Photographing Jewelry - The Agony of Defeat, part 1

I've always known photography was not my strong suit. I bought myself a big treat 3 years ago, before I even discovered the brain cell that can make jewelry. After quite a bit of research, I chose a Canon PowerShot S50, a lightweight 5MP digital camera. "Surely I could learn to use all the manual adjustments," I said to myself, overly confident. I can fiddle with my PC pretty well, set my digital watch, & even handle TWO remote controls for the TV & all the goodies attached to it! However, taking a picture of my 2 grandchildren or granddogs as they squirm like eels or strike like lightning continues to elude me, whether the setting is Auto or manual! Hopeless. But jewelry doesn't move. That should be easy.


WRONG! In fact, when I decided to expand my jewelry-making passion into a business, the first huge challenge almost sent me packing. Photographing jewelry was even harder that wiggling eels! Lighting, clarity, close-ups... I mean reeeaaalll close-ups, with a camera I could barely use & no tripod. But impossible tasks trigger the hard-headed gene from my mother. No exaggeration ==> I took 400-500 pictures of just 20 sets of jewelry that comprised my first official Collection in 2006. I checked each of those jpg files in PhotoShop Elements, spending a month or more trying to substitute realistic colors for the dingy yellow cast over everything. I had much to learn about my camera & lighting, as you can see from the 'before' & 'after' hours with PhotoShop.


My only consolation was that I really liked the 3 minute wedding dress I made for this picture. Can you tell it's a tablecloth? (Please don't say YES!) It's tricky aiming a hand-held camera at yourself without raising your arms so high that the folded tablecloth falls off. But simulating clothing you don't really have in order to photograph your jewelry is subject matter for another blog or two! (To be continued...)