Jewelry photography is just like any other product photography, only with more detail and quality. For other types of products like basketballs, sport wears, etc., the look might not matter as much as the quality of the product. For jewelry, the look is just as important. Potential customers will judge your jewelry products based on how they look when they see them on the internet or on the pages of famous magazines.
Your customers expect that great jewelry will stop them in their tracks and make them marvel at the sight of it for a while before they consider buying it. Your high-quality photographs of jewelries should have that effect on your customers if you are ever to have a chance at convincing them to buy from you. These high-quality photographs also make you look professional before your customers, so you can build a solid brand reputation.
For this reason, utmost care must be taken when involved in jewelry photography so that you get the best out of your photoshoot. This means you must avoid some common mistakes during this process. However, many people do not know what mistakes to avoid and they end up making them and reducing the quality of their jewelry photographs. In this article, we will go through some of the most common mistakes made when taking pictures of your jewelry, and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Poor Preparation
Without preparing properly for your jewelry photoshoot, you are bound to get something less than top-notch or professional. Preparing for your jewelry photoshoot can help you take pictures that won’t need much editing after the pictures have been taken. Usually, most business owners don’t take care to clean their jewelry from dust, remove stickers, cut out unnecessary tags and strings from the jewelry before they present the product for the photoshoot.
Also, some jewelries have some defects like missing gems or scratches that might have happened as a result of moving them around. Best believe that if your jewelry has some defects or even if it is dirty, your customers will notice it and it can reduce their desire to buy from you. Editing it will require a lot of time and expertise, and reshooting the picture can bring about more cost and take more time to do. To avoid all this, try to clean and prepare your jewelry before your jewelry photoshoot.
Mistake #2: Busy Background
The jewelry you are taking photos of should be the most important component pf the picture, and nothing else. A lot of times people want to add too many aesthetics to their picture and they end up taking away the spotlight from what really matters: the jewelry. Don’t try to design your background with colorful pictures and portraits that distract people from the jewelry.
Use colors like white and light grey as background for your picture so that your jewelry can retain its position as the center of attraction. You don’t want people to start focusing on the picture behind the jewelry and start asking where they can get a portrait like that for their home.
Mistake #3 Having too many unnecessary items
This is similar to number 2 above. Many people put up too many props to hold their jewelries. Stuff like mannequins can also take away the attention from the jewelry and reduce the quality of your jewelry shot. This is not to say that jewelry stands, white foams or jewelry holders aren’t necessary. In fact, for elegant necklaces, having a nice mannequin isn’t such a bad idea. However, if it affects how you shoot the jewelry, then you should consider taking it out.
It is better to have your jewelry lie on a flat white surface while you take photos of it. Simplicity is key.
Mistake #4: Showing Reflections
Many people make this mistake. Having your jewelries sparkle a bit is not bad, in fact it is beautiful. However, sparkle is not the same as reflections. Reflections can easily destroy the look of the jewelry and reduce your professionalism. When taking pictures, take care to ensure that your photographer adjusts their position with respect to the direction of the light so that the reflection of their camera does not show on the clear, glassy surface of the precious metal you are snapping.
When confused, remember: sparkles are good, reflections are unprofessional and never good.
Mistake #5: Shooting from afar
Jewelry photography is more than just any regular photography because a lot of details are involved and you need to show all these details to get your customer to trust your product. For this to be possible, you should snap the picture from close range. This is another reason why it is necessary for you to do away with props like mannequins because they take so much space and cause you to snap only smaller details of the jewelry.
Bonus Mistake: Too Much Editing
Editing your jewelry photos is great before you post them – in fact it’s necessary. However, you must take special precaution to ensure you don’t overedit your pictures and make them look unreal. Try to make the pictures look as natural and professional as possible, that way people will trust you more.
Conclusion
When you are taking pictures for your jewelry sales, ensure you focus on making it as natural as you can, and with all the details possible. If your potential customers know a thing or two about jewelry, they will notice if your jewelry photos are terrible and they will be put off by it. That is why jewelry photography is important, because it must be done with utmost care to ensure that it looks as good as it possibly can.
The mistakes listed above are very common mistakes by jewelers who wish to sell their product on the internet. If you avoid these mistakes and add consistency to your marketing and promotion of your products, you will increase your reputation and get more people buying from you in no time.