How White Of A Background Is Best To Shoot Jewelry

Learn how to photograph jewelry on a white groundwork for website store listings or professional person marketing.

Why photograph your jewelry on a white groundwork? White backgrounds are a standard in today's competitive jewelry market. They are the most versatile and timeless groundwork yous can have for your jewelry photography. White does not interfere with the color of your items and presents your jewelry with the least lark. Information technology is essential in giving your jewelry photos a clean, consistent look on your social media or website. Having good, consistent jewelry photography is critical to bringing and keeping traffic on your website.

Choosing a White Jewelry Photography Background

When choosing white backgrounds for photos, it is most of import to consider the scale at which you will be taking photos. If your jewelry photography will all be in close range, information technology volition not be necessary to purchase a large background. You should also consider the bending at which yous will be photographing your jewelry. If you volition be photographing at a flat or a very slight angle, it will non be necessary to acquire a big background. A smaller white piece of affiche board, ironed cloth or paper volition work.

Nevertheless, if y'all want more than flexibility or will be shooting at dissimilar angles, it may be amend to get a larger "space" type of background. Using a sheet of white background material creates an infinity outcome so y'all don't see a background crease or edge in your images. A roll of pure white paper (sized according to your needs) makes a fantastic seamless groundwork, which tin can be cut and avant-garde when information technology gets muddied. You can too purchase some wrinkle-resistant fabric. Either can be suspended from a mounted dowel rod or dispenser arm.

A white background sheet and a white lightbox — White Background Options from Amazon and B&H Photo

I final option would be a photography calorie-free tent. These offer a wider angle of white groundwork. Ultimately, your decision will be based on what works best for your setup and budget.

Challenges with Photographing the Color White

Photographing jewelry on a white background can pose some challenges, but there are simple solutions.

First, information technology may exist difficult to find the shade of white and texture you desire. Information technology is best to buy equally pure a white as possible, which could mean spending a piddling more coin. Buying a make clean, smooth, bright white background volition salve you more editing time and effort in the long run.

Comparing various shades of whites from photos — White backgrounds don't e'er look white once photographed

Second, white can get dirty fast. It is important to keep your background clean and clear of debris and dust. Wrinkles and creases also bear witness up as darker lines on your photos. A good piece of work around however would be to buy a roll of white paper that can exist unrolled with the excess cut off if the paper gets muddied or creased.

Third, shadows tin bear upon the look of your jewelry in images. Shadows can exist used artistically, and tin can go along your jewelry from looking like it is floating on the folio. You lot can even shoot your items on a cogitating surface to add a footling particular as well. Having consistent shadow areas for your jewelry photos is almost important. Your product spread (on your website or social media) will look strange if the shadows are all going in unlike directions.

Lastly, when you start photographing your jewelry on a white background you'll find something that may stupor you at start: white backgrounds don't look white when shot. Instead they generally expect gray or choice upward the tones of the light in the room. Lighting your backdrop can burnish the white; however yous can also make the adjustments in your photo editing software.

Consider Clipping Your Jewelry Photos

A sunrise charm that's been clipped — Clipping removes the background from your photograph equally shown here.

Another option for premium white backgrounds would be to take the prototype clipped with a photo clipping service. Photo clipping is a service that many websites offer on a per-image ground. Clipping an image involves cutting out the field of study from the background. This tin be helpful if you desire a pure white background for your subjects, as yous can just take the item clipped so artificially add in a white background (a shadow can be added, but keep it subtle). Call up to still shoot the item on white if possible, equally white offers the least interference. Many clipping services can also practice low-cal and colour correction on your images. Photo clipping companies often offer free sample images, then it is a proficient idea to transport a few representative images to several sites to discover which visitor does the best job for the best price.

What Lens is All-time for Jewelry Photography?

Which lens you decide to apply for your jewelry photography will depend on your budget and photographing needs. In general, if you take a DSLR photographic camera, the kit zoom lens the camera came with will suffice (generally 18-55mm zoom). When shooting theme shoots, where I will be switching out a lot of different setups and jewelry, I adopt the versatility of the zoom lens. A zoom lens is a great starting lens and volition generally suit your needs for most of your jewelry photography. If you take a lot of smaller items to photograph (for example earrings, or small pendants with detail) and yous take the budget, I would recommend a 100mm macro lens. This will allow you to get a clearer close-up without setting the camera/lens too close to your items (which will add shadows/reflections on your jewelry).

Lighting for Jewelry Photography

At that place are several lighting options to choose from for your white background photography setup. Three of the most common are using natural light, using a soft box or using a calorie-free tent. Which you lot choose volition depend on your personal preferences and setup; you can also utilize all three (though information technology is recommended to stick with one for more consistent photos). For more than information on each of these lighting options, read our Jewelry Photography Lighting web log.

Tripod for Photography Stabilization

Tripods are a critical tool for your jewelry photography. It is the best way to keep your camera steady, giving you more than flexibility with lighting and camera options. Read up on the all-time tripod for your studio setup in our article Jewelry Photography Tripods.

Tips on How to Photograph Jewelry on a White Background:

If space allows, ever keep your photography station prepare for shooting your jewelry. Information technology takes a surprising amount of time to position all the equipment to set for a shoot. Or, yous can fifty-fifty use record on your floors to help call back tripod and light placement.
Write down/document your photography setup and camera/light settings so yous can indistinguishable the look of your photos again and again.

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Bethany Blackshear profile

Written By: Bethany Blackshear
Old Product Photographer at Halstead. Bethany has been involved and loved photography for over twenty years. She lives with her husband and son hither in Prescott Arizona.