Jewellery Photography with models

[pashminu]

I have been doing some jewellery photography with various backgrounds. I would like to experiment with jewellery on models. How do I get going with it.

You can check out some of the "standard" jewellery photographs here: http://digitalstudio.in/jewellery-ph...phy-mumbai.htm

[Manfred M]

The type of photography you are looking at doing is a subset of the field of beauty / fashion photography. This tends to be in the realm of commercial photographers, not the enthusiastic amateurs you will find on this site.

It tends to be done in a studio setting using multiple studio flashes involved. They also require a model with appropriate makeup, costuming and hair. The model and the clothing, hair and makeup are effectively "props" to show off the jewelry that is being photographed. Shooting angles and positions are chosen to show of the jewelry. This can of course include the model's head, neck and hands.

Unfortunately, we don't know anything about your equipment, knowledge or experience I'm not sure what else to say. Finding and working with an experienced photographer in this field would be the best way to figure things out.

[pashminu]

Thank you, for the reply.

I have full frame Canon 6d and two speed lights.

Need to experiment with the backgrounds etc. for commercial and professional photography outcome.

[rpcrowe]

Regarding background materials... I assume that there are shops in Mumbai that specialize in furniture upholstery. This type of shop in America often has remnants of upholstery material left over that is to small to be used on furniture but, can often be great for backgrounds and can be obtained very inexpensively. Other material that can be good for backgrounds is velvet or velveteen. However, you need space to store large amounts of background material...

The right lenses will also be a boon to getting good jewelry shots. I would certainly consider a macro lens (or at least a lens with good close-up capability) and or a perspective control lens. This last is quite expensive and has a very steep learning curve. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/...t-shift-lenses

Be careful about perspective when shooting jewelry - especially closeups of round jewelry such as rings. This is where you can gain great value from a PC lens. However, much perspective control can be achieved in Adobe Camera RAW. I hope that you will be shooting RAW

I would expect that being proficient in focus stacking would be a handy skill in jewelry photography. A Tilt-Shift lens will help in achieving the greatest DOF; although at a high cost...

Some other very handy accessories can be:

(1) Modeling clay - often used under jewelry to prop it it at the correct angle

(2) Various jewelry display props such as: http://www.firemountaingems.com/shop/jewelry-displays

(3) For "some" jewelry photography, a tent is a way to get images without reflections... http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Photograp...YAAOSwNSxVNpol This is not an all-encompassing panacea for jewelry photography. Often jewelry, especially silver jewelry, seems flat and dull without any reflections. That said, I would want one of these tents for use when the occasion arises. They are especially good when shooting large numbers of items because of the speed of setup.

(4) Acrylic Black-White Reflective Display Surface: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acrylic-Blac...AAAOSwoydWohqX

Here is a selection of jewelry shooting images: https://www.google.com/search?q=jewe...iw=960&bih=473

Shooting Jewelry Worn By Models:

(1) You are shooting the jewelry, not the model - the model is not more than a prop for that jewelry

(2) Some models have better attributes than others - there are models that specialize in hands, feet, ears, etc.

(3) Ensure that the area of the model shot is perfect without any blemishes. Use of makeup is highly recommended. There are makeup techniques especially for the hands.

Proper post production techniques are essential both for jewelry worn by models and jewelry shot alone...

Do what you have been doing - establish a basic collection of jewelry images for use as sort of a library. Separate these into types of jewelry and use them for reference.

Experiment with masking and making composites. This can be done with Photoshop or can also be done with a program like OnOne Perfect Mask. https://nicolesyblog.com/2015/01/10/...photo-suite-9/

The OnOne Photo Suite or NIK Software can often speed up post production and that means money. You don't get paid for post production; you get paid for the final product. The faster you can achieve a professional product, the more money you can make...

Finally: Google "jewelry photography" if you have not already done so...

Best of luck in your endeavors...

[Manfred M]

Thank you, for the reply.

I have full frame Canon 6d and two speed lights.

Need to experiment with the backgrounds etc. for commercial and professional photography outcome.

I would suggest you look at commercial jewelry images that involve a model and analyze how they are lit. The catch lights in the model's eyes tell you the type and position of the key (main light). Looking at shadows tells you a lot about how the fill light is used and of course the direction and intensity of the rim lights / hair lights tell you a lot about how those lights are set up. In many cases the background is lit and at times these lights are gelled to change the colour of the background.

I do most of my studio shots using seamless paper; I use black, white and middle gray for 100% of my work. Seamless is fairly inexpensive and if I lay it down nicely with a sweep, there are no hard edges in the image.

From a lighting standpoint, I suspect that your Speedlights are not going to have the power to do this type of work as softboxes and other large light modifiers, often with grids, are typically used for this type of work, especially as you get into 3/4 or full body shots. I've never used speedlights in these type of large modifiers. Umbrellas are simply going to be to uncontrollable when it come to light spill.

All I can suggest is that you try experimenting to see if the gear you have will do the job for you.

[pashminu]

Thank you, for the valuable suggestions.

Seems it will be long and steep learning curve to get some decent results.

[rpcrowe]

Thank you, for the valuable suggestions.

Seems it will be long and steep learning curve to get some decent results.

I would suggest that you start with some more simple setups and then branch out to more complicated setups as your experience and confidence grows.

Another negative aspect of shooting with speedlights is that you really cannot see how the light looks before you shoot.

For jewelry alone, continuous lights might be better. Something like this...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lusana-Studi...MAAOxyZzlTcp7C

For jewelry and models, inexpensive studio strobes have modeling lights as well as built-in slave capability. These are not necessarily my recommendation but, they give you an idea of what I mean...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional...UAAOxy3NBSgWeD

[Manfred M]

For jewelry alone, continuous lights might be better. Something like this...

Richard - he is asking specifically for shooting jewelry on models. Continuous light is not going to work in that situation as the light output won't even be close. Even speedlights put out more light and they are probably not going to work.

[Loose Canon]

While it could be said that one is shooting the jewelry and the model is a prop, Pashminu, you will still need to learn how to light the entire scene including any props you use. You will have to light the model, and light the jewelry at the same time. If you want to shoot on a commercial level, I’m afraid you will need to invest in some studio strobes and modifiers (among other things studio related). Two speed lights are not going to be enough and you will need to get the shot in one frame rather than depending on compositing if you can when using a live model. The reason for this is because it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate the scene accurately for multiple frames. This in contrast to shooting the jewelry standing alone where you can set the composition and shoot as many frames as you want with nothing moving.

If you are going to focus stack, you will need those additional lights so you can get the scene lit the way you want and consistently fire all the lights at the same time with each successive frame. Again, you wont be able to get consistent results changing the lighting each frame as you move one or two lights around to composite.

You will need to know how to pose, shoot, and process portraiture and you will need to know how to shoot and process product and specifically jewelry. You provided the example of this in the link you gave with digitalstudio. If you noticed their before and after shots. So one suggestion might be to practice and learn each separately then combine to get an idea of what it’s going to take.

This was done with four studio strobes fired, Pashminu:



This with five (if I recall correctly) and a nine shot focus stack:



And this as a bit of a “creative” environment (related to your background question):

[pashminu]

Thank you, Terry for the response.

In addition to the photography, there will be editing of the final photographs to be done

Seems there are many more factors involved than they meet the eye(s).

[Manfred M]

Thank you, Terry for the response.

In addition to the photography, there will be editing of the final photographs to be done

Seems there are many more factors involved than they meet the eye(s).

Terry and I are the only members that I am aware of that regularly shoot with multiple studio lights (in fact, we own the same brand of lights). If you are shooting on models, the amount of editing you will need to do will likely be less than in extreme closeups of the pieces that Terry has shown, simply because you will be further away and won't need to focus stack.

Model jewelry shots, especially ones showing the head and part of the body tend to be shot at focal lengths from around 85mm to 135mm (on a full frame camera), although I know of at least one photographer who does this type of work that will shoot with a 100mm macro for some closer shots.

Apertures of f/8 through f/11 are commonly used because of depth of field and image quality.