How to Display Jewelry and Other Small Items to be Photographed to the best advantage.

Learn how to Display Jewelry or other small objects to be photographed to the best advantage. You spent time, thought, energy and money on your project; don't fail now with an inferior presentation. Jewelry that is worn against the skin should be pictured on a plain background somewhat near the color of skin; the neutral color of soft beige is best for Caucasian and a nice cool shade of brown for darker skin. It is easier for customers to visualize wearing the jewelry when shown in the proper surroundings. Using Two or more colors in a background take away from the jewelry item that you want to be the main focus. A pin or any other Item worn on top of clothing such as a jacket, blouse, sweater or shirt can be displayed beautifully on a solid color background using a darker or lighter color of fabric dictated by the color of the stones in the jewelry item being presented. Show dark Purple Amethyst stones on lighter shades of Purple fabric and light color Amethyst stones on darker shades of purple fabric, unless the amethyst has a red tent, show red stones on Wine, Burgundy, violet, etc. etc. always being sure to have a good contrast between Stones and fabric colors. Black and White works great when there is a good contrast between the items being shown. Using a live model for your jewelry pictures is not the best way to go as that also takes away from the main focus of the item being offered for sale to the individual. The exception would be for rings and bracelets; they should be pictured in a close up shot on the hand and wrist only, earrings show nicely on just the ear and a small amount of the surrounding area. Necklaces displayed on a standard type upper torso display form that is of a neutral color as long as you keep a good contrast between the jewelry being shown and the background. If you participate in jewelry shows, Craft Shows or Home Party Sales you will find the (tm) Velcro Assisted Jewelry Display system at www.Territems.com extremely useful.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A camera or scanner.
• a photographer.
• Enough lights to keep shadow free.
• For Backgrounds, different colors of fabric, leather, paper in colors and textures that or best for each item of jewelry to be photographed on.

1. Sterling Silver on Wood How to Display Jewelry to be photographed to the best advantage. You spend time, thought, energy and money on your project; don't fail now with an improper presentation.
   This Article is meant to show the best way to present your delicate hand crafted jewelry and other small crafts; it is not about how to photograph the items. You will find several good “how To photograph” articles written by photographers here at e-How.com and other places on the net.
   
   It is about setting up your shots and placing your items on the best possible backgrounds. Some of the worst backgrounds I have seen are jewelry Items made of Turquoise, Coral and Silver shown on a busy background pattern of a Turquoise, Tan, Black and Coral Indian blanket; nice if you are selling blankets. By the way the blanket was beautiful but the jewelry items got lost in the background pattern and all I could remember was the blanket.
   
   It’s the same with delicate earrings and necklaces, placed on a lace tablecloth; they don’t show up as well as they should; again nice if you are selling tablecloths. Think “Contrast”. Silver jewelry needs to have a medium contrast background; if you show it on white or light silver gray it almost disappears into the background.
2. Brass on textured Leather don't use Patterned backgrounds of two or more colors, It makes it too busy and it takes away from the jewelry items that you want to be the main focus.
3. Gather all the Items you want to take photos of. Make a list of the stone colors or other colors of the Items you want to photograph or scan.
   For backgrounds Select solid colors of fabrics like Brocades, tweeds and any pattern that is basically solid. Textured fabric or leather like calf skin (not too shiny),. Swede, Crock or snakeskin leathers work well for men or woman’s jewelry.
   Try art type papers or homemade paper; some art stores have a sort of pellon type paper that is two tones of one color lightly mixed and is available in various colors. Try using large green leaves with veins for a background.