Advice for photographing jewellery?

[Razordance]

A friend of mine has asked me to help her out with selling some jewellery online. The problem is, I've found in the past that jewellery is one of the most difficult things I've tried to photograph. I find it extremely difficult to get good looking, in-focus shots. I don't have a macro lens, not sure if that's my problem. Does anyone have any advice?

[i speak in math]

If you are having problems getting in-focus shots, you should either practice using manual focus more or use auto-focus. I suspect that isn't actually the problem, though. More than likely you are talking about the depth of field of the focal plane. It is probably too shallow to have the whole subject in focus. Hard to say what the problems are without an example shot that shows the problem w/ the EXIF, however.

[Nicole]

It may also be that you're trying to focus too close for the lens. Double check what the minimum distance is that you need to be from your subject and make sure you're at least that far away. That's why if you're photographing smaller pieces of jewelry, a macro lens is very helpful.

[Razordance]

I'd love to get a macro lens, but it just isn't in the budget ATM. I do have a couple of close up filters (I think a +2 and a +4) that I was given, but I haven't had any luck getting them to work yet. The camera doesn't seem to want to focus on anything when I have the filters on...

[wannabephotographer]

I photograph a lot of jewelry, it is very hard to get right especially silver against a white background. I suspect you are getting too close and only a small part is in focus. Step back and and zoom in instead. You need really steady hands, if you don't have them use a tripod. I like to use an aperture of F9 to F11.

[CharlieJ]

I collect high end wristwatches, so I've been photographing things like that for years. Initially, I made a light box out of a two florescent tube light and a white plastic cutting board (see results below). Recently, I purchased a "light box" from Amazon.com.

Here are a few detail shots of watches from my collection, photographed with the poor man's light box setup...







Make sure you have lots of light, set your WB to accommodate the type of light, use a tripod and get as close to your subject as possible. Details means everything in jewelery photography.

[LeeR]

I agree with CharlieJ that one of the best things you can do is either build or buy a light tent. You can buy a small one on ebay for less than $20 and they do a great job of producing a soft even light and preventing specular highlinghts. Those are the highlights that are so intensely white that you lose all detail; fine if you are shooting the ocean or a car bumper, but on jewelry you want all the details to show. Finally, shoot from a tripod, it often fixes a lot of closeup "focus" problems and allows you to use.

[lisakathleen1961]

I've photographed some of my jewelry in a lightbox, as suggested in the other posts. I made the frame out of PVC pipe and bought poster board for the base/background. I used one of those shop lights a ultra white bulb. In the end, I probably spent more than one of those foldable lightboxes you see online! Every time my husband and I work on clearing the clutter in the garage, he sees that thing (about 30" square) and asks me if I'm still using it. :-) YES! At least until I buy the collapsible lightbox. Michael's craft store carries velveteen displays -- one for bracelets, one for necklaces. They're about $8 each. The jewelry on those against a white or black background is striking. I also edited the shots in Photoshop Elements a bit. Good luck and have fun!