A special area of product photography is watches and jewelry. These high-priced items can be photographed particularly well in a light tent. Understandably, it depends on the finest details so that the viewer can get an accurate picture of the respective object. After all, a good photo often decides on a successful sale. But not only are special detail shots important here but also how these articles are arranged in a light cube.
Typical mistakes made when photographing watches
As a photographer, you should first put yourself in the viewer’s position to find out how a beautiful watch best achieves its effect in a photo. Many put a watch with a round-shaped bracelet on its side. This creates unsightly shadow areas inside the ring of the bracelet. Likewise, the viewer must turn his head to look at the dial on the side of the watch case. A wristwatch should be photographed diagonally from above so that the case and dial are parallel to the camera lens. Only indirect lighting should be provided by the side parts of the light cube. Under no circumstances should a flash be used here, as this leads to strong reflections on the usually shiny watch case and the dial.
This can also be chosen as an attractive background, depending on the packaging. It is even more practical if the watch packaging contains a stand for the watch to be plugged in here. A wristwatch can also be photographed a little from the side and thus reproduce further details of the watch case and bracelet. But be careful; the dial must not be blurred and reflective. For a nice watch photo, you have to try something. It is recommended to shoot in macro mode with an aperture of F5.6 so that only the background melts into a blur, and the watch is photographed sharply with the bracelet behind it.
Optimal illumination of jewelry in a light tent
With jewelry, many mistakes are photographed much too small in the photo. If, for example, you want to photograph a ring, it should be photographed in an upright position with any gemstone in the lens direction. If you do not have a suitable stand, you can make one yourself from some kneading rubber and press the ring there. Of course, the original packaging is even better, which reproduces the ring in an upright position. To ensure that all details are optimally recognizable, you should also try the aperture of F5.6 at close range so that the ring and gemstone are sharp. Your test photos with other aperture areas can, of course, also lead to great photos here.
If, for example, it should be a product photo for the Christmas season, the background can be provided with a piece of red fabric and a fir branch so that these accessories are a bit blurred but still recognizable. Here, many make the mistake of recording the decorative items in a large format while the actual piece of jewelry is photographed only in a very small format. For example, if you want to photograph a beautiful necklace, you can also present it in a light tent, but it looks much more interesting on the living object.
