What makes some jewelry photographs truly breathtaking?
It’s more than pretty jewels, good lighting, and sharp focus.
It’s an additional, special “somethin’ somethin’” that really elevates some jewelry photos to the level of extraordinary.
After studying thousands of jewelry images over the past several years, I’ve decided that the magic occurs when the photo itself is a work of art.
It’s in the photographer’s sense of artistry – apart from the artistry in the piece of jewelry that’s being photographed.
It’s expressed in the dozens of small decisions the photographer makes when setting up the photo; decisions like
- the exact tilt of a ring
- the purposeful use of white space around the jewelry
- the line a necklace makes when it’s laid out
- the angle of the camera in relation to the jewelry
- the careful design of a non-competing background
- the area on the piece of jewelry the photo attracts your eye to
- the skilled use of asymmetry.
Although not all of the jewelry images in these links are “extraordinary” (to me), they do provide some excellent pointers for designing your own jewelry photo shoots:
Holly Sisson Photography -
Notice the use of standard jewelry displays in many of the shots, and also the artistically blurry backgrounds.
Red Envelope -
Examples of various backgrounds and props that don’t distract customers from the jewelry itself.
Michael Cuiccio -
Beautiful examples of how jewelry photos and text can work together artistically in the same frame or on the same page.
Coldwater Creek -
Because they’re all photographed on a plain white background, some of these images can give you good ideas for arranging your jewelry and using the white space in your photos.
Hap Sakwa Photography -
Take a close look at the outstanding examples of jewelry photographed standing up instead of lying in its side (you can temporarily use a dab of modeling clay or hot glue under a piece of your jewelry to make rings, cuff bracelets, etc. stand up for photos).
Sundance Jewelry -
Creative ideas for photographing artisan jewelry.
AzadPhoto -
Lovely professional photography of all kinds of jewelry, mostly on black, white, or gray backgrounds.
And if you’re interested in simple shortcuts for getting professional-looking photos of your jewelry, visit my guide to photographing jewelry.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
These are great tips! Sometimes, it’s not the actual gems, but the setting that makes them sparkle. I’m a big believer in jazzing up my gems with some beautiful lighting and elevating my jewelry to the next level. Thanks for sharing!
Great and very informative post. Thank you for sharing the links as well. I am not into photography but I always strive to improve my jewelry photography skill.
Thanks for the great examples. It’s such a fine line between artful photographs and snapshots. My extra challenge is that I work almost exclusively in silver chain maille. AND I put everything on white backgrounds. I guess I just like making things difficult for myself.
More great tips! Thanks! I’m always looking for new ways to photograph my jewelry. Lately I’ve even been addicted to your scanning method (I have some of your books and read your jewelry newsletters and website) The scans always comes out true to color for my stained glass pieces and other unusual beads.
Thanks!
Stephanie
I’ve just started my own webpage to exhibit and advertise my jewellery, and found it hard to photograph my pieces so that the customer could get a clear picture of the piece. After reading your handy tips it’s given me ideas of how to improve my photos…thanks…Priya
I’m a big fan of the scanning method as well! I used a scanner for all the pics on my website. Click on a thumbnail shot and the quality and detail in each photo captured by the scanner is hard to match with a camera! I haven’t done anything 3-dimensional, such as rings, so the scanner has worked just fine for me!
Thanks for these tips! I especially love the look of the blurry backgrounds in the first link – it really makes the forefront of the picture stand out crisply and sharply. To me photographing jewelry is one of the hardest parts of the whole process. It’s extremely time-consuming getting the right lighting, angle, focus, etc.
wow, i just found this and what great information, as I continue to work on my photos. Purchased an actual manufactured light tent recently instead of making my own and it’s working out wonderfully! Thanks also for the great links!
That’s a lot of great info! Thanks sooo much! I agree with Lorin, I like the blurry background. The sad thing is, is that sometimes that’s how the whole picture looks to me! So I’ve been working on getting nice, crisp shots. Leaving the background blurry is a relief for me because I was always trying too hard to make the whole thing focused.
Thanks for the great ideas!