6 Photography Tips That Every Jeweler Must Know

Earn more for your jewelry business through your photographs.

Whether you’re running a brick and mortar jewelry shop or operating it online, the value of a good product photo is tremendous. While having a beautiful jewelry display setup can influence buyers’ decisions, a perfectly captured photograph of jewelry does the same thing too, and here are a few techniques you can apply to achieve that.

The tripod is your best friend

Say no to blurry photos! You would want to capture your jewelry pieces in all their glory and you simply cannot do that with blurry photos. Having a tripod easily solves that issue as it is a useful tool to secure your camera.

The lightbox is your other best friend

Having full control of your surroundings lets you capture photographs according to your taste. That’s where a lightbox will come in handy. A lightbox is a box that has a white background and translucent white side panels. It is great for product photography because it generates a steady source of light for your chosen subject. With the right positioning and the right jewelry display tool (choose one that won’t take attention away from your product), coupled with a steady camera on a tripod, and you can take professional-quality jewelry product photos in no time. Just remember to take lots of photos so you can experiment and have plenty to choose from.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with props and locations

Alternatively, you may be keen on doing away with lightboxes and that is perfectly fine. Photography as a creative endeavor means you’re free to do what you want as long as it matches up to your visions.

Feel free to experiment with textures such as silk-covered stands or wooden easel-type jewelry display tools as platforms to hold your merchandise. For light settings, you can try shooting outside as natural lighting also creates great photos when applied properly.

...But don’t overwhelm your sets with too many props

The right props can make or break your shoot. Keep the focus solely on your jewelry merchandise by keeping props at a minimum. 

To keep cohesion between the product and its surroundings, it’s best to come up with a theme first and have all your displays and setups be based on that theme. This eliminates the possibility of throwing on props and backdrops without rhyme or direction.

Set your camera to macro

Want to capture the fine details of your fine jewelry? Putting your camera in macro setting lets you do that. This is especially helpful for products with intricate features that you would like to highlight in your photography. This can be done with DSLR cameras but some smartphones will also have the same feature as well.

Shoot your product from all angles

Another way to showcase your products’ details is by shooting them from all angles. Flat lays can easily become boring when done too much so why not use jewelry tools such as risers or platforms so you can shoot your piece from different angles? What’s good about this technique is that you can easily turn it into a video shoot which adds another layer of dimension to your product presentation.