Making quality product photos of jewellery is straightforward if you apply a few professional techniques. Professional doesn’t mean complicated; with care, most competent photographers should be able to achieve excellent results. Good jewellery photography is about clarity, sharpness and, in the case of gemstones, sparkle. The keys to achieving these results is focus, exposure, and lighting. Focus - Soft focus might flatter the model who wears it, but if the jewellery is your subject, it should be sharp. Recent camera innovations include “wide area focus” and “face detection”. These systems force the camera to average the focus/exposure for too wide an area of a scene for this kind of work. If your camera has a mode like this, turn it off!
Take control of focusing, using manual focus if possible. Some cameras can't really lock-on to a small shiny object like gemstone jewellery using auto focus. Digital cameras are actually better in this respect because of their excellent macro capacity, If you are shooting with film, you may need the ability to focus manually to get good results.
High shutter speeds and shake reduction technology deal quite well with keeping the image sharp, but even so, it is nearly essential to use a tripod or similar camera support when shooting jewellery. A sturdy tripod is better than a flimsy one, but any tripod is many times better than no tripod. You will be working with small objects in a controlled lighting set-up, where even the smallest variation in camera position can move the focal point, shift or destroy highlights, induce glare or place shadows in the most inconvenient places. Use a tripod.
Lighting - The second key to good jewellery photography is lighting. Soft, diffused lighting works best. Even if you soften it, on-camera flash is not a good choice for jewellery photos. The most sophisticated pop-up units allow you to modify the intensity of the light output, but for all others, the camera's flash too harsh, too directional, and the distances you will be working at, it is going to be in the wrong position to light the jewellry effectively. It is also prone to create hard, distracting shadows.
Continuous lighting is generally better for jewellery. It is easier to visualise what the final image will be like.
Compact fluorescent bulbs provide nice, natural light without the heat associated with photofloods, so they can be left on for long photo sessions without burning out or damaging the subject (or the photographer!). They are available in daylight balanced light and can be used in ordinary lamp holders.
Although digital white balance can be set to fluorescent , using daylight balanced tubes is preferable; of all the light sources, fluoro is the least consistent in terms of colour balance.
Other light sources can be used and give equally good results provided white balance is taken into account. With film, this means using an appropriate filter, with digital, setting the white balance manually if you are not happy with the AWB results.
Whatever light source you choose the light will need to be diffused. A light tent is the diffuser of choice. These small, folding tent have translucent, white sides on which the light is directed, reducing glare and controlling shadows on the jewellery and other small objects placed inside to be photographed.
Commercial versions are not cheap (about $100 for a small one with lamp), but they are quite easy to make by cutting the sides and top out of a suitably sized box, covering the top and all but one side (to shoot through!) with a white material like muslin or nylon and placing a piece of stiff white card inside to form a seamless background. You can find instructions at http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent/ or you could just drape a white cloth over a frame for an even simpler solution.
Exposure - The third key to good jewellery photography is exposure. Cameras are designed to base their exposures on scenes having an “average” exposure range. This often results in underexposer when photos of jewellery against white or very light backgrounds and underexposure against a black or dark background.
Most cameras have exposure compensation controls to deal with this problem. If your images are too dark, try adding +1 as a starting point; if to light, set -1. You should also experiment with spot metering.
Adding sparkle - A light tent provides nice soft lighting for jewellery, porcelain and ceramics. To add sparkle and catch lights to diamonds and other cut stones or to crystalware, you need some directional light on the facets. The ideal place for this light source is as close as possible to the camera. With one or more lights directed at the side/top of the tent, carefully adjust the "sparkler" until the stones sparkle when seen through the viewfinder. Because this light is not diffused by the tent, it needs to be weaker than the tent lights. You will need to move this light until you see the gem light up. Fix the sparkler light to a stand or to the tripod below the camera to keep the light in position.
Any light with a nice, focussed beam can be used to add sparkle. I have found that small daylight or blue LED torches are ideal. They have the direct, hard light that is needed to unleash the fire of your diamonds, do not produce glare and are relatively inexpensive. I have half a dozen in my kit, ranging from an intense single LED fitted with a magnifier, to a powerful 32 LED spotlight. The smaller units supplied with a strap to go on your head like a miners’ lantern. I have others sold as torches and as bicycle lights, and the 32 LED unit, which cost me $30, is a powerful torch.
These little lights have replaced all my other lights for miniature, tabletop and most macro photography. If you cannot get daylight-white LEDs, make sure that they are all the same colour or you will have trouble with your white balance correction, even in RAW.
Pearls - these living gems have a special lustre which can challenge the photographer. Concentrate on composing the layout. Try using only one light, positioned above the tent, to bring out the pearls form and dimension.
Placing the Jewellery -Positioning Wax is designed for just this purpose. This specially manufactured wax allows you to position your jewellery in an upright vertical position or at various angles. The wax is hard and resistant, yet flexible enough for you to handle it and mould it to your needs. You just pinch a very small piece (1 to 3 mm) of wax, mould it into a tiny egg shaped ball and press the jewellery into it. Of course, you can also use blu-tak and similar products, but they are prone to leave a residue - not on the jewellery, but on the light-tent support.
”Invisible” Thread allows you to suspend small articles like earrings within the tent. That eliminates any shadows beneath the jewellery. You can attach loops of invisible thread to the tent top by threading it through the fabric wall.
Reflection Effects - Placing an white or clear high gloss acrylic platform in the tent provides a soft reflection of jewellery placed on it. The elevation of the platform also eliminates any shadow beneath the jewellery. To throw the background out of focus and make it disappear, move the platform further away from the background material.
Replacing the clear or white stage with a high gloss black platform creates a dramatic reflection. Sometimes referred to as "Black ice", it is a favourite of pro photographers and can be used to create great effects by varying the light positions. Inserting a piece of black paper along the back inside roof of the cube eliminates any reflections in the acrylic from the white tent, leaving only the reflection of your subject on pure black.
Final Tips - Be sure to clean your jewellery first and avoid fingerprints: you may not see them, but the camera will! Pay attention to your composition, and set aside time to work with your images in the computer: you should expect to crop every image and to make some adjustments to colour, sharpness and saturation.
Take a little care, however, and your jewellery images will be quite professional; and the techniques and equipment you have mastered will prove highly adaptable to many other forms of close-up photography.
