Jewelry 1
Helpful Jewelry Information Community Site
mrfrudd2006 asked:
I read a variety of high end fashion magazines and Architectural Digest and see many beautiful ads of watches and jewelry. I am wondering if they are using high end DSLR’s and macro lenses or medium format digital. It looks like the lighting is so specialized. I have seen the variety of light boxes and light tents on ebay, but there is a lot more technical info to learn about photographing reflective products. Are there any books out that show step by step tutorials in shooting jewelry. Also, it looks like there is a variety of retouching tools utilized to get the pro look in ads. What is the best gear needed to learn jewelry photography? Thanks for any advice and help with this topic.
Lighting jewelry can be extremely difficult. The shiny surface on most of it means you have to take in to consideration the angles that the light is hitting it to get the best effect possible. Throw in a stone that can reflect light in hundreds of different ways (those fun little rainbows that diamonds make) and the challenges multiply immensely.
Look for books dealing in lighting, this is the key to shooting anything, but especially jewelry.
The ‘gear’ you would use actually depends on your preferences and budget. They make light tables where you can set your light underneath and light the piece from below, or you can use a lighting set up from the top that could use any number of lights.
I’m not really a commercial photographer, but I got to play with it in a class I took awhile back, if there’s anything else I can help you with, feel free to e-mail me.
go 2 ask.com