Behind the Scenes: Jewelry Product Photography

As an avid shopper I know pictures lie.  The reality is that things just aren't as perfect as they look in photos.  But product photos can really make us fall in love with an item because they're meant to highlight the absolute best features of the product.  Being a small business, I shoot my own product photos and touch them up in Photoshop myself.  The cost of professional product shoots can easily cost a few thousand dollars.  I'm a perfectionist and things have to be just right for me.  That's why quality is so important and I make sure that the jewelry we sell is just as durable as it is beautiful.

There's something really awesome and fascinating being able to take a look behind the scenes.  We're all curious and interested to know about the processes of our stuff.  Since I previously touched on how I generally design and make a ring, I thought I would show you what the behind the scenes looks like for product photos.  My disclaimer is that I am no way a professional and I certainly don't have a professional set up.  I'm simply giving you a look behind the scenes for how I create my product photographs for the website.

I am literally in no way a photographer.  Nearly everything I learned I self taught thanks to you-tube and google.  I also take advantage of auto features on the camera; aka point and shoot.  I point and shoot and hope for the best most days.  I use a Canon dslr to take all the photos on the website and I do that in this contraption called a light box.  Professionals have amazing set ups with reflectors and lots of fancy things.  I point and shoot remember?  I definitely don't do fancy.

I eyeball a lot.  Depending on the jewelry item I might not use the top or bottom lighting in order to really highlight its features.  I have a foam board that stands up in the box so that I can hang earrings and necklaces.  For necklace busts I use natural daylight with multiple foam white boards for a clean photo.

The ultimate trick I've learned to jewelry photography is have a clean piece.  The more polished, shiny, and clean the piece is, the better the end result (this seems like common sense I know but you'd be amazed of the tiny specks of dust or hair that will show up).  I take multiple photos of all the jewelry items for that reason.  In Photoshop I'll isolate the piece so I can make the background white and I'll touch up any bits of dust that might have appeared.  The rose quartz ring is an example of what I'm looking at before I go into Photoshop. 

All in all, having the right equipment and clean pieces makes all the difference and that's how I'm able to achieve beautiful photos for the site.  If you have any questions always feel free to ask in the comments.  I'm happy to share what I know or do.