Lighting and backgrounds for jewelery photography

TG.

TG.

Suspended / Banned
Messages
6,905
Name
Tel
Edit My Images
No
I've been asked to take some photos of some jewelery for a friend, not done this type of thing before so not to sure about the lighting and backgrounds, i have some Lencarta lights but I'm guessing these will be overkill, however I'm not intending to get in to this type of work so would really like to try to use what i have, i also have an SB-900 speedlight, so does anyone have any experience of this type of work and what i should be looking for on a budget, also just to add i don't have a macro lens anymore, but i do have an 85mm 1.8 and a 50mm 1.4 so i am hoping these will suffice, as it's not something i intend to get into so buying a macro lens wouldn't be an option for me right now, any advice is greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance :)
 
What about a light tent with different coloured backgrounds to compliment the types of jewellry you'll be shooting?
 
Davyboy said:
What about a light tent with different coloured backgrounds to compliment the types of jewellry you'll be shooting?
Click to expand...

Yes i was thinking about one of those, more concerned about how people go about lighting it though :)
 
What kind of jewelry? What size? You'll probably need a set of tubes, or maybe a Raynox DCR-250 or 150 macro adapter for 40 quid might be good enough for a one off - just keep important detail away from the edges!

A light tent is probably a good idea, but the way that they get jewelry to sparkle in shops is with multiple small spot lights, ie two or three bare flash guns.
 
HoppyUK said:
What kind of jewelry? What size? You'll probably need a set of tubes, or maybe a Raynox DCR-250 or 150 macro adapter for 40 quid might be good enough for a one off - just keep important detail away from the edges!

A light tent is probably a good idea, but the way that they get jewelry to sparkle in shops is with multiple small spot lights, ie two or three bare flash guns.
Click to expand...

Not all of it is sparkly jewelry, i will try and add some photos tomorrow of the type of thing I'm looking at, are those Raynox macro adaptors you mention for a 85mm lens or a 50mm lens, as I've never used anything like that before.

EDIT i would also be looking for a couple of the reflective bases you get to lay the jewelery down on the, any ideas where to get these from please ?
 
Last edited:
Some photos of the jewelery added not very good quality but gives you an idea of what i will be taking photos of, so anymore ideas on how i can make them look much better.

jewel5.jpg


jewel4.jpg


jewel3.jpg


jewel2.jpg


jewel1.jpg


jewel6.jpg
 
Do they all need to be on that kind of background? You may need to create consistency, but if you don't then it would be far better to use whatever background suits the colour/type of jewellery, reflective white and reflective black are probably the most useful.

As Richard said, multiple small lights are the best way of adding sparkle. Use your exising studio flash to create an overhead fill light and use hotshoe flashes (or smaller) for effect lights. You can easily make them smaller simply by using black card or blackwrap with holes cut out of it, placed over the flash.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Do they all need to be on that kind of background?
Click to expand...

No not at all Garry, i was just posting them as examples so folk could see the type of jewelry it was and the best way to light, i have been looking at these reflective tables (which i suspect your referring to) HERE i think i may get a black and a white one as they are not to pricey, i am also looking at this type of thing HERE although i'm undecided about that at the moment, would my smart flash 200 be overkill on the lowest setting ? if so what type of small lights would you recommend and where from, i'm getting some of the jewelry next week just to have a practice on :)
 
Last edited:
Yes, both of those links will do the job. The first one is more controllable, because the depth/degree of reflection is easily controlled simply by camera height.
 
A couple of a3 pieces of acrylic from Ebay would be cheaper and using a polariser will control the amount of reflection that you may want. As Garry has said black and white are the most useful and will let the colours of the jewellery speak for themselves plus you don't need to spend time deciding which coloured backgrounds for each piece of jewellery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top