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Shooting pearls presents special difficulties. Since most pearls are white, gaining visual separation from a light colored background can be tricky. Lighting pearls also sets up some challenges; making them look interesting and lustrous can also be tough to achieve.
By applying the tools used in this lesson, you will be able to shoot all your pearls the way you want every time. You'll also save time and money in the process. We'll show you how using a basic necklace display stand can simplify the work and make arranging the items a snap.
(Click on any image below for an enlarged view.) |
Topics Covered:
- Setting up on a small table
- Positioning the pearls, the lights, and the camera
- Using 2 light sources to make the pearls shine
Equipment Used:
You can click on the blue links below for more info.
Set / Background
- A home made shooting table
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Setting Up
We used a small shooting table frame made of PVC tubing for this shot. We cut a piece of white foam core to serve as the base support and taped it to the table frame. We then draped a sheet of white paper from the top crossbar to the front of the foam core in a sloping arc. This simple set-up would serve as our "studio shooting table" (figure 1).
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 Figure 1 |
Next, we placed the pearls on a jeweler's necklace display holder and positioned it in the center of the shooting table (figure 2).
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 Figure 2 |
 Figure 3 |
Positioning the pearls at a slight angle to the camera helps to bring out the dimension and detail of the necklace as it sits on the display holder (figure 3).
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Next, we attached our compact digital camera to a tripod and positioned it slightly higher than the display to create a pleasing perspective (figure 4).
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 Figure 4 |
 Figure 5 |
It's important to come in as tight as possible on your subject to maximize the frame. Your distance will be greatly determined by the length of the lens you are using. Here, our compact digital camera was positioned about 12-15 inches from the necklace (figure 5). |
We recommend adjusting the settings of your digital camera to the following:
Exposure mode set to manual
Focus set to manual macro focus
ISO set to its lowest setting (around 100)
Resolution set to its highest (if you ever plan on making prints)
White Balance set to Tungsten (light bulb icon) or to a custom white balance setting
Here, we set the aperture to f/8 and the shutter speed to 1/200 of a second. Note that your exposure will vary depending on the distance of your light source to your subject.
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Next, we set up a Photoflex Starlite Small Digital Kit and brought it in close (just out of the camera frame) to the left side of the set (figures 6 and 7).
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As you can see, the front face of our soft box is about 10 inches from the necklace. Remember, the closer you bring your soft box to your subject, the softer the light will be (figure 8).
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 Figure 8 |
 Figure 9 |
Figure 9 shows an exposure made with the one light set-up. Not a bad start! (figure 9)
Even so, the shot could still use some work. Notice how the shadows and dark areas on the right side of the necklace render the overall shot a little too high in contrast. By adding a second light, as you'll see, we were be able to bring out the brilliance of the pearls more clearly.
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Next we set up and positioned a second Starlite Kit to the right of the set. This second light helped to eliminate the shadows and bring out more of the luster of the pearls (figures 10 & 11).
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In this set-up, our second light is positioned higher and a little farther from the necklace than the first light, which helped to illuminate the dark side of the necklace.
Note that it's good to experiment with the positioning of your lights, as minor adjustments will often yield significant changes to your overall lighting (figure 12).
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 Figure 12 |
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Figure 13 shows the difference between using one soft light source and two soft light sources. Notice how the second light brings out the brilliance in the pearls.
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 Figure 13 |
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As you can see with this simple demonstration, it can be very fast, easy and affordable to create professional-looking shots of your jewelry!
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Equipment Used:
You can click on the blue links below for more info.
Recommended Links
- To learn more about Photoflex equipment, go to www.photoflex.com
- For more detailed digital photography lessons, visit
www.webphotoschool.com
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