4 things you should stop doing in photographing jewelry right now!

Jewelry photography is a unique kind of photography. Unlike other product photography, this one requires attention to detail to capture every detail of your pieces. Poor jewelry photography reflects badly on you as a photographer and tarnishes your reputation as a jeweler. This is exactly why you need professional photo editing. 

As a jeweler, photography is one of the areas you cannot afford to go wrong with. Although Jewelry photography is a bit challenging compared with other product photography, it comes with great rewards. This is because your customers are first attracted to your pictures even before they see the actual proposal ring. 

As a photographer, it is easy to get it wrong when it comes to photographing jewelry even without knowing. This is because you might be focusing on the big and major things and you ignore the simple things that make jewelry photography stand out.

For this reason, I have put up 4 things you should stop doing when photographing jewelry and will guide you how to sell jewelry with a lot of profit.

Elaborate backgrounds

Maybe you are one of those photographers who like adding details, props or mannequins on the background when photographing products. Though, this might look like a good idea it does not apply when it comes to jewelry.

When doing jewelry photography, the piece of jewelry is the focus. All the attention is supposed to be focused on jewelry. Your customers want to see the product, its intricate dazzling features so don’t ruin this by using elaborate backgrounds that take away the focus from the product. 

You can use simple white or black backgrounds. They are available and easy to set up. With this kind of background, you will be able to focus all the attention on your product. A white background does not alter with the color of your pieces, and you get images with the least distractions.

If you want to draw attention to those reflective surfaces of metals, get a black background to do the trick for you.

Instead of going out of your way and stressing about backgrounds, keep it simple with black or white.

Inconsistency in Shooting

Inconsistent photos in photography are a common thing for photographers. However, when doing Jewelry photography, inconsistency is unacceptable. Any slight variations you make can cause real changes in the appearance of the pieces you are shooting and give deceptive appearances to your customers. 

You need to have a template or a checklist where you have recorded the specific settings for the kind of pictures you want to take. Try out different angles, different lightings and different positions for you to get that perfect shot. Once you get it to try as much as possible to stick to that through the session. 

Inconsistency might come in various forms. For instance lighting. When you are shooting, you need to ensure that the lighting across all the materials is the same. You don’t want some parts appearing too bright and others too dull. Keep in mind that lighting also affects the color of the jewel. So you need to ensure proper lighting so that you don’t end up having the same product with the different colors.

Variation in the size of the jewel is another thing that you can easily overlook. When taking pictures you need to find the exact camera setting that will work for you through the shoot. Changing and altering camera settings will bring an inconsistency in the appearance of the sizes of your jewel. You need to maintain consistency in how the size of the jewel appears even when taken from different angles.

Over-reliance on photo editing

Photo editing is using to retouch your pieces and remove flaws that might have occurred during the shoot. However, for most photographers, they rely on this as a substitute for you to put the effort of getting the right props needed for photography. 

That does not apply to jewelry photography. For you to get the right pictures capturing all the details, you need to prepare and plan for the shoot with the right props and materials. This might look like too much work but the result is worth it. You will also save your time and effort trying to edit your pictures.

When you over-rely on photo editing, you are likely to compromise on the image and quality of your jewelry. For example, adjusting the brightness and the contrast in lighting might end up altering the colors of the jewelry. Trying to crop out pieces for your jewelry might get give you inconsistent and wrong jewelry sizes.

You should use photo editing to enhance your products and make them stand out. However, too much dependence on it might compromise on the quality of your products making them look fake. As you edit your jewel ensure that you preserve the most important part of the jewel, that is the gem or the stone or the metal used in the jewel.

Poor planning and preparation 

As it is commonly said, failing to plan is planning to fail. Jewelry photography requires you to prepare and to plan. You need to know all the requirements you will need for the shoot and how to get them. This will save you a lot of hustle and the possibility of getting the wrong things.

Preparing early allows you to get the right settings in place. If you are using natural lighting, for instance, you will be able to know what time of the day gives the right amount of light and at what angle. With this in mind when it comes to the actual shoot you will not spend lots of time doing trial and error.

In conclusion,

As a jewelry photographer, you need to remember that image is everything. Your aim should be to capture the eye of your customers and create an interest in them for your products. Therefore, you need to pay attention to small details. 

I have outlined a few things above that as a jewelry photographer you might easily overlook or you are currently doing and you need to stop if you want to grow in your jewelry photography career.