Top 5 Things Not to Do at a Jewelry Shoot

Jewelry photography is probably the most challenging of all the photography mediums that we do at StyleExpo Photography. With eight years experience shooting fine and fashion jewelry, we have photographed every type of jewelry and know what the hindrances are to producing the highest quality images straight off the camera. Sure, you can spend lots of time retouching the images to improve the image quality, but at StyleExpo Photography we strive to produce a pretty shot straight off the camera that retains the organic nature of your jewelry vs. looks something that looks like a CAD rendering.

We thought it might be helpful to share the top 5 things that we have found that compromise the output of your jewelry photographs.

1. Dirty jewelry: The camera captures every thumb print, ever speck of lint, and every bit of tarnish. Even if you can’t see these things with the naked eye, the camera will capture it. If you are going to make the investment to have your pieces professionally photographed, taking the extra step to have all of your pieces properly cleaned will make a huge difference and save you time in retouch.

2. Rushing: Often clients will bring in more product than they flagged when they booked their shoot. We never want to say no, but we have learned that rushing does not produce our best work and the the client will often be unhappy with the results. Be sure you have booked the right amount of time. We estimate 10 pieces an hour for fine jewelry. Don’t be the client that says, “oh….do you think we can squeeze in these 5 pieces” and start pulling rings off your fingers.

3. Unrealistic expectations: As noted above, jewelry is a very challenging medium. Be clear what you will be using your images for. If you need a hero shot for your landing page, that should be a dynamic image that pops off the screen. We will need more time to try out optimal light, styling etc. We can’t knock out a hero shot at the same speed we do single product shots on white. Moreover, don’t share with us a photo of a David Yurman piece of jewelry and say you want something like this at the speed of 10 pieces an hour.

A ‘hero shot’ with multiple composited images.

Most likely the image of the jewelry you see online is the composition of multiple images of that one single piece. Be realistic that paying $25-$30-/shot is not going to allow the photographer the time to produce your Yurman-esque images.

A David Yurman image

4. Frankenstein Jewelry: We understand you might not have all your samples in all your colorways and it is usually not a problem to make an alternative image using a yellow hoop earring to make a rose gold hoop image. However, don’t ask us to Frankenstein your jewelry and then wonder why it doesn’t look like you expect or get surprised that we are charging you for extra retouching time. “Frankenstein-ing” sounds like this: “Use the left hoop earring in image from #21, and replace the inset stone color with the enamel color of the skull pendant from image #25, while the right hoop in image #21 should be swapped for the right hoop earring in #22, but match the color of the gold to that of image #21”.

5. Act like you are the professional photographer: The phrases clients say that make us shudder: “But when I shoot it on my phone I don’t see that”, or, “That won’t take long at all”. Both of those phrases go back to point #2 and point #3 that if you are telling us it won’t take long, you are likely unrealistic in your expectation of what can be shot in the time you have booked. Shooting jewelry on your phone most likely does not involve the amount of lights and the quality of lens that we use at StyleExpo Photography or any other professional studio. We are shooting at a brightness and magnification that your Iphone is not going to capture. In our 8 years experience, the most difficult client to please is the new jewelry designer that has never seen their pieces professionally shots. It is quite a wake-up call to see the flaws and imperfections in their pieces, and nine out of ten times, we have been told we can’t do our job well because it looks great on their Iphone!

Being mindful of these 5 points can dramatically improve the output of your shoot.

StyleExpo Photography has 20 years of experience servicing the fashion, jewelry, beauty and homegoods industry. Studios in NYC and LA offer services ranging from one-hour table-top jewelry shoots to a full-day lifestyle model shoot on location. Rates are per-shot for send-in work, though we do offer hourly rates for clients wanting to participate at the shoot. Turnaround is 3-4 business days and all images can be resized and cropped ready to populate your website or linesheet. Call us today to discuss your shoot. 213.394.6307 or contact megan@styleexpo.com 

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