check out our full section of Jewellery Photography classes. And when it comes to lighting, you dont necessarily need expensive modifiers. We, 2. It is important to get the colors of your products to look as accurate as possible. All you need is a solid surface, a white paper backdrop, your camera, lens, and lights!
You dont want disappointed clients if the product(s) they receive dont match up. It depends on whether your photoshoot is for print or online, outdoors or in a studio. They light the rim of the object and can make it easier to hide reflections. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Instead, remember to remove all tags, strings, and stickers from your product before you photograph it. Once youve nailed your setup, check out these seven simple things you need for photographing jewelry. Luckily, many newer cameras have high megapixels at somewhat lower costs. Showing the effect of the addition of the picolite on the diamonds. If anything, overcomplicating will be to your detriment. The image on the right keeps all of the product in relatively sharp focus, even the areas that are farthest away from the camera. I decided to create a sort of light tent, which I did by adding reflector cards. So the key to successfully photographing rings is ensuring you minimise any reflections. Everyones screens (phone, computer, television, etc.) Watches, rings and necklaces all present photographers with challenges. All three of these product image styles are appropriately clean and uncluttered. It makes it easier to adjust focus points and depth-of-field (aperture); You can drop to much lower shutter speed and ISO to avoid or reduce noise. At this fixed zoom, you can set your camera up a small distance from the subject, and the magnification will appear half life size (or 0.5x), which is ideal for photographing jewelry. This disadvantage has a lot to do with depth of field. Otherwise, youll be sitting in the editing room, removing all those pesky reflections. Use props to present your jewelry in the best way possible. The background is an integral part of your shot, so its important to select the right one. You'd be surprised, but photographing artwork can be quite challenging. are intimidated by how small, shiny and intricate the products can be.
But photographing jewelry can actually be easier than taking photos of larger items because the studio setup is a lot easier to put together. Both of these have different requirements and techniques. Because jewelry doesnt move, you can use a fixed millimetre lens. You then capture a series of images, gradually shifting your focus from the front of the object to the back. Product links on ExpertPhotography are referral links.
So it is important to keep your image size consistent so everything is aligned and easy to browse on your online store. You can use natural light for these, and itll be understandable if the colours may not run completely true. Remember that with natural lighting, you want to use the sun as an indirect light source, so position your product near a window during the day. A macro lens is for photographing small subjects at very close distances. You dont need to. Jewelry photography can be a fun, rewarding, and profitable endeavour. When reflective umbrellas with fabric diffusers attach to flash heads any camera reflections disappear. Photographing jewellery can seem like a daunting task the products are generally small and reflections can make it very difficult to get a good shot but by remembering the techniques covered here, you should be able to get some great results. Minimising reflections is crucial in ring photography especially when you're using multiple lights. With that in mind, lets discuss how to avoid the ten most common pitfalls that jewelry product photographers often fall into, when photographing their products. Detailed photos can work great for campaign shoots but when it comes to your online store, you want to keep it simple to make it easy for the shopper to quickly view and visualize the product on themselves. The top mistake made by jewelry photographers is using the wrong lens. hbspt.cta.load(3112981, 'cf3986d6-d339-4771-b4c9-ade585b8ab28', {}); While most, if not all, imperfections and extraneous details can be removed from your product in post production, that type of advanced editing is time-consuming and requires a fair amount of technical skill. For the rings shoot, I went for a cleaner, simpler look, shooting the two rings together on a, For all three jewellery images, I used my Hasselblad H6 with a 100mm lens (equivalent to about 67mm in 35mm full frame). Make sure that your Photoshop work is on-point, with no colour mistakes or lack of cloning! The gemstone necklace required only basic Photoshop work just some cleaning, removal of dust and scratches, and colour enhancement. As with a built-in flash, bright sunlight will create reflections and harsh shadows, so you may want to diffuse the light. How to create wraparound light for jewellery photography. In fact, its actually best not to hang the jewelry from anything at all, but rather to lay it flat on the white backdrop. If you are unsure, keep it simple. That said, the most common problem is using only a shallow DOF. Many flash lighting setups found on online stores arrive in kits and contain all the necessary accessories like a flash trigger (that attaches to your camera), umbrellas, diffuses and stands. To overcome this issue, I used a technique called focus stacking. Look for a lens that contains the word macro and has a focal length of around 60mm. These images will likely be small or only for online use. For both shots, I directed a bare bulb through a sheet of white acrylic placed behind the product. The key is to know when to dial back and not make the photo too busy. In order to really capture your customers affections, your jewelry product images need to be as sharp and crisp as possible. Keep the Rule of Thirds and Golden Ratio in mind when photographing jewelry. Sounds almost too easy, right? Accurate representation of your product is key, because customers need to be able to learn as much about your product as they possibly can, before they can make a decision about whether or not to purchase it. solutions to common challenges associated with jewellery photography, including controlling reflections on shiny surfaces and working at close magnification. If your lighting isnt great or consistent, your items will look very different in color across your online store. A popular choice for jewelry detail shots are macro lenses. Our guide will help you start capturing those great jewelry shots today. The best way to keep your images simple and clean in order to provide your customers with a seamless shopping experience, is to photograph your products against a white background. For the first class in our jewellery series, I photographed a blue gemstone necklace surrounded by diamonds. The diamond necklace required some composite work (in the video, youll see I took a second shot to introduce some sparkle in the diamonds) while the rings required focus stacking, general cleaning, plus finishing touches. 9. If youre having trouble with reflections, try changing the jewelrys position, or yours, in relation to the light source. It may seem more logical to use a wide angle lens so that you can expand upon the tiny details. When you photograph a product, it should be as true to life as possible. I arranged the acrylic tiles in a floating staircase formation above the slate, with the necklace resting on the top tile. The larger the number of megapixels, the bigger and higher quality the print will be. This take a bit more time to set up but will produce a great photo. To keep everything look consistent, use the same lighting or studio. If you use one of these and buy something, we make a little bit of money. You can learn how to shoot stunning images with our Macro Magic course. This is because I like seeing the lighting as I set it up rather than having to flash continuously. Jewelry is small and has many delicate details to work around. So, how do you photograph jewelry without reflection? Simple shots dont mean slacking on your compositional rules. Develop a template to help you crop and size with accuracy. It can be due to the colour mode. Dont have a mannequin? The reflective property of most jewelry means that it will absorb all other colours, so you should shoot on a white backdrop to avoid altering the colour of the piece. Simplicity is key as you want to show off the product and its details. [Note: ExpertPhotography is supported by readers. Purchasing an entry-level dedicated macro lens will undoubtedly overcome your primary challenge. Its not so much about the camera itself when photographing jewelry but more about the lens. Both of these change the colours slightly depending on the purpose of the mode. Unless youre a very skilled photographer with a very professional studio, take your jewelry product images using natural lighting. On top of that, their diminutive size and the high magnification it demands makes it difficult to achieve sufficient depth of field.
E-commerce and product photography does not require any complicated setup. It also makes your images look less professional. Looking for more? Pay attention to your cameras focus and the contrast that appears in your images.
Its that simple! Photo by Jim Lawson. Most craft stores will sell mannequin busts for necklaces, which are a great way to give your products a nice and realistic shape. To bring out some more colour in the blue gemstone, I then added a picolite with a projection attachment shining directly on to the gemstone. By ensuring my lighting and composition was as close to perfect as I could get it, I was able to minimise the post-production each image required. To avoid this determining effect, opt for a sturdy tripod. The metal in the image on the left appears golden yellow, while the metal in the image on the right appears to be a gradient of colors with blue as the defining color. We recommend shooting at least a straight-on image from the front, an angled image from the front, a close-up detail shot and a top view, as shown above. But the lens will either make or break your jewelry product photography. CookonStrike.
The Arca Swiss tripod plate compatibility ensures you can slide your camera directly onto the top of the tripod ball head with ease and the spirit level will help determine when the tripod is level. With their curved, shiny surfaces, rings reflect everything your base surface, background, even you! To overcome this issue, I used a technique called, Advice & Insight from Top Photography Professionals, Boudoir Photography: Tips, Tricks and Techniques, Choose the Best Lighting Modifier for Your Photography, Architectural Photography: Tips from a Pro, 20 Best Female Poses for Portrait Photography, A professional guide to shooting environmental portraits. A standard macro photography lighting setup should consist of at least two flash heads or continuous lights, one for the left of the subject and the other for the right. The acrylic diffused the light, resulting in a soft, gradient lighting that acted as my main fill light.
Usually, this is labelled as a photography toned bulb. From the File tab, select Scripts and Load Files into Stack. Focus mode: Because the products dont move, you can set your camera to One-Shot mode. If you use a macro lens to photograph jewelry, dont fool yourself into thinking a wider aperture (f2.8 or f4) is going to make your photos look brighter. When it comes to photographing jewelry, a lot of ecommerce store owners are intimidated by how small, shiny and intricate the products can be. I could have achieved a similar result with a very precise snoot. I demonstrate step-by-step shoots for three different pieces of jewellery. To start, open the files in Photoshop. Wear gloves when handling jewelry to prevent finger marks. They mess with your lighting set up, and cause reflections. This will create masks for each layer, detecting which area of each image is in focus, ensuring your whole image is sharp. You will need a mid-level camera or a high-quality professional-grade DSLR. This will prevent camera shake and ensure that your lighting remains correct. Grab a piece of cardboard, cover it in white paper and pin or tape the ends of your necklace to the back. Camera shake is a photographers worst enemy. Jewelry photography is harder than other genres of product photography. Advice & insight from top photography professionals. Choose the Right Camera for Jewelry Photos, Product and e-Commerce Jewelry Photography, 3. For all three jewellery images, I used my Hasselblad H6 with a 100mm lens (equivalent to about 67mm in 35mm full frame). No content on this page may be used or shared by third parties. If you select a large aperture of f2.8, more light enters the lens, but only a small amount of subject ends up in focus. By having an inconsistent background, is it harder for the shopper to easily scan your web store. A large aperture of f2.8 or f4 is therefore not ideal as you wont be able to see the full detail of the entire piece of jewelry. This brings out the intricate details.
I took a number of shots, which I then aligned in Photoshop to create a scene that was sharp all the way through. If you can take high resolution photos and capture the details of the item, you will be able to enable zoom on your online store. They highlight only the jewelry. If you have purchased a DSLR or Mirrorless camera you would no doubt have a kit lens included. The jewelry will reflect the bright light, leaving your product covered in white light spots with harsh shadows in the background, like in the two examples below. Next, select all your layers and from the Edit tab, select Auto Blend Layers and check Stack Images and Seamless Tones and Colors. A pleasing result was achieved using a one light setup. Get insight into product photography, post-production, and eCommerce product image best practices. If you want to read more about aperture, check out our, blog post that explains aperture, ISO and shutter speed for product photography. Jewelry photos are detail-oriented. But I wanted to go further to really add some sparkle to the gemstones. By implementing a guideline for your team on how the images should be taken will also keep to keep images consistent. Photographing small reflective subjects like jewelry can be a tricky or frustrating task if you are starting out as a photographer. This will highlight the detail you want to focus on and let the rest melt away into a creamy bokeh. Direct, contrasty light is notorious for exposing imperfections in products, adding unbecoming shadows, creating unavoidable reflections, and other nuisances that may or may not be able to be fixed in post. Include the details, the clasps, chain and the item being worn. Sometimes we get so focused on the bigger picture, we forget that the details are important. Expert Photography 2011-2022. Placing the light close to the acrylic resulted in a harsh, bright light. A fixed lens is much sharper and generally higher quality than a zoom lens. Are you looking for a way to take photos that will sell your products better and make them look even more beautiful? Any styling adjustment, no matter how small, will have significant repercussions for your lighting. Photographing shiny things without unwanted reflections is not an easy task. You can really help yourself by choosing the right props, surface and background. This will open a dialogue box, where you should choose Add Open Files and Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images. Choose the Right Colour Mode (SRGB vs CMYK). Reflectors can help you even out the shadows by acting a fill light on the opposite side. Also, you have to play with the lights to make them shiny enough.
Better still, if you have the budget, consider a macro lens that will provide a 1:1 (lifesize) representation of the subject. Or using it at inappropriate times. Had the photographer chosen the proper white balance settings for each individual image, the colors would have been the same in both frames. ExpertPhotography is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. July 28th - Register Now. My second light was a small ball of light that I used to create some specularity and sparkle. Watch Out for Inaccurate Lighting or White Balance, 16. That said, there is some creative leeway in editorial photography. In editorial photography there is more leeway on being creative.
You can always adjust the length of the chain with where you choose to clip it, so dont worry too much about the size unless you have a huge piece. As an added lighting sidenote, we recommend that you learn your cameras manual mode, so that you are able to control how much or how little light your camera pulls in to make your pictures. From setup & lighting through to post-processing, We reveal the exact camera & light settings, Print out the cheat sheet & start shooting. Remember when we mentioned consistency? ISO + Shutter Speed: Generally, you want to ensure there is as little noise as possible. to create a white backdrop just use a piece of paper and fold it in half so it stands up. When your images change too often in relation to your other product photos, the lack of consistency confuses and distracts customers, and lowers the professional appearance of your website and business. An easy way to fix this is to have a light above the jewelry product that eliminates the shadows. Aperture: This is where things get a bit more complicated. These two images have neither clean backgrounds nor appropriate white balance. You wont need to worry about locating props or mannequins or live models for your jewelry photography, because props tend only to distract from the product and spoil the clean and professional look you should be going for in your product photos. Also known as normal lenses, standard lenses produce an image that roughly matches what the human eye sees. Which Settings Should You Use for Jewelry Photography? Most jewelry photos feature just a ring or necklace on a white background. Keep the frame simple. But there are a few tricks and techniques you can try that will simplify the process and make your images sparkle. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Karl Taylor Education. Believe it or not, the two images above depict the same exact necklace, but in different lighting situations. Jewelry (and in particular earrings) can really range in size and unfortunately you wont be able to show everything to scale on your eCommerce store otherwise some studs will be so small you may not be able to see them. With e-commerce photography (such as eBay, Amazon, etc.)
See how it all works here.]. The rest of the focus falls off and is referred to as bokeh. By using a reflector, you will have an even lighting without mixing light sources. So many brands dont provide enough images. So I opted for much less textured background surface. So I chose smooth acrylic tiles as well as a more textured piece of slate. Always have a cleaning cloth with you. It will be easier to see if any mistakes pop up. Editorial photography often features a model or jewelry in a lifestyle environment. Once I was satisfied with my lighting, the next problem I had to solve was depth of field. Of course, you dont want all the images to necessarily move but one or two images within a product page can capture the shoppers attention and also show how a product can move. Unfortunately not all of your photos will present as magazine quality to begin with but it will come over time. Using the auto align' feature in Photoshop post-production. All Rights Reserved. To solve the problem of excessive reflection, I employed a similar technique to the one I used with the diamond necklace: I created a conical shaped light tent that covered the rings but still allowed me to shine light through. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. If your lighting isnt great or consistent, your items will look very different in color across your online store. Creativity and Collaboration: are all colour calibrated differently. These are a more affordable alternative and help you achieve the magnification you need. You will not be pushing the limits or boundaries of your camera. Instead of using a macro lens, I used extension tubes. Its that simple! Because I felt these were more in keeping with the broader metal tones of the necklace. The advantage of a tripod ball head is in the fluid movement to obtain a desirable angle. Read our DIY 2 post about how you can take advantage of your camera settings shooting in manual mode. Can you imagine if every time you had a different photographer, you had a different style on your website. I recommend a deeper DOF for the best focus. We also expect that you start getting some great customer feedback about how your excellent photos, improved their shopping experiences. Stick with standard lenses!
Instead of cropping and sizing each photo differently or varying other settings, such as lighting or background colors, you should create a template of guidelines to ensure that each image is taken and edited the same way. That said, to focus stack a series of images in Photoshop is fairly straightforward, because the software does most of the hard work for you. Moving GIFs are not that common on eCommerce stores but they can really add a great effect without taking up a lot of load time like video. Dont skip out on those detail shots. You want something that will enhance your product, not overpower it. Keep in mind that youll still want to adhere to commercial photography guidelines and keep your work looking very sharp. This essential part of the preparation process is easy to overlook, but it will save you a lot of time when it comes to post-production. Consistent, clean background removal services, Seamless and scalable ghost mannequin services, Learn how our color solutions can optimize your studio workflows, High-end photo retouching for campaign images, Retouching for lifestyle and elevated images, Network and learn at our live FLOW events, Hear from experts and thought leaders in ecommerce, Discover companies like yours using Pixelz, Stories from our customers about image editing best practices, Articles on best practices and the latest trends, Trends and indepth reports on the ecommerce industry, Live Webinar Beautiful, high quality photos to showcase these details are essential for a professional, consistent ,and reputable site.
Award-winning training. The more photos you provide, the less customer service questions you will receive and hopefully your conversions will increase! Softboxes exude a nice, soft, and even light. As weve said before, your customers want and need to be able to see your product from all angles, as if theyre examining it and turning it over in their hands, while standing in a physical storefront. 5. The main thing is to keep your camera in a fixed position. It would be very confusing for the consumer as it wouldnt look on brand. When shooting for focus stacking, its important to have your camera locked down. How To Photograph Jewelry A Beginners Guide. Enabling the zoom functionality on your website will allow the shopper to click and enlarge the image to be able to see every part of your item. The focus stacking meant the image of the rings required the most work in Photoshop. When looking to purchase your first macro lens, we recommend choosing a lens with a focal length of 60mm.
Have a simple clean background on all of your product images. You can use shallow depth of field to bring attention to details of the jewelry and blur the background. As with the necklaces, I used a bare bulb point light source as my key light. The image above is the final photograph of the diamond necklace. Add a tripod, and you can afford to use a lower ISO number and shutter speed to reduce noise. The depth of field choice gives you stylistic opportunities when it comes to taking jewelry images. This will be the case, but there is a significant disadvantage. Pay attention to reflections and prepare to move lights around until you find the perfect configuration. Only once I was happy with the background choice and positioning of each shot did I start experimenting with my lighting. It is a terrible experience for the shopper if they are looking for something that is gold and the item actually turns out to be silver. Remember, youre selling jewelry! So if you only have a black jewelry bust, cover it with a white cloth and then take your photo. What to Sell Online: How to Choose the Right Products to Sell, 7 Easy Steps To Build An Unforgettable Ecommerce Brand, Product Photography Tips: Increase Sales With Great Product Images, When it comes to photographing jewelry, a lot of. So think about colour, textures and shape and how this will work with the styling of your image. Instead of dealing with harsh lighting, photograph your jewelry in soft, natural sunlight streaming in from a window or in soft, artificial studio lighting. Embracing these principles in jewelry product photography, can really help boost the professional look of your website and hopefully, boost your product sales! Dont make the story-telling elements of your image too overwhelming; keep the frame simple. Not only does it really showcase how your products can be worn but it also can help to build your brand image for your ideal customer. For still life product images like jewelry, youll want to use a tripod. The result will be the correct colour. The second necklace I shot was far less textured rather, it was smooth, polished metal with two diamonds. With a model, you will likely keep in tune with the requirements for portrait photography! Love the simplicity that highlights the awesome beads. A big benefit to the macro lens is the fact that their focusing limit is very close to the glass. It is hard as a shopper to visualise an item if you only provide one photo. Sloppy post-processing work just wont fly! For each shoot, I experimented with the light placement, testing the effect of moving the light closer and further away, left and right, and up and down. As for white balance, check your settings and ensure you adjust according to the lighting you are using. Editorial photography is the jewelry advertisement and is a lot more creative.
With Instagram and Pinterest being so popular with consumers, they rely on shopping via photos. Aring light is brilliant for jewelry photography lighting because they light the rim of the object. Privacy Policy Terms of Use, Youll learn how to create attention-grabbing photos in a few simple steps, In this 15 minute video you will learn about, Do you have paintings at home that you'd like to share online? What you need to do is choose one style for your jewelry photos and stick with it!
You can set the white balance manually, but we recommend simply setting your camera to automatic white balance mode; this will allow your camera to recognize the type of light source (natural sunlight, light bulb, flash, etc.) Working with models can be expensive but it can really pay off. Get photography inspiration, photography tips and special offers straight to your inbox from Karl Taylor Education. It is especially important to provide a photo in-context when it comes to jewelry as it is challenging to know how big (or small) the product really is.
You want to avoid this as much as possible as when it is online, the shopper wont be able to see the detail. Instead of using a macro lens, I used, To bring out some more colour in the blue gemstone, I then added a, In fact, in the first shoot, I could almost certainly have achieved the same results with. CMYK is used for printing and SRGB is for online use. These are some of the common mistakes that you dont want to make: Clean your items and polish them before you start shooting. Nothing looks worse than a gorgeous emerald ring with a camera lens reflection right in the centre. Note that this doesnt create the focus stack, it only aligns the opened images and makes sure they are all the same magnification. As with the previous shot, I created a smooth gradient light by shining a light through the acrylic sheet before placing white panels in front and above. Before you start thinking aboutlens choice or lighting, you first need to decide what background to use. Harsh lighting is a big mistake in jewelry product photography. Karl Taylor Education, Unit 11, Les Caches Business Park, Guernsey, GY4 6PH, UK - Tel +44 (0)1481 233222, All website content Copyright Karl Taylor Photography. Unfortunately, this doesnt work for product photography. Check out our full section of Jewellery Photography classes. And when it comes to lighting, you dont necessarily need expensive modifiers. We, 2. It is important to get the colors of your products to look as accurate as possible. All you need is a solid surface, a white paper backdrop, your camera, lens, and lights!
You dont want disappointed clients if the product(s) they receive dont match up. It depends on whether your photoshoot is for print or online, outdoors or in a studio. They light the rim of the object and can make it easier to hide reflections. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Instead, remember to remove all tags, strings, and stickers from your product before you photograph it. Once youve nailed your setup, check out these seven simple things you need for photographing jewelry. Luckily, many newer cameras have high megapixels at somewhat lower costs. Showing the effect of the addition of the picolite on the diamonds. If anything, overcomplicating will be to your detriment. The image on the right keeps all of the product in relatively sharp focus, even the areas that are farthest away from the camera. I decided to create a sort of light tent, which I did by adding reflector cards. So the key to successfully photographing rings is ensuring you minimise any reflections. Everyones screens (phone, computer, television, etc.) Watches, rings and necklaces all present photographers with challenges. All three of these product image styles are appropriately clean and uncluttered. It makes it easier to adjust focus points and depth-of-field (aperture); You can drop to much lower shutter speed and ISO to avoid or reduce noise. At this fixed zoom, you can set your camera up a small distance from the subject, and the magnification will appear half life size (or 0.5x), which is ideal for photographing jewelry. This disadvantage has a lot to do with depth of field. Otherwise, youll be sitting in the editing room, removing all those pesky reflections. Use props to present your jewelry in the best way possible. The background is an integral part of your shot, so its important to select the right one. You'd be surprised, but photographing artwork can be quite challenging. are intimidated by how small, shiny and intricate the products can be.
But photographing jewelry can actually be easier than taking photos of larger items because the studio setup is a lot easier to put together. Both of these have different requirements and techniques. Because jewelry doesnt move, you can use a fixed millimetre lens. You then capture a series of images, gradually shifting your focus from the front of the object to the back. Product links on ExpertPhotography are referral links.
So it is important to keep your image size consistent so everything is aligned and easy to browse on your online store. You can use natural light for these, and itll be understandable if the colours may not run completely true. Remember that with natural lighting, you want to use the sun as an indirect light source, so position your product near a window during the day. A macro lens is for photographing small subjects at very close distances. You dont need to. Jewelry photography can be a fun, rewarding, and profitable endeavour. When reflective umbrellas with fabric diffusers attach to flash heads any camera reflections disappear. Photographing jewellery can seem like a daunting task the products are generally small and reflections can make it very difficult to get a good shot but by remembering the techniques covered here, you should be able to get some great results. Minimising reflections is crucial in ring photography especially when you're using multiple lights. With that in mind, lets discuss how to avoid the ten most common pitfalls that jewelry product photographers often fall into, when photographing their products. Detailed photos can work great for campaign shoots but when it comes to your online store, you want to keep it simple to make it easy for the shopper to quickly view and visualize the product on themselves. The top mistake made by jewelry photographers is using the wrong lens. hbspt.cta.load(3112981, 'cf3986d6-d339-4771-b4c9-ade585b8ab28', {}); While most, if not all, imperfections and extraneous details can be removed from your product in post production, that type of advanced editing is time-consuming and requires a fair amount of technical skill. For the rings shoot, I went for a cleaner, simpler look, shooting the two rings together on a, For all three jewellery images, I used my Hasselblad H6 with a 100mm lens (equivalent to about 67mm in 35mm full frame). Make sure that your Photoshop work is on-point, with no colour mistakes or lack of cloning! The gemstone necklace required only basic Photoshop work just some cleaning, removal of dust and scratches, and colour enhancement. As with a built-in flash, bright sunlight will create reflections and harsh shadows, so you may want to diffuse the light. How to create wraparound light for jewellery photography. In fact, its actually best not to hang the jewelry from anything at all, but rather to lay it flat on the white backdrop. If you are unsure, keep it simple. That said, the most common problem is using only a shallow DOF. Many flash lighting setups found on online stores arrive in kits and contain all the necessary accessories like a flash trigger (that attaches to your camera), umbrellas, diffuses and stands. To overcome this issue, I used a technique called focus stacking. Look for a lens that contains the word macro and has a focal length of around 60mm. These images will likely be small or only for online use. For both shots, I directed a bare bulb through a sheet of white acrylic placed behind the product. The key is to know when to dial back and not make the photo too busy. In order to really capture your customers affections, your jewelry product images need to be as sharp and crisp as possible. Keep the Rule of Thirds and Golden Ratio in mind when photographing jewelry. Sounds almost too easy, right? Accurate representation of your product is key, because customers need to be able to learn as much about your product as they possibly can, before they can make a decision about whether or not to purchase it. solutions to common challenges associated with jewellery photography, including controlling reflections on shiny surfaces and working at close magnification. If your lighting isnt great or consistent, your items will look very different in color across your online store. A popular choice for jewelry detail shots are macro lenses. Our guide will help you start capturing those great jewelry shots today. The best way to keep your images simple and clean in order to provide your customers with a seamless shopping experience, is to photograph your products against a white background. For the first class in our jewellery series, I photographed a blue gemstone necklace surrounded by diamonds. The diamond necklace required some composite work (in the video, youll see I took a second shot to introduce some sparkle in the diamonds) while the rings required focus stacking, general cleaning, plus finishing touches. 9. If youre having trouble with reflections, try changing the jewelrys position, or yours, in relation to the light source. It may seem more logical to use a wide angle lens so that you can expand upon the tiny details. When you photograph a product, it should be as true to life as possible. I arranged the acrylic tiles in a floating staircase formation above the slate, with the necklace resting on the top tile. The larger the number of megapixels, the bigger and higher quality the print will be. This take a bit more time to set up but will produce a great photo. To keep everything look consistent, use the same lighting or studio. If you use one of these and buy something, we make a little bit of money. You can learn how to shoot stunning images with our Macro Magic course. This is because I like seeing the lighting as I set it up rather than having to flash continuously. Jewelry is small and has many delicate details to work around. So, how do you photograph jewelry without reflection? Simple shots dont mean slacking on your compositional rules. Develop a template to help you crop and size with accuracy. It can be due to the colour mode. Dont have a mannequin? The reflective property of most jewelry means that it will absorb all other colours, so you should shoot on a white backdrop to avoid altering the colour of the piece. Simplicity is key as you want to show off the product and its details. [Note: ExpertPhotography is supported by readers. Purchasing an entry-level dedicated macro lens will undoubtedly overcome your primary challenge. Its not so much about the camera itself when photographing jewelry but more about the lens. Both of these change the colours slightly depending on the purpose of the mode. Unless youre a very skilled photographer with a very professional studio, take your jewelry product images using natural lighting. On top of that, their diminutive size and the high magnification it demands makes it difficult to achieve sufficient depth of field.
E-commerce and product photography does not require any complicated setup. It also makes your images look less professional. Looking for more? Pay attention to your cameras focus and the contrast that appears in your images.
Its that simple! Photo by Jim Lawson. Most craft stores will sell mannequin busts for necklaces, which are a great way to give your products a nice and realistic shape. To bring out some more colour in the blue gemstone, I then added a picolite with a projection attachment shining directly on to the gemstone. By ensuring my lighting and composition was as close to perfect as I could get it, I was able to minimise the post-production each image required. To avoid this determining effect, opt for a sturdy tripod. The metal in the image on the left appears golden yellow, while the metal in the image on the right appears to be a gradient of colors with blue as the defining color. We recommend shooting at least a straight-on image from the front, an angled image from the front, a close-up detail shot and a top view, as shown above. But the lens will either make or break your jewelry product photography. CookonStrike.
The Arca Swiss tripod plate compatibility ensures you can slide your camera directly onto the top of the tripod ball head with ease and the spirit level will help determine when the tripod is level. With their curved, shiny surfaces, rings reflect everything your base surface, background, even you! To overcome this issue, I used a technique called, Advice & Insight from Top Photography Professionals, Boudoir Photography: Tips, Tricks and Techniques, Choose the Best Lighting Modifier for Your Photography, Architectural Photography: Tips from a Pro, 20 Best Female Poses for Portrait Photography, A professional guide to shooting environmental portraits. A standard macro photography lighting setup should consist of at least two flash heads or continuous lights, one for the left of the subject and the other for the right. The acrylic diffused the light, resulting in a soft, gradient lighting that acted as my main fill light.
Usually, this is labelled as a photography toned bulb. From the File tab, select Scripts and Load Files into Stack. Focus mode: Because the products dont move, you can set your camera to One-Shot mode. If you use a macro lens to photograph jewelry, dont fool yourself into thinking a wider aperture (f2.8 or f4) is going to make your photos look brighter. When it comes to photographing jewelry, a lot of ecommerce store owners are intimidated by how small, shiny and intricate the products can be. I could have achieved a similar result with a very precise snoot. I demonstrate step-by-step shoots for three different pieces of jewellery. To start, open the files in Photoshop. Wear gloves when handling jewelry to prevent finger marks. They mess with your lighting set up, and cause reflections. This will create masks for each layer, detecting which area of each image is in focus, ensuring your whole image is sharp. You will need a mid-level camera or a high-quality professional-grade DSLR. This will prevent camera shake and ensure that your lighting remains correct. Grab a piece of cardboard, cover it in white paper and pin or tape the ends of your necklace to the back. Camera shake is a photographers worst enemy. Jewelry photography is harder than other genres of product photography. Advice & insight from top photography professionals. Choose the Right Camera for Jewelry Photos, Product and e-Commerce Jewelry Photography, 3. For all three jewellery images, I used my Hasselblad H6 with a 100mm lens (equivalent to about 67mm in 35mm full frame). No content on this page may be used or shared by third parties. If you select a large aperture of f2.8, more light enters the lens, but only a small amount of subject ends up in focus. By having an inconsistent background, is it harder for the shopper to easily scan your web store. A large aperture of f2.8 or f4 is therefore not ideal as you wont be able to see the full detail of the entire piece of jewelry. This brings out the intricate details.
I took a number of shots, which I then aligned in Photoshop to create a scene that was sharp all the way through. If you can take high resolution photos and capture the details of the item, you will be able to enable zoom on your online store. They highlight only the jewelry. If you have purchased a DSLR or Mirrorless camera you would no doubt have a kit lens included. The jewelry will reflect the bright light, leaving your product covered in white light spots with harsh shadows in the background, like in the two examples below. Next, select all your layers and from the Edit tab, select Auto Blend Layers and check Stack Images and Seamless Tones and Colors. A pleasing result was achieved using a one light setup. Get insight into product photography, post-production, and eCommerce product image best practices. If you want to read more about aperture, check out our, blog post that explains aperture, ISO and shutter speed for product photography. Jewelry photos are detail-oriented. But I wanted to go further to really add some sparkle to the gemstones. By implementing a guideline for your team on how the images should be taken will also keep to keep images consistent. Photographing small reflective subjects like jewelry can be a tricky or frustrating task if you are starting out as a photographer. This will highlight the detail you want to focus on and let the rest melt away into a creamy bokeh. Direct, contrasty light is notorious for exposing imperfections in products, adding unbecoming shadows, creating unavoidable reflections, and other nuisances that may or may not be able to be fixed in post. Include the details, the clasps, chain and the item being worn. Sometimes we get so focused on the bigger picture, we forget that the details are important. Expert Photography 2011-2022. Placing the light close to the acrylic resulted in a harsh, bright light. A fixed lens is much sharper and generally higher quality than a zoom lens. Are you looking for a way to take photos that will sell your products better and make them look even more beautiful? Any styling adjustment, no matter how small, will have significant repercussions for your lighting. Photographing shiny things without unwanted reflections is not an easy task. You can really help yourself by choosing the right props, surface and background. This will open a dialogue box, where you should choose Add Open Files and Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images. Choose the Right Colour Mode (SRGB vs CMYK). Reflectors can help you even out the shadows by acting a fill light on the opposite side. Also, you have to play with the lights to make them shiny enough.
Better still, if you have the budget, consider a macro lens that will provide a 1:1 (lifesize) representation of the subject. Or using it at inappropriate times. Had the photographer chosen the proper white balance settings for each individual image, the colors would have been the same in both frames. ExpertPhotography is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. July 28th - Register Now. My second light was a small ball of light that I used to create some specularity and sparkle. Watch Out for Inaccurate Lighting or White Balance, 16. That said, there is some creative leeway in editorial photography. In editorial photography there is more leeway on being creative.
You can always adjust the length of the chain with where you choose to clip it, so dont worry too much about the size unless you have a huge piece. As an added lighting sidenote, we recommend that you learn your cameras manual mode, so that you are able to control how much or how little light your camera pulls in to make your pictures. From setup & lighting through to post-processing, We reveal the exact camera & light settings, Print out the cheat sheet & start shooting. Remember when we mentioned consistency? ISO + Shutter Speed: Generally, you want to ensure there is as little noise as possible. to create a white backdrop just use a piece of paper and fold it in half so it stands up. When your images change too often in relation to your other product photos, the lack of consistency confuses and distracts customers, and lowers the professional appearance of your website and business. An easy way to fix this is to have a light above the jewelry product that eliminates the shadows. Aperture: This is where things get a bit more complicated. These two images have neither clean backgrounds nor appropriate white balance. You wont need to worry about locating props or mannequins or live models for your jewelry photography, because props tend only to distract from the product and spoil the clean and professional look you should be going for in your product photos. Also known as normal lenses, standard lenses produce an image that roughly matches what the human eye sees. Which Settings Should You Use for Jewelry Photography? Most jewelry photos feature just a ring or necklace on a white background. Keep the frame simple. But there are a few tricks and techniques you can try that will simplify the process and make your images sparkle. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Karl Taylor Education. Believe it or not, the two images above depict the same exact necklace, but in different lighting situations. Jewelry (and in particular earrings) can really range in size and unfortunately you wont be able to show everything to scale on your eCommerce store otherwise some studs will be so small you may not be able to see them. With e-commerce photography (such as eBay, Amazon, etc.)
See how it all works here.]. The rest of the focus falls off and is referred to as bokeh. By using a reflector, you will have an even lighting without mixing light sources. So many brands dont provide enough images. So I opted for much less textured background surface. So I chose smooth acrylic tiles as well as a more textured piece of slate. Always have a cleaning cloth with you. It will be easier to see if any mistakes pop up. Editorial photography often features a model or jewelry in a lifestyle environment. Once I was satisfied with my lighting, the next problem I had to solve was depth of field. Of course, you dont want all the images to necessarily move but one or two images within a product page can capture the shoppers attention and also show how a product can move. Unfortunately not all of your photos will present as magazine quality to begin with but it will come over time. Using the auto align' feature in Photoshop post-production. All Rights Reserved. To solve the problem of excessive reflection, I employed a similar technique to the one I used with the diamond necklace: I created a conical shaped light tent that covered the rings but still allowed me to shine light through. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. If your lighting isnt great or consistent, your items will look very different in color across your online store. Creativity and Collaboration: are all colour calibrated differently. These are a more affordable alternative and help you achieve the magnification you need. You will not be pushing the limits or boundaries of your camera. Instead of using a macro lens, I used extension tubes. Its that simple! Because I felt these were more in keeping with the broader metal tones of the necklace. The advantage of a tripod ball head is in the fluid movement to obtain a desirable angle. Read our DIY 2 post about how you can take advantage of your camera settings shooting in manual mode. Can you imagine if every time you had a different photographer, you had a different style on your website. I recommend a deeper DOF for the best focus. We also expect that you start getting some great customer feedback about how your excellent photos, improved their shopping experiences. Stick with standard lenses!
Instead of cropping and sizing each photo differently or varying other settings, such as lighting or background colors, you should create a template of guidelines to ensure that each image is taken and edited the same way. That said, to focus stack a series of images in Photoshop is fairly straightforward, because the software does most of the hard work for you. Moving GIFs are not that common on eCommerce stores but they can really add a great effect without taking up a lot of load time like video. Dont skip out on those detail shots. You want something that will enhance your product, not overpower it. Keep in mind that youll still want to adhere to commercial photography guidelines and keep your work looking very sharp. This essential part of the preparation process is easy to overlook, but it will save you a lot of time when it comes to post-production. Consistent, clean background removal services, Seamless and scalable ghost mannequin services, Learn how our color solutions can optimize your studio workflows, High-end photo retouching for campaign images, Retouching for lifestyle and elevated images, Network and learn at our live FLOW events, Hear from experts and thought leaders in ecommerce, Discover companies like yours using Pixelz, Stories from our customers about image editing best practices, Articles on best practices and the latest trends, Trends and indepth reports on the ecommerce industry, Live Webinar Beautiful, high quality photos to showcase these details are essential for a professional, consistent ,and reputable site.
Award-winning training. The more photos you provide, the less customer service questions you will receive and hopefully your conversions will increase! Softboxes exude a nice, soft, and even light. As weve said before, your customers want and need to be able to see your product from all angles, as if theyre examining it and turning it over in their hands, while standing in a physical storefront. 5. The main thing is to keep your camera in a fixed position. It would be very confusing for the consumer as it wouldnt look on brand. When shooting for focus stacking, its important to have your camera locked down. How To Photograph Jewelry A Beginners Guide. Enabling the zoom functionality on your website will allow the shopper to click and enlarge the image to be able to see every part of your item. The focus stacking meant the image of the rings required the most work in Photoshop. When looking to purchase your first macro lens, we recommend choosing a lens with a focal length of 60mm.