Photographing jewelry is similar to shooting sculpture -- except in miniature. The entire photographic set has to scale down or the work becomes flat and lifeless.

Where they differ is that when photographing sculptures, the lighting, background, and angle are my doing but the composition of the work is dictated by the piece. With jewelry, it's all about flow and design which can add to, or distract from, the work. Good composition enhances the artist’s work making whimsical pieces more playful and bold pieces bolder.

The following images show this in action, and also how I work with the artist to establish a "look" for their jewelry in the process.

Necklace by Lainey Papageorge. Photographed for her one woman show at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA). Some of her work is so valuable it was decided they should be represented by a series of photographs displayed in the gallery. This necklace had a compartment above the pendant. To show this feature, I shot the necklace from the top and dropped the image in as an inset into the larger print.

These three pieces show various ways a white background can be used. For the necklace the background was toned cooler at the top and warmer at the bottom, following the tones in the necklace. The bracelet was spotlit, and the rings were prepped to strip out onto a solid white page.

Necklace by Brimstone Studios.
Bracelet by Renee Adams.
Wedding Bands by Alisa Unger Studios.

Broach and necklace by Lainey Papageorge, shot for the retrospective catalogue of her work in conjunction with the exhibit at MOCA. Lainey wanted 2 different backgrounds, to differentiate between her work.

Pin by Marcia Cohen.
Rings by Regina Imbsweiler

Artist's portrait of jeweler, Renee Adams.
The second image is of a model wearing a bracelet and necklace by Brimstone Studios. One use of this image was for display along the walls of the artist's booth.

Earrings by Leigh Griffin.
Ring by Alan Bremer.

Jessica Lawrence necklace on slate.
Obayana Ajanaku necklace on frosted glass.

These represent two ways of photographing a necklace to fit the square format used by Zapplication. Many of the artists I shoot for want images that are optimized for this service so I generally start with that in mind. If the necklace is detailed all the way around, or is on a handmade chain, I aim to show the entire piece. These 2 necklaces are examples of exceptions to that rule.
The feature elements of Jessica's necklace are very horizontal; cropping in tighter would cut into the most important part, so the best option was to drape the chain nicely and show the entire length. Obayana's piece has a very bold central element, so even though the chain was hand built, moving out to show all of it would have given the central element less impact. We decided to stay in close, but show enough chain to be recognizable as handmade.

Cuffs by Susan Saul.
Necklace by Barbara Larsen

Necklaces by
Alan Bremer
and
Mary Pettignano

Earrings by
Brenda Smith
and
Susan Saul

Pendant and rings by Dolores Fawkes

Necklace and bracelet by Michelle Walsh

Cuff bracelets by
Beverly Schnell
and
Leigh Griffin

Necklaces by
Regina Imbsweiler
and
Helen Blythe-Hart

Rings by
Brenda Smith
and
Regina Imbsweiler

In this image for Brenda Smith, there wasn't one angle from which you could see the complexity of the ring. The solution was to shoot the ring in two shots, then combine them into one.

Bracelet by
Mary Pettignano

Necklaces by Susan Saul

Cuff bracelets by
Nancy Barnes
and
Suzi Cavender

Bone and leather necklaces by Jennifer Lyon

Earrings by
Terra Mater Jewelry
and
Beverly Schnell

Rings by
Carol Rubler
and
Jennifer James

Necklace by Julie Sammons

Necklace and bracelet by Susan Coddon

Rings by Ann Finley