How to Make Earrings Sharp in Portrait Photography

Several techniques can help to keep earrings in focus when taking portraits.

Photographing portraits while keeping jewelry in focus poses a challenge. Typically, a portrait photographer focuses on the model’s eyes, leading to a drop-off in depth-of-field at the ears; this results in out-of-focus earrings. This is an unacceptable result for some shots, such as product photography or other shots that require earrings to be tack-sharp in the final exposure. There are several techniques that can help to keep earrings sharp when taking portrait shots.

Things You'll Need

• Strobe or slave flash (optional)

Instructions

1. Use a smaller aperture opening. Using a bigger aperture number decreases the aperture size of your camera, which increases the exposure’s depth of field. A smaller aperture decreases the amount of light that the lens can soak up, so you need to adjust the lighting or bump up the ISO speed to compensate.

2. Use a faster shutter speed. If you are using a slow shutter speed, any slight movement may cause motion blur on the earrings in the shot.

3. Switch to a lens with a shorter focal length. A shorter focal length allows you to get in closer to the subject, widening the maximum depth of field.

4. Point a strobe or slave flash onto the earrings. Additional light intensifies the earrings and makes them stand out in the final exposure.

Tips & Warnings

• If there is too much flare or glittering on the earrings when pointing additional lighting on them, use a soft box or light diffuser to lessen the effect.

References

• “Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers”; Christopher Grey; 2004
• Digital Photography School; Overcoming Depth of Field Problems in Portraits; Darren Rowse

Resources

• Digicam Help: Depth of Field (DOF)