How to Photograph Jewelry step1

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hotographing jewelry can be tricky, but with a few concepts and budget below US$500 it is possible to achieve near-professional look of the photographs. This guide is intended for absolute beginners. Terminology is simplified, and camera adjustments are discussed with only jewelry in mind.

1. Equipment

1.1 Digital SLR

- Biggest spend for near-professional look of jewelry photography is for the digital SLR. This is an absolute must. Second-hand camera will be as good. Camera without many features and without high Mega-Pixel rate will work just as fine. 3 Mega Pixel is more than enough.

Note that what makes the difference is the quality of the optical system, not the number of actual pixels.

Digital SLR will allow you to manually adjust every aspect of the camera. Automatic modes are not appropriate for jewelry.

1.2 Lighting

- Avoid using any flashes. Don't use camera's built in flash. Don't buy stand-alone flashes. In fact, don't buy any lighting equipment. Desk lamps 60W-100W will do just fine.

Photo tent will help a lot, but is not mandatory. You get find them for as little as US$20. Terminology varies, so "Photo Tent" will also be called "Light Cube", or "Soft Light Box". Do your searching and find one approx 20" (50cm) in size.

You will need 3 lights. Two matted lights -- soft lights, and one reflector light. Place one matted light left of the area for jewelry, and one to the right. Place reflector light near where the camera is.

Whatever you do, avoid mixing light types. Use only non-fluorescent lights, and isolate your photo 'lab' away from natural light.

1.3 Tripod

- To have freedom with many settings that will be a must, we will have to use longer exposures. For longer exposures to achieve maximum sharpness, we'll need a tripod. Our hand shakes too much, when camera runs at exposition 1/2s or 1/5s. Buy a 'tripod' for US$10-$20. You don't need a heavy duty tripod. If your setup will be on a desk, you can chose mini tripod - approx 10" (25cm), and stand tripod on the desk as well, or longer tripod, approx 50" (125cm) and stand it on the floor.