How To Photograph Jewelry For Etsy in 2023

Jewelry photography is the most important task for an Etsy photographer or someone who has a jewelry store on Etsy. Dazzling photography is essential for propelling your jewelry business forward. But not knowing how to photograph jewelry for Etsy can be a drawback for the business on Etsy. So we are here to figure out the issues about Etsy jewelry photography. 

How To Photograph Jewelry For Etsy: Basic Steps

As a jewelry vendor, your Etsy store can be full of quality jewelry, but without a sample picture, who wants to buy that jewelry? Uploading bright and polished images on Etsy frames can be the only way to become a top-rated seller. Furthermore, the jewelry business is competitive on Etsy. So, It is necessary to beat the competitor in order to keep the business flowing.

To push the jewelry business at an Etsy store, a seller should know how Etsy’s algorithm works. Actually, the Esty algorithm works in such a way that if a buyer clicks on any jewelry, buys any jewelry, or adds jewelry to their favorite list, the sellers’ profiles will be enriched. However, none of these jobs is simple. But there are a few simple procedures to get buyer interaction and response with clear and professional photography.

The Necessity Of White Background

Using a white background to get a closer view of the earrings, pendants, or any type of jewelry is a good idea. Moreover, in e-commerce business perception, clicking a product with a white background is considered a professional photography technique, because a product with a white background can easily grab the attention of the customer. So, as a seller, to showcase a product, try to ignore the use of destructing props and complex backgrounds.

Giant e-commerce sites such as Amazon and eBay used to follow the image listing process to get better feedback from customers. Image listing mainly refers to the process of adding primary pictures to the display of the market places’ homepage. Primary listing photographs with white backgrounds have a good impact on the e-commerce business.

Be Creative 

To stabilize the business in the Etsy store, showing creativity is the main job. Especially if a photographer is doing photography for platforms like Esty. To make the primary photo more creative, a photographer should simply try different angles, focus, and compositions to showcase their jewelry in the image. 

Furthermore, taking pictures on a white background is professional, but that doesn’t mean a white background can’t be creative. Don’t just stand the jewelry in front of a white background and click pictures randomly; instead of doing this, try to maximize the frame of the photographs for better visualization.

Put Attention At Product Details

The details of any jewelry should be highlighted to get better photographs. Showcasing inappropriate photos of jewelry in the image listing frame can damage the business flow on Etsy. The technique of Etsy photography will depend on the size, scale, and variation of the photograph. Applying different angles can also help the photographer focus on the jewelry according to the size and style of the jewelry.

However, if jewelry contains an intricate design, make sure that the image is clicked in such a way that the buyer can see all the details of the product clearly. To get better interaction, avoid clicking blurry pictures and try to click pictures in natural light. 

Spark The Background Texture

When it’s time to attach the photo additional frame to the image listing on Etsy, Do not forget to be creative and innovative. Applying creativity with a sparkling background can be a lifesaver. If a photographer has done the primary photography, start thinking about background texture. Try different textures to find out which ones go well with the following jewelry. 

Adding an appropriate texture will make a particular piece of jewelry more shiny and glossy. But do not exaggerate the texture at this level; it hides the details of the picture. Balance the background texture in a way that creates a connection between the background and the jewelry. 

Softbox

It is not always possible for natural light to be available during a photoshoot. To deal with this problem, creating artificial light during a photoshoot with a softbox is the option. A softbox is mainly used in a large studio setup with a light tent, but without enough space, a softbox can also take place. In this case, a photographer may try a simple light tent with a softbox to do jewelry photography. 

Do Not Skip Editing

After finishing a photoshoot session, an important part rises to the surface, and that is photo editing. If someone feels like something is missing after looking at a raw image, That means the photo needs editing. because a raw picture mainly includes blemishes, harsh light, or inappropriate brightness. 

In this case, Photoshop can be used to adjust the issues of brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, white balancing, sharpness, cropping, resizing to make a photo perfect. So, in this case, photo editing can be a good choice because doing the whole photoshoot again is not a good solution. 

Related: Do You Need A Business License To Sell On Etsy?

Secondary Steps For Etsy Photography

To do professional photography for jewelry, including the following aspects, there are a few more things that you should follow to push the jewelry business on Etsy.

Do Focus On Lighting

Of course, lighting is necessary for doing jewelry photography. But applying artificial light without any reason is a bad idea.  Try to do jewelry photography in natural light. To get enough light do the photoshoot at the beginning period of noon. But do not shoot jewelry in direct sunlight, because it can dim the jewelry color. 

Do photography near the window side, let the sunlight come to the jewelry stone, and let it spark. To enhance the shoot a white poster board also can be a good choice, as an alternative cardboard box and tracing paper also can be used. To do better photography in the dark adjust the EV shift.

Equipments

The basic equipment for jewelry photography is the camera, tripod, and lightbox.

Camera 

The camera is the most important piece of equipment, but that doesn’t mean an expensive DSLR camera should be needed to do jewelry photography. The important thing about a camera is, the photographer should need to learn how to use the camera. 

• Learn how to set the cameras’ manual settings
• A minimum aperture should be set in f/4.5
• Set the aperture to f/5.6 for a closer click
• Set the camera in program mode to get better control
• Be aware of overexposing because it can not be removed by photoshop
• Tone down the image to set the shutter speed and ISO
• Use rapid exposure 

Tripod 

Using a tripod to get a stable photo, a tripod makes a picture flawless. As a jewelry vendor, providing a shaky picture to customers is an unprofessional approach. To do limited indoor photography, use a tripod and avoid using elbows. To get better results, use a self-timer with a different angle for maximum perspective details while using a  tripod.

Lightbox

Photography for Etsy with a lightbox can give jewelry a bright touch. Though making a DIY lightbox with ott light bulbs or other light bulbs can provide a similar service to the lightbox. There are a few benefits of a lightbox, such as: capturing small or tiny jewelry like a ring or nose pin. 

To get a better quality photo use a costly lightbox, try not to use a cheaper lightbox. Because a cheaper lightbox provides low-quality rays. 

ISO

To get a standard jewelry image in a low light setting or at night, just fix the ISO level. The lower ISO level will give a more satisfying picture. So keep the ISO level at 100 to 200. Because a higher ISO level will provide sensor noise.

Macro Setting 

Set the camera to macro mode for frequent shooting and close-up shots of jewelry. If you’re shooting in program mode, set the camera to macro mode. Because the Macro setting is used to help the photographer click a sharp picture from a minimal distance

Do Not Try To Use Flash

Give the jewelry photo a real touch, and try to avoid using the flash unnecessarily. Adjust the settings of the camera rather than use the flash. 

Balance Exposure

Better jewelry photos come up with a gray and white background. Keep the exposure level at zero for the gray and at 1+ for the white background. 

Give Priority To The Raw Files 

Shooting the jewelry picture with a DSLR mainly demands a raw format setting. Try to avoid editing a JPEG format because the JPEG format compresses the image quality, which will reduce the quality of the edited photo. So try to edit raw photos to find out the flow of any picture without struggle. 

Try Model Or Props 

A visual model or fancy props in the background of the photo will add extra beauty to the jewelry photography. If you don’t have any models, then you can try a mannequin. because the use of a model makes photographs lively.

Do practice

Practice makes a man perfect. Do continuous practice at photography to get better results. And do not forget to get experience with innovative photography skills or ideas. You can be a photographer or the owner of a jewelry shop who is dealing with the difficulties of getting the perfect picture for Etsy.

Photo Requirements For Etsy 

Clicking a perfect picture is not enough to push a jewelry business on Etsy. There are a few photo requirements applicable to Etsy. As an example: All listing photos should not be cropped to a square size, use horizontal or landscape pictures, items should be centered, and make a thumbnail with a photo in a way that could attract the customer’s attention.

To conclude, As a photographer or an owner of a jewelry shop, dealing with the difficulties of getting the perfect picture for Etsy is a common issue. But if you know how to photograph jewelry for Etsy, then this task can be easier. Following the photo requirements of Etsy photography, with the perfect camera settings, anyone can be able to click the perfect picture for Etsy.