Welcome to Jewelry Making Tips with Metals mith Society , the ultimate podcast for anyone passionate about the art of jewelry making . I'm your host , Corkie Bolton . Metals mith Society is a community on Instagram that has over 240,000 individuals , from professional jewelers to small business artisans , hobbyists , students and even those curious , lucky lose eager to learn about jewelry making . Together , we share tips , kindness and support . In this podcast , I will discuss tips from the Instagram page , provide deeper insights , address questions and share bonus tips that often surface in the comments section . So , whether you've been making jewelry for a while or you're just starting your jewelry making journey , this podcast is your go-to resource for all the jewelry making tips . So grab your tools , dust off your workbench and join me In today's episode . I'm going to share my top tips for photographing your jewelry to sell , and I will also be discussing photography tips that have been shared by our community over the years . Before I get into today's episode , I want to tell you about our sponsor , replica Surfaces . Now , this is actually the perfect sponsor for this week , because Replica Surfaces sell photography backgrounds that I personally use for my jewelry business . There are these lightweight , durable surfaces that come in a huge variety of colors , so that you can find something that matches your brand and aesthetic . I've been using the white background and the cement for years . You can support the page when you shop through my link in the show notes and use code PHOTOS12 to save 12% off your order .
Corkie BoltonReplica Surfaces is a great
segue into my first tip , which is to try your best to be consistent in your product shots . If one day you're outside and the next your work is on a crystal and then after that you draped it over your cat and you put all those images on your website , it will definitely be a vibe , but they unfortunately won't look cohesive . So one way you can get that cohesive look is by selecting and using two to three photography backgrounds . It could be something like a Replica Surface , but you could also use textured paper , fabric , linen . You can definitely find inexpensive options . Consider your branding and avoid anything that's crazy distracting . For example , if I place my jewelry on a ceramic dish that has beautifully painted flowers all over it , the jewelry might become lost and the customer might be pondering that dish more than my jewelry . My second tip is about lighting . Over the years I've tried pretty much everything , including expensive light boxes , and the conclusion I've come to is that my jewelry looks best when shot in bright , indirect light . Many jewelers have reported that a bright , overcast day gave them some of their best picks . Direct Sun will definitely create shadows , which most people are trying to avoid .
Corkie BoltonAvoiding reflections is another huge topic . Anytime we share any tips about photography , people are like how do I avoid reflections in my work ? And I'm going to start by saying that if you buy a satin finish , you'll never have that problem . I love satin finish in my work , but I understand that many of us use a high polish . If your work has a large high polished area , it is going to be hard to avoid reflections . But here's some things you can try . What I've done in the past is I've actually taken a white poster board even like a foam board that has a little bit more stiffness to it and what I did was I cut a hole out for my camera and I shot through that hole to help avoid the reflection of myself , the camera being cast into my work . I've also used a white piece of paper as I'm shooting . If I didn't use the poster board , I've used a white piece of paper and held it in a position where it can cast that white reflection onto my work . This is a little hard to describe on a podcast , but you're kind of just moving the piece of paper around until you can see that it's being reflected in your work . And lastly , photography day is probably not the day to rock your hot pink metal smith society shirt , because that hot pink might show up in your work .
Corkie BoltonMy biggest tip , which you may or may not like , is , if you're serious about your jewelry business and you plan to take your own pictures , invest in a camera with a macro lens . There are so many out there , but I will share the one that is linked in my Amazon storefront . It's the one that I use . It's a Nikon and since it's an older model , you can find them refurbished , but it's certainly not the only game in town . A camera with a macro lens set up on a tripod is gonna allow you to get really up close , and you can .
Corkie BoltonWhat it does that you can't do with an iPhone is it allows you to get a higher f-stop . The f-stop is the focal length . It's how much light is getting into the camera lens . The lower the f-stop , the less depth of field and the blurrier the background of your image is gonna be . If you increase the f-stop number , you're gonna get a greater depth of field and a sharper background as a result . So in the case of jewelry , you do want everything sharp and in focus . You wanna show off all those little details of your work . So when you do have a piece in focus as well , you can then remove the background more easily . If you want product shots on a pure white background , which is pretty popular in the industry For those that can't afford a new camera , both Android phones and iPhones are getting more and more amazing with every passing year . If you use them on a tripod and , better yet , get a little wireless remote , that can really help you take consistent pics . It's a little harder when you're holding your phone in your hand and maybe you're shaking a little , and that can definitely cause a little bit more blurriness .
Now let's talk about some of the community tips that have been shared over the years . This first one is from Zapt Jewelry , and she shared this back in 2019 . And the tip showed using hot glue a very small amount to prop up jewelry . Hold a ring up , keep something from rolling , prop up a pair of earrings . I really like this idea and when it was shared , there were a lot of people that popped up in the comments with other materials that they use Tacky wax , beeswax , dental wax that's used for braces , museum putty . I think all of them work great and I just love that this tip brought about that concept of if something is falling over or not being held , you can think about a solution like this . So , whether you do use the hot glue gun or you use some sort of wax , you can prop up your work and get that really great shot .
Corkie BoltonOne consideration is , if you are using the hot glue or one of these other materials and you're photographing your work on paper , it might leave a residue or rip the paper , so that is a consideration . Probably most of those solutions will work best on a harder surface , like a plastic background . You also wanna think about hiding this material , because , unless you're a wizard in Photoshop , you're not gonna want it to show up in your images . The next tip I shared in 2018 , and I actually learned this at Pratt from my professors when you wanna get a chain looking really nice in a photograph , use a small paintbrush to guide the chain into the position that you want . You wanna make sure that your paintbrush is clean and isn't shedding bristles everywhere , because in photography we generally wanna minimize things that will distract from our jewelry dirt , lint , cat hair , et cetera .
Corkie BoltonI love the tip shared back in 2021 by Fifth Element Jewelry . In it , she's using a slotted wooden spoon , held with a knife on a tripod , to suspend and hang four pairs of her beautiful earrings . This was a very popular tip because it resonated with our community that we are problem solvers and we need to think outside the box . So , while you may not mimic this exact setup , you might consider what household items you have around to help you get the shot . The post is also a great example of shooting outside , not in direct sun but you can get some really great results .
Corkie BoltonWhat about when you need to photograph rings on your hand , or even take that shot for a story on Instagram , and your rings are several sizes too big ? You can try this tip shared by NR Jewelry Design , where she wore these really large rings and she stuffed the back you know , on the backside inside the ring with blue tack to keep the rings from spinning around . This post had many people asking about the inverse what if your fingers are too big to wear the rings you've created ? And I do have a suggestion or two for that . I mean , clearly , if the ring doesn't fit , it doesn't fit . But if you can fit it on the tips of your fingers , that's not bad . But I think what works really great is purchasing a ring cone and thinking about purchasing some other photography props . If you head over to Etsy there are tons and tons to choose from . You can support another small business . You'll want to consider your branding before you buy one . But yeah , ring cones , they're fantastic for photographing rings .
In researching for this podcast episode , I went back to tips . metalsmithsocietycom and I searched photography and I was able to see all the tips we've ever shared about photography and I'll link the tip search in the show notes .
Corkie BoltonBut it made me realize that we haven't shared a ton of photography tips . I think they're not quite as sexy as some of the you know fabrication and soldering tips , but I do think they're very important . And so if you have a photography tip that you would like to share with our community , please shoot a video , take some photos and email me over at tips@ metalsmithsociety . com . I would love to feature you and share that tip with our community . I hope you found today's episode helpful and , as a reminder , I will share the links to all of the Instagram tips and products in the show notes for you to be able to check out . If you love the podcast , please consider giving me a rating and telling a friend . And if you want to support me on Patreon , you can check that out at patreon . com/ metalsmithsociety and as a perk , you're going to be automatically entered into a monthly giveaway and get exclusive promo codes from our sponsors . I hope you'll tune in next time . Bye .