Tips for Photographing Your Handmade Jewelry

Showing Off Your Creations at Their Best

So you've created some beautiful pieces of jewelry that you'd like to sell on Etsy or eCrater but you need great photos. The good news is with digital cameras becoming so affordable it's easy to take great photos of jewelry and other small items.

What You'll Need

A digital camera with a "macro setting", this setting lets you easily bring object less than 3 feet away into sharp focus.

A tripod. Since you'll be taking these photos from close up you don't need a big fancy tripod, you can find inexpensive tabletop tripods at any store that sells digital cameras.

A light tent. You can buy these but I'll be telling you how to make one for almost free.

A backdrop. This can be a pretty piece of paper or fabric, just try to keep it simple. A really bright color or bold pattern can distract from your jewelry.

Objects to hang your pieces from. This is most useful for earrings that don't photograph well lying flat. You can use an earring stand, ribbon, or tulle mesh fabric (my favorite choice).

Lights. It's a must to have plenty of light when taking your photos. I use a pair of desk lamps with daylight bulbs.

Photo editing software. Often you'll need to crop, resize, or adjust colors in your photos. I recommend the GIMP, it's a powerful image editor and completely free.Building a Light Tent - Method 1

This method is for building a light tent for photographing flat items.

Materials

Sturdy cardboard box large enough to fit over your jewelry and not too tall that the tripod can't position the camera over the top.

Thin white fabric or paper.

Glue or tape.

Box cutter or other sharp knife for cutting the box.Cut the top and bottom completely off the box. On the four sides cut a window leaving at least a 1 inch border around it. Adhere the fabric or paper to the box across each of the four windows using either glue or tape. Make sure to stretch the paper or fabric tightly across each window so it doesn't wrinkle. You can now place the light tent directly over your jewelry and shoot a photo looking down at it from the top.

Building a Light Tent - Method 2

This method is for photographing standing or hanging items.

Materials