Jewelry photography is an important part of the buying process, specifically for jewellery e-commerce sales, where consumers make purchasing decisions only based on a photograph of the product. When purchasing jewellery online, the customer cannot touch or feel the product, so they are reliant on the quality of the photo to accurately portray the product’s shine, colour, texture and quality of craftsmanship.
If the photograph of a piece of jewellery has any minor flaws, it can make a piece of expensive jewellery appear dull or cheap, consequently devaluing the product for the customer. Therefore, using proper techniques during the photo shoot as well as professional jewelry retouching service is imperative.
Poor Lighting That Hides Detail and Sparkle
Jewelry photography relies heavily on lighting. The jewellery is intended to reflect light, and with no light, even the most stunning piece appears flat and lifeless when shot. When jewellery is incorrectly lit, you can fail to see the brilliance of gemstones, decrease the shine of the metal, and obscure many of the intricate details.
Some of the most common mistakes made when photographing using light are:
- Using unwanted reflected hard/harsh light to photograph your jewellery.
- Using insufficient lighting to photograph jewellery gives it a dull or dark appearance.
- Using unbalanced lighting to photograph jewellery will create distracting shadows.
- Incorrect positioning of your light source while photographing jewellery will limit the design elements that you want to showcase.
Photographers should maximise the use of soft/lightly diffused lighting to reduce the above problems. Use Light Tents, Soft Boxes, and Reflectors to create even illumination, thereby enhancing the brilliance of the jewellery.
In addition, placing Lights correctly will enhance the sparkle of the Gemstones, while producing the minimal amount of reflected light that you can achieve.
Even with proper light, there may still be some imperfections. Professional Jewellery Retouching enhances Brightness, Fixes Exposure, and maximises the true brilliance of the Gemstones and Metals. They also provide a Very Realistic Representation of the Quality of the Jewellery.
Also Read: Best Camera for Jewelry Photography
Improper Backgrounds That Distract From the Jewelry
When displaying jewelry, the used background is a key player in how the customer views the piece. If the background is inconsistent or distracting, attention can be distracted from the jewelry and diminish the visual impact of the piece. The background should be a support mechanism for the jewelry, rather than a competing factor.
Some of the most common background mistakes include:
- Utilizing a cluttered/busy background
- Using a background color that clashes with the jewelry
- Having inconsistent background images across product listings
- Having visible dust, wrinkles, or other imperfections in the background
At the ecommerce level, white or light grey/neutral backgrounds are preferred for the vast majority of ecommerce jewellers. A white or light grey/neutral coloured background allows the piece to clearly distinguish itself and creates a clean, professional appearance.
Having consistency across all product images also helps to create brand identity and improve the overall customer experience. Jewelry retouching is frequently used to take care of cleaning up the background, dust removal, removal of a distracting background, and making all of the images uniform.
Also Read: Amazon Product Image Guidelines
Inconsistent Editing and Overuse of Jewelry Retouching
Jewelry photo editing is important but too much or not enough can create issues for you. Too much editing will cause your jewelry to appear too artificial while inconsistent editing could leave customers confused and lessen your brand reputation. There are frequent editing mistakes when retouching jewelry photography.
Some of the most common mistakes made in jewelry retouching would be:
- Too much sparkle and reflection.
- The gemstone or metal color is altered from what it actually is.
- There is inconsistency between each retouched/jewelry photo.
- Scratches, dust, and other imperfections are visible.
The goal of jewelry retouching is not to mislead about the quality of the product, but rather present it accurately with an appealing presentation. When professionally retouching a piece of jewelry, an expert will not change the natural appearance of the piece.
In a properly retouched jewelry image expert retouchers will typically perform the following:
- Remove dust and scratches/fingerprints
- Enhance clarity and sparkle of the gemstone
- Color accuracy
- Contrast and sharpness improvement in the image
- Metal clean up and smoothing
- Make sure all images maintaining the same appearance
The key to a successful retouching is keeping things uniform. Customers are more likely to perceive their brand as trustworthy and credible when they are presented with high-resolution/ high-quality uniform images across all of their purchased products.
Also read: Photo Editing Dos & Don’ts
Conclusion
In order to photograph jewelry properly, you need to have proper lighting, have the right type of background, and use a consistent editing process to keep your jewelry looking good and retain its value. If you take a picture of jewelry and don’t have good lighting, the sparkle of the jewelry could possibly look dull or not shine.
Professional retouchers will improve the overall clarity of the photo, remove any blemishes, create consistency in your presentations across all of your jewelry listings, and improve the overall presentation of the jewelry while keeping the jewelry as realistic as possible.
FAQ
Q1. What is jewelry retouching?
Ans: Jewelry retouching is the process of enhancing jewelry images by removing imperfections, correcting colors, improving shine, and ensuring the product looks clean, realistic, and visually appealing.
Q2. Why is jewelry retouching important for ecommerce?
Ans: Jewelry retouching improves image quality, enhances product appearance, and ensures consistency. High-quality images help build trust and encourage customers to make purchases.
Q3. Can jewelry retouching make jewelry look unrealistic?
Ans: If done incorrectly, retouching can make jewelry look unnatural. Professional jewelry retouching focuses on enhancing the image while maintaining realistic appearance and accurate product representation.
Q4. What imperfections can jewelry retouching fix?
Ans: Jewelry retouching can remove dust, scratches, reflections, blemishes, background distractions, and lighting issues while improving overall clarity and shine.
