Jewelry Photography: Etsy Lab 10/01/09

Here are my notes from the October 10th Etsy lab on jewelry photography given by Rhonda from Prolifique Jewelry. I won't be talking about everything Rhonda covered but I have organized the content that interested me most into sections. I thought this was a great lab and got tons of useful information. I hope it will be helpful.

Equipment: A macro lens is needed, as well as a digital manual camera. Rhonda uses a Canon Power Shot A540 (6 megs). She also purchased an Opteka macro lens on amazon for $25 and highly recommends both. My BF says that $25 is a great price for the lens so if you're interested in getting one, you might want to do it as soon as possible (there is an adapter included with the lens which might not be pictured in the amazon listing).

Multiple sets of rechargeable batteries are recommended. A tripod, light box (or ability to be available to shoot outside when conditions permit), and photo editing program, such as PhotoShop or Gimp are almost essential.

Lighting: Use a light box or natural (sun) light. Rhonda uses a light box because she doesn't want to be at the mercy of the weather and feels this gives her more control. She does note, however, that some people do very well with natural lighting. While commercial light boxes are pricey ($50 - $100), you can build your own pretty easily. An useful URL was given: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent. I haven't made this light box yet because I am currently borrowing a friend's kind of expensive commercial box, but will definitely do my own within the next couple weeks (I'll post on it of course!).

Once you have built your light box, you'll need 3 to 4 daylight bulbs (the energy saver fluorescent type). You'll light the top and sides of the light box. Possibly even the front (unless I got this wrong) though you'll have to cover this light with tissue paper because it won't be outside the tent. Personally, I would just stick with 3 and position the side and overhead light to shine in the direction that illuminates the front of your piece.

Rhonda recommends wearing white because jewelry, especially silver, reflects this about everything and your clothing may be picked up. She also cuts a piece of white card stock and makes a hole in it the size of her camera lens. If needed, she can cover her camera (stick the lens through the hole) to photograph highly reflective pieces. If glare is a problem she either moves the piece around or takes a white 3 x 5 card and moves it around until she figures out where the glare is coming from (by blocking it) and makes the necessary changes.

Staging: Rhonda uses a solid background that coordinates with her shop colors which sounds like a nice idea (although variety can be nice too). She recommends scrap booking papers as backgrounds. Solid whites and beiges are preferred by Rhonda but I've noticed that some sellers such as Yardleigh (love her pics) use patterns.

Props are useful in jewelry photography to help display items as well as show scale. Possible props include wood, old books, drift wood, rocks, mug or cup, sushi mats, cups, soap dish, vintage dishes, crystal. White is good because it shows color of stones.

Shooting Techniques: The macro lens will show everything (scratches, finger prints, etc.) You should clean everything with polishing clothes prior to shooting. Set the white balance on your camera prior to shooting by using a white card and adjusting white balance until the card appears white (my BF says that if the lighting is just right this might not be necessary but that it won't hurt either).

For jewelry, a shallow depth of field is desirable because it blurs the background and creates interest on the piece. This requires a low f-stop which (if I remember this correctly from my community college photo class) opens the lens wide (low or large aperture) and lets in lots of light. Depth of field really is just what is sounds like, how deep into the field does the camera see.

Rhonda didn't really talk about shutter speed and I don't remember enough of my dig photography class to discuss the f-stop / shutter speed relationship but she did recommend using a tripod which is always a good idea for any kind of still photography IMO. She also recommended using a timer which allows you to get your hand off the camera before the shot is taken and further reduces the possibility of moving and blurring the shot.

She said that flickr has lots of info on f-stops. I'll have to check it out when I get the time.

Close ups are recommended as well as unusual angles. Create a close shot that almost makes it difficult to see what the item is (ex. is it a bracelet or necklace?). This can be intriguing. People will want to check out your piece because they are curious. It will also show the color of your crystals or stones and the quality of your workmanship and materials as clearly as possible.

Photo Editing: You can use PhotoShop or Gimp (and there may be other programs as well). I did take a PhotoShop class at one point and do like PhotoShop but I am using Gimp on the computer I have now and think it's perfectly fine also. Gimp is free which is an advantage but there are more online tutorials for PhotoShop.

You will frequently need to edit out dust. Cropping, brightening and resizing are usually necessary as well per the lab but I'm not sure that brightening is necessarily a given. The pic should look very like the piece does in real life on your monitor. One thing I have to learn more about is resizing for Etsy. My first attempt to post an item on my boyfriend's shop, PAvintage.etsy.com, didn't come out (actually cut the head partially off of his cute vintage penguin toy).

Rhonda talked about resizing to a dimension of 450 x 450 to 1000 x 1000 but I'm going to have to figure out what I did wrong on the penguin pics before I can write more about this.

Posting: Use all 5 pics! One 'arty' (close up with unusual angle) shot or possibly two. One with prop. One with detail of workmanship such as clasp or ear wire. One with a model is also good. If you do nice gift or seasonal packaging include this too. 1 or 2 should have a plain background. If something isn't selling, rotate your pics!

Last bit of advice Rhonda gave: Do all of the photography tutorials you can find and if you get a chance to attend a live class, take it. You can never learn enough about photography!