Ever since I wrote the article in Creative Jewelry on photography tips, I'd been itching to photograph one piece of jewelry in a dozen different ways. I loved what the art department did with the photos and layout of the article—it's very appealing visually. However, from a learning standpoint, it's so much easier to see what works and what doesn't when you're comparing apples to apples or, in this case, birds to birds.
I worked quickly in this experiment, spending no more than 30 minutes taking as many photos as I could. The idea was to try a lot of different things and not reject any ideas outright. I wasn't trying to take a perfect photo; I was discovering which shots (if any) would be worth spending time perfecting.
Group #1: Paper Backgrounds
These earrings were easy to photograph flat. (Not all are, as any jewelry designer could tell you.) The white splotch on the green background is part of the scrapbook paper, but in this photo it looks like I was using the paper as a placement for a sugary donut.
Silver can be especially hard to photograph. I might take these again outside or inside with the flash turned off. Of these, I like the one in the top right corner best.
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Group #2: Props
Props are very tempting, but it's hard to find the right one to use. Plus, it's easy to get carried away and forget that the point is to sell the jewelry, not the photo.
The "hand" photo is something I've seen on Etsy. It's always bugged me, so I wanted to see if I felt differently seeing it with my own jewelry. Nope. It does show scale to a degree, but it's still completely distracting to me. (And probably to my neighbors, who were out walking their dogs while I was trying to hold the earrings in one hand and photograph them with the other.)
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Group #3 Hanging, Not Flat
I wanted to take some photos of the earrings hanging, rather then flat, since this gives customers a better idea of how the earrings will look when worn.
Sometimes taking a photo helps you see things you don't notice in person such as all the texture on the wall behind the metal tree. The prop in the bottom left photo is a lampshade, while the bottom right is a chair. I like the textured paper on the lampshade; I might try to find similar scrapbooking paper.
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This was a helpful exercise for me. Usually, I only try one or two arrangements and just keep snapping photos until I'm happy with one. It's easy to see in this side-by-side comparison which photos might work with some tweaking and which ones should be destroyed. I didn't take any model shots, but that would be worth trying, too.
Taking great photographs is work. It may take several shots—or dozens—to get the right image. However, if you're selling online or submitting to galleries or magazines, it's definitely time well spent. You only get one chance to make that first impression.