Photographing jewellery

Since setting up my website I’ve come to realize the importance of having good photographs of my work. In the past I would have used my camera just to document interesting pieces I had made or ideas I might have. Now that I’m selling work online I appreciate how much the customer relies on a good quality image.

Jewellery is notoriously difficult to photography as it is not only small but reflective. For ages now I’ve had the problem that most of my jewellery photographs have my face and camera reflected in the piece. I’ve done  a lot of reading up on how to combat this problem and the best solution I found was a light tent. I got this one on Amazon for €10. I don’t have any lighting I just put it beside a window and use natural light. This might not be the most professional approach but it works fine for me.!

I’ve tried to play around with the way I photograph my work, and not just snap it on a piece of card. I’ve recently started to incorporate some props so the jewellery can be seen clearly. A perfect example of this is when photographing earrings. They never sit correctly so I had the idea of hanging them from something and I didn’t want to use a model. So here is what I came up with.

The added bonus about using props is that I can promote other peoples work. Like the angel vase I put the earrings on which was made by Mary Neeson who has a gallery in Killarney. Have a look at her work at www.maryneesonceramics.com

So there you have my photography tips. I’m sure there are lots of professional photographers with better advice but these a just a few little tricks that have worked for me. Now that I’m photographing my work I’m hoping to add a gallery page to the website.Showing  recent commissions and other work that I might not have included in the blog.