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Last week, Barbe over at CraftGossip posted about photographing jewelry “on the cheap.” Since photography is such an important topic for everyone who publishes images of their work on the net, I decided to add a post here about how I’m tackling it these days.
I’ll admit that photography has been one of the most frustrating, and time-consuming, aspects of my online jewelry business. I think part of the reason for that is that I’m too much of a perfectionist; ideally I want everything to look as sharp and clear (and glamorous) as the large-format photos in higher-end print catalogs do.
But the reality, I think, is that online photos never look as crisp and clear as professional print photos - which is probably one of the reasons it’s difficult to sell jewelry online.
If you browse around at other websites that offer jewelry - and I mean the “big” companies - you’ll notice that photography usually fails to do their jewelry justice. Photos often are “burned out,” too low-resolution, or too small to show enough detail.
(To see what I’m talking about, take a print copy of the Sundance catalog and compare its print photos of jewelry with the ones on the Sundance website.)
Now, notwithstanding all of that, it is possible - and worth the effort - to take nice looking pictures of your jewelry. The main challenges that you’ll face involve lighting, color accuracy (actually related to lighting), and resolution.
Professional photographers often use big, filtered, expensive lights, which make it much easier for them to capture nice photos. Some time ago, I experimented with using heavy-duty portable work lights (the ones you’d use to work under your car) with a whitish plastic storage tub as a filter.
I was able to get some nice photos that way, but the results were far too variable - some pictures were great, but many others were useless. Additionally, those shop lights became very hot and were potentially dangerous if left on too long.
After doing more experimenting, I finally decided that in the interest of saving time, I needed to invest in a pre-made system.
I chose the Cloud Dome, which gave me much more consistent results. However, I still had to do a lot of experimenting to discover how best to use it. I talk about the pros and cons of this system in my review of the Cloud Dome over on BellaOnline.com, so take a look there if you’re trying to decide whether to buy one.
Unfortunately, most pre-made systems don’t come with a digital camera. For years I used my original digital camera, a massive Nikon Coolpix with a resolution of about 2 megapixels. I thought that was fine, until I invested in a newer model Coolpix (which was actually less expensive than the first), and realized the difference.
What I’m using now is the Coolpix P4
For me, the new camera was worth the expense. If you’re unsure whether you want to make the same leap, see if you can borrow a friend’s newer, higher-resolution camera for a day or two and test it out on your own designs. Do an “A-B” test by photographing the same jewelry with your old camera and the newer one, and compare the results.
Finally, I use Paint Shop Pro
Keep in mind that you can find lots of excellent tips and tricks for photographing jewelry online. Here are just a few:
- Tips for Photographing Jewelry - Home Jewelry Business Success Tips
- How to Photograph Jewelry - Table Top Studio
- Photographing Jewelry - About.com
- How to Photograph Jewelry - MAKE Magazine
- Simple Steps to Improve your Bead Photography
And here are some links to browse for deals on helpful photog-gear on eBay:
