When your business is selling jewelry online, your revenue depends on how stunning your photos turn out. Because there will be no talking or actual inspection involved in the shopping process, you can’t make mistakes on your images. That is why jewelry presentation goes beyond hiring a professional photographer to capture the beauty of each piece. Your photographer should also be adept at determining the best angles on brilliant gems, high-end necklace retouching, creative backdropping, and more.
There are several ways to photograph your jewelry pieces to make them stand out even more. Here are the five most popular options:
1. Against a black background
Working with a black background makes post-processing easier because you won’t be dealing with any shadows. The goal of every photographer is to highlight the intricacies of a piece while creating as minimal shadowing as possible. Black backgrounds also help enhance the shine and brilliance of gems.
2. Against a full white background
Taking product shots on a bright white background focuses the attention on the piece itself and gives it quite a regal finish. On the processing side, photo retouchers will appreciate this method because it requires less work. A white canvas also helps you optimize your marketing resources, as well as make it easy for your web developer to put it on display without having to worry about color contrasts and blends.
3. Using props
The choices of props are infinite and depend on how creative you and your photographer are. You can use solid-colored mannequins, a cardboard, a trinket holder, or even textured and graphic papers to show off your products. It doesn’t really matter whether you put in on a table or on flooring, as long as the background compliments the piece to make it more marketable online.
4. With a model
Because jewelry is meant to be worn, having a model showcase your pieces will help your buyer imagine how it would look on themselves. The photos should reflect how they are in actual, so shoppers can appreciate its beauty more. It also gives them style suggestions on how the piece is to be worn.
When working with a human canvas, be sure to focus the camera on the product, and not the model. You don’t really have to show the whole body or face. If it’s a ring or bracelet, you can show how it looks on the hand, or if it’s an earring, you can have the model wear matching makeup to make the piece stand out.
5. Using a creative backdrop
Now, the shadow rule is not set in stone and you can certainly play it off against your jewelry if it will help it look even more stunning. Your photographer can experiment with different patterns, textures, colors, materials, and other accessories to enhance depth and personality.
Before you take photos of your jewelry, be sure to clean them thoroughly so that no smudges or unsightly marks are showing. It’s best to use cotton gloves during the entire process, so you don’t have to conduct any reshoots and waste everyone’s time. More importantly, use a high-resolution camera to make all the nice features of your pieces more prominent. It doesn’t matter if you have a DSLR camera or a high-end smartphone, as long as the pictures are of superior resolution and quality.