Jewelry Photography--Leave the Black Reflections!
One of our biggest pet peeves is when our clients ask us to remove the dark reflections on their jewelry images. This is usually when I pull out magazine ads from Cartier and Tiffany’s. Their jewelry images have tons black reflections on the jewelry. It is the black reflection that is used to create an interesting/dynamic image…so please don’t ask us to edit it out!
How do you communicate that a piece of jewelry is highly polished and smooth? You can’t show high polish unless you have bright highlights. And you can’t have bright highlights without counter-balancing it with some dark reflections. If all the dark and light reflections are removed, you will get a one dimension image that may as well be a CAD drawing.
Often clients express to me that they don’t want a potential buyer to think their gold charm has a black splotch on it. This is when we reassure them that the viewer understands that your gold charm doesn’t haven’t black splotches on it.
You pay for professional photography to get the right amount of dark and light reflections on your jewelry images to communicate to the viewer the shape/curves/finish of your jewelry. If the hearts had more black reflection on them than that thin dark edge, then would be distracting. In the case of the circle drop earrings, there is just enough black reflection on each of the circles that your eye bounces from dark to light creating the illusion of a multi-dimensional image. So next time your jewelry photography creates a beautiful reflection that highlights an aspect of your jewelry, rest assured he knows what he is doing and your money is well spent.
StyleExpo Photography has 20 years of experience servicing the fashion, jewelry, beauty and homegoods industry. Studios in NYC and LA offer services ranging from one-hour table-top jewelry shoots to a full-day lifestyle model shoot on location. Rates are per-shot for send-in work, though we do offer hourly rates for clients wanting to participate at the shoot. Turnaround is 3-4 business days and all images can be resized and cropped ready to populate your website or linesheet. Call us today to discuss your shoot. 213.394.6307 or contact megan@styleexpo.com
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