5 Tips for Jewelry Photography

Follow these tips to improve your product photography.

It may seem like shooting product photography is a lot easier than shooting portrait photography, but that isn’t always the case. Lighting and posing jewelry has it’s own inherent challenges…with all the angles of the stones and reflections it can be very frustrating to get the perfect shot. So if you have a jewelry shoot coming up, check out the 5 tips below from Nikon, for getting the perfect shots.

1. Find a White Table

This Ikea table top is only $5

White tables make great product photography staging areas. If you don’t have enough room for a seamless white backdrop, or if you are simply shooting some quick product photography, than a white table is the way to go. If you don’t have a white table you could always use white poster board.

2. Use a Window

Natural light from windows can be a photographer’s best friend. Sometimes a window is the only lighting you need (don’t overcomplicate things!). If you use different curtains you can change it from a soft light to a more harsh light, depending on your needs.

3. Shoot Different Angles

With a ton of different reflection areas, jewelry can be very unpredictable. Try taking shots form different angles to see what works and what doesn’t.

4. Reflect Light

If having a single lighting source isn’t enough, try bouncing light with a reflector. Reflectors are cheap you can pick them up at any photo store or online.

5. Phone Lights

I can’t tell you how many times i’ve had to use an iPhone light to provide a quick splash of light to an image. In fact, I do it so much I’ve bought an extra battery so my phone light will last longer. Obviously using an iPhone light isn’t ideal, but if you’re looking for just a little more shine a phone light is a quick fix.

There you have it – 5 quick tips for shooting jewelry photography which came from the following video from Nikon:

This video was first shared by Nikon Europe’s YouTube channel. Thanks for sharing!

Have any other tips for shooting jewelry? Share in the comments below.