Jewelry Photography?

Question

Some people I'm working with are trying to get pictures of jewelry for their website. They want to do it on their own and want to know if a basic set up like this with a 6 MP Sony DSLR would be good enough to get some good pictures.

http://store.tabletopstudio-store.com/jephkit1.html

Answer 1

My first reactoin when I saw your question was to say you need a light tent. Well, the link you provided is a light tent so yes that is the way to go about doing that kind of photography.

However, that's not enough. For large things like a broach, you can do that kind of stuff pretty well with any lens you happen to own. Most lenses allow you to go to half life size in terms of focusing. If you want to do small things, a macro lens is desirable so you can go to full life size, meaning that the image on the sensor is exactly the same size as the actual object. That will get you a really stunning image. Just be careful about a macro lens, there are many on the market that do not go to life size and it's a waste of money to buy any of those.

Alternately you can edit the half life size image to bring it up to life size, that saves you the cost of a macro lens but it may not deliver on the quality.

The next issue is lighting. The nice thing about the light tent is that if provides even all around illumination. That ensures there's no shadows that could detract from the object. This is usually what you want for this kind of stuff however, if you're doing a diamond, a sparkle is sometimes helpful to better sell the product. What that suggests is that it could be useful to have an extra studio light that you can aim down to a fine spot so that when you've positioned it correctly you'll get the sparkle off the stone.

Also in terms of lighting, don't over do it. Surfaces like gold are sometimes too reflective, so when you set up your lights, be very sensitive to the reflections on the smooth glossy surfaces. You may have to readjust the lights a few times before you have an even illumination.

Finally, jewelry tends to look best against a black, or at least a dark background. On the web page they have a black surface holding the necklace. That's one way to get a black background, having a velvety surface that is black. However there are other techniques.

If you aim your lighting so that your background is three stops darker than your subject, you will automatically get a black background regardless of what colour it is if you spot meter on the subject alone.

The other way to achieve the black background is to play some games with your computer. In this case take the picture with the white background instead. Then, using Photoshop or some other high end software, select the white background and delete it. All that's left then is your subject which you can then select, pick up, and drop into whatever background suits you. Just make sure when you do this that you feather the edges a little to make it look a bit more natural.

I hope that helps a little. Good Luck!

Answer 2

Yes, IF - if the camera can focus close enough. Most successful photography of small objects is done with a macro lens. Try a few photos with exposure based on the jewelery alone. Should make the background go completely black so the stones will "pop" more.

Answer 3

Most trendy factor and shoot cameras have a macro environment which permits you to shoot near up. Just be certain the only you buy has that. No adjustments or diversifications to the digicam are required. And BTW it is Canon, now not Cannon.