Robert Randall wrote:
I spent 25 years shooting product, with a specialty in food and jewelry. I can't think of any kind of jewelry I haven't shot, from $250,000.00 Piaget watches for Neiman Marcus, to $15.99 diamond earrings for Montgomery Ward, and everything in-between.

What was it that you wanted to know?

do you have a portfolio I can view?!

What was your lighting set up like, was it always the same or did you always move lights around depending on the jewelry? I want to better my photography, but unsure how. Did you use a nikon or canon, what lenses?

Also- is it okay if I contact you in the future for some guidance? would really appreciate it!

Jana wrote:
...Are there any other product photographers here?

Jana, what is your association with Emitations.com i.e. are you one of their affiliates?

Your choice of the 105 mm f/2.8 Nikkor on a crop body gives you reasonable working distance... however since you're shooting Nikon have you considered the 200mm f/4.0 macro?  Have found it admirable for my needs... with a very long throw it's ideal for image stacking... and few if any other nikkors offer such amazing distortion free resolution... 

If you are looking to see what it takes to make it in Jewelry, perhaps you might benefit from reviewing Paul Hartley's book... he is at the zenith of the industry...

That said, I'm primarily a commercial makeup artist (pays the bills) thus only use jewelry as accessories in my beauty narratives...  actually more concerned with showcasing the talent's makeup... hope this makes sense...

All the best on your journey...

Jana wrote:

do you have a portfolio I can view?!

What was your lighting set up like, was it always the same or did you always move lights around depending on the jewelry? I want to better my photography, but unsure how. Did you use a nikon or canon, what lenses?

Also- is it okay if I contact you in the future for some guidance? would really appreciate it!

I have some of the old stuff on hard drives I could share. I'd be happy to help, send me a PM with your contact info.

Thomas Van Dyke wrote:

Jana, what is your association with Emitations.com i.e. are you one of their affiliates?

Your choice of the 105 mm f/2.8 Nikkor on a crop body gives you reasonable working distance... however since you're shooting Nikon have you considered the 200mm f/4.0 macro?  Have found it admirable for my needs... with a very long throw it's ideal for image stacking... and few if any other nikkors offer such amazing distortion free resolution... 

If you are looking to see what it takes to make it in Jewelry, perhaps you might benefit from reviewing Paul Hartley's book... he is at the zenith of the industry...

That said, I'm primarily a commercial makeup artist (pays the bills) thus only use jewelry as accessories in my beauty narratives...  actually more concerned with showcasing the talent's makeup... hope this makes sense...

All the best on your journey...

I work for emitations! I am their photographer, I was an intern, slowly learning my way with photography and studio lighting. I have not heard about that lens but I will do more research, thank you!

Thx for that portfolio, I am bookmarking it! Fell in love with the stones. Also I love that photo of yours, what lighting set up did you use? Two softboxes in the front and one back light?

Shot By Adam wrote:
I do product photos all the time. I just did a shoot for an "adult novelty" company who sells on Amazon. Oddly enough, I'm doing a shoot for the same company next week for their other product... chocolate covered cocoa beans. Go figure?. Oh the goofy things us photographers shoot sometimes:

What is your favorite lighting set up?

Jana wrote:
What is your favorite lighting set up?

This was kind of a weird shoot. I actually made it originally against just a pure white background but the client liked a little vignetting so I added some in post and they loved it. I shot this on a photo table and normally I'd leave in the surface reflections but amazon doesn't allow any shadows or reflections so that had to be removed, even though it looked way cool with them.

Sometimes you have to get really creative with product photography. For this, I shot the box separately from the "toy" and composited the two together. The box was easy, the toy, not so much. The toy is a very odd shape and doesn't stand up (no pun intended) so I first tried to shoot it flat but I didn't like the results I was getting so I decided to try and figure out a way to shoot it upright. The problem is, it's very top heavy so no matter how I tried, I couldn't prop it up so I decided to shoot it upside down. Here is a quick sample of how it was shot:



So here is a little secret I'll share with you. To prop it up I used boba straws and Sticky Tack. Those thick straws you get with boba drinks are just awesome for propping up objects for photography. They are wide, thick, extremely strong, very light weight, and you can cut them to shape around any object with ease. Then you wad up some Sticky Tack and use it on the ends. It's fantastic and it's cheap. So that's what is holding it up (upside down). For lighting, here is my method:



I have my product table setup rather high so the base of the table is a little lower than chest height.

From left to right (clockwise)

- Nikon D800 on tripod. Lens depends on the size of product I'm shooting. I ALWAYS use the camera on a sturdy tripod and use a wireless shutter release.

- Einstein with snoot. Sometimes I use a 20 degree grid depending on the size of the product.

- Einstein overhead on a boom directly over the product with a square softbox. Sometimes I use a grid, sometimes not.

- Einstein with a shoot-through umbrella to get a wide rim light. I usually have this light set very low.

- Large white reflector to provide some extra fill on the front.

- Underneath the table I point a Yongnuo flash straight up, under the product. The acrylic the table is made of is barely transparent when you hit it with a huge amount of light from underneath. It just creates a really nice glow under the product.

Jana wrote:
I posted a while ago- https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=922950





Are there any other product photographers here?

My advice for jewelry shooting is SUNPAK ebox Studio. Use fluorescent day lights minim 300W each For inside the box reflectors use 1/4 acid free foam board { acid free doesn't reflect the light back) Macro lens  is the best way
but you must prepare your pieces to be super clean. Jewelry is very challenging. Most pro shooter wouldn't share details Why? because most of
the props are custom made. So it can get complicate.

Jana wrote:
I posted a while ago- https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=922950





Are there any other product photographers here?

Background light looks to hard out ay it's blowing out the highlights, mostly they are clear cut.
What are you using?

Stephen Roscoe wrote:

Background light looks to hard out ay it's blowing out the highlights, mostly they are clear cut.
What are you using?

a table
i have 2 softboxes in the front and another alienbee in the back

those white tents are not the way to go at all, trust me, you dont want white jewlery you want silver!

Jana wrote:

a table
i have 2 softboxes in the front and another alienbee in the back

those white tents are not the way to go at all, trust me, you dont want white jewlery you want silver!

Yea don't use a tent but you also don't want to blow it out on the background losing detail and edges on the jewellery. Try shooting without the background light and clear cutting it and comparing them.

Stephen Roscoe wrote:

Yea don't use a tent but you also don't want to blow it out on the background losing detail and edges on the jewellery. Try shooting without the background light and clear cutting it and comparing them.

okay thanks!

Michael Bots wrote:
Different photo results from the same $1.98 pendant. Some shots look much better than others.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_nkw=Re … pe+Pendant

thank you for this, it was very helpful to see different views!