Jewelry Photographer

[klryder02]

Hi Guys-

It's been a while since I was on the board!!

I am looking for someone in the metroplex who has experience (and the correct setup) to shoot jewelry.

I am developing a cancer jewelry business...and I have one piece that needs to be shot..pretty soon. My basic experience and Rebel setup won't work for this :)

If all goes well..this could lead to the need to have all of my jewelry being photographed over the next 6 months. Besides the one piece...everything else is still in the design phase.

If you or someone you know may be interested..PM me. I can send you the pic of the necklace piece I took a few days ago. Please also include examples of your work and price.

Thanks!!!
-Kelly

[jerrykr]

Do some Google searches for "light tent".

They are pretty cheap, and also easy to make one yourself once you get the general idea. Get at least 3 or 4 lights that you can position around the tent. Don't use flash, as you will likely get a lot of reflections that will be hard to control, shoot available light from a tripod. Shadows are easy to eliminate by moving your lights around and just checking visually.

Not jewelry, but you get the idea. The background was a simple piece of poster paper curved in the tent.



Here are two really crappy pictures of my setup, to give you an idea.





I've since got a commercial tent, which is a bit nicer, and changed all the lights out to Home Depot halogens. You can get them with stands, I just used parts of my PA system to rig the lights up.

It's a bit of trouble to set up, but once you get it right, rotating your subjects thru should go pretty quickly. You can do this with your Rebel pretty easily.

[Bobby C 01TA]

There are lots of sites that show you how to make a light tent.. basically all you need is a cardboard box and some white fabric and a couple white poster boards.. its really easy and your pics will come out great! If the jewelry is small, you can get away with taking pics on a smooth surface under artificial lighting. It sounds cheesy but trust me.. it works !!

[L Stegall]

Really, don't be afraid to think outside the box (light box) that is. I watched my neighbor shoot jewelry for a major high end catalog in his back driveway one morning. It was nice and cloudy and he had set up a big softbox. He had a nice size table he was shooting on and he had placed the pieces on different types of natural materials - bark, gravel, stones, etc, which really worked for the pieces he was shooting.

[bondarnes]

I shot jewelry for Zale Corp. many years ago. I can shoot the one piece you need now and at the same time teach you how to do the rest yourself.

[jkderby]

Don let me borrow his light box and gave me some pointers. This is what I got. Good guy to learn from.

[klryder02]

Thanks for all of the posts. I was willing to pay someone to shoot it for me...but I guess I will try it myself first.

Thanks!!

[jerrykr]

Have you heard the tip about turning a chair upside down, draping a white bedsheet over the legs, and voila!, instant light tent! Just add lights, and a curved background.

[adirty1]

you should take don up on that offer. you could end up saving some money in the long run. and learn something at the same time.

[okcwannabe]

Wow Don...I don't know why I am still shocked by the generosity you give on this forum. I see it all the time! Very cool pics Jim!

[Stifled_1]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

I shot jewelry for Zale Corp. many years ago. I can shoot the one piece you need now and at the same time teach you how to do the rest yourself.

Hi Don,

I would love to take you up on this over, but I am in Houston. Do you have written you can email to me?

[bondarnes]

I have never taught a class on this and don't have anything written. I haven't worked for Zales in nearly forty years, but I still get a few calls to photograph jewelry and other small art pieces.

[craigthegraphicartist]

I would advise against the "light tents" they are very poor quality.
I have written a blog post as to why you should avoid such a setup.

[d2creative]

I also advise against light tents.
You want specular highlights for jewelry. Reflectors and flags and multiple lights is the correct way to do it.

I've done a bunch of high key jewelry.