How to Photograph Jewelry on a Black Background

When it comes to jewelry photography, you can use many different backgrounds to spice up your jewelry images. Among these is the timeless black background.

Each photo background serves a different purpose. White is undoubtedly the most commonly used in e-commerce. It is clinical but also gives the jewelry images a clean and professional look. Meanwhile, other neutral-colored and patterned backgrounds are used for creative reasons, but black is distinct. It sets your image’s vibe in ways that no other colored and non-colored backgrounds could ever achieve.

There are many reasons why photographing your jewelry on a black background is worth a try. Let’s take a look!

5 Reasons Why You Should Photograph Jewelry on a Black Background

1. Black calls attention to jewelry.

A black background calls attention to jewelry, especially for light-toned pieces, because a dark background creates contrast and sets the mood, which then adds drama to the photo or video.

This makes black background effective for advertising. The dramatic effect conveys and helps stimulate positive emotions.

2. Black is luxury, which speaks true of jewelry.

Black has a sense of elegance and glamor, which explains its dominance in the luxury product category.

It is commonly associated with sophistication, prestige, mystery, and exclusivity. You may find that colors on trend change over time as fashion changes, but black remains the immutable luxury benchmark. Hence, the desire to photograph premium products on a black background is not surprising as it expresses class and timelessness. It speaks true of the value of jewelry.

3. Black makes your jewelry pop.

Black accentuates the beautiful reflective surfaces of metals and the rich colors of the gemstones. You will notice how the color pops dramatically on a black background. For instance, emeralds tend to have a deeper green color, paraibas start to glow, Mexican opals show up with green, diamonds sparkle more due to the contrast, and the list goes on. It makes colors stand out more — vibrant and bright.

4. Black makes you stand out.

Photographing on a black background is extremely difficult to master. Not many jewelers have access to it; hence, it makes you stand out from your competitors. You will also stand out on websites and social media because you won’t see many black background shots online. As such, when they appear, it’s hard not to notice.

How to Photograph Jewelry on a Black Background

Now that you know the impact of a black background on your jewelry products, let’s teach you how to achieve solid but professional-quality black background jewelry photos and videos.

Read the tips belows!

• Lighting

Lighting is the core factor of a perfect black background photo. Ensure that you properly illuminate the subject matter by using a bright light that is solely focused on your jewelry.

A wise application of lights will do wonders for your photos and videos. In fact, if you can master lighting application and exposure, you might not need a black backdrop anymore. Those two can do the job. For instance, you can photograph your subject in a room where all the doors and windows are closed.

At the same time, you can use artificial studio lighting for more control on your end. Props like umbrella and other fabrics can help you block unnecessary light. However, don’t forget that the size of your photo shoot area is critical. Use smaller areas if possible as they are easier to turn into a black box.

• Black backdrops

Unless you’re a professional photographer, it goes without saying that you’ll need a black backdrop to help you achieve a perfect black background jewelry video or photo.

As always, you can improvise. A large, black fabric from any fabric store would be enough, but be mindful that the fabric you’ll use is thick enough so as not to let light pass through. A black velvet fabric sucks up the light pretty well and it’s inexpensive, so it shouldn’t be difficult.

You can also use rolls of black paper if you don’t have black fabrics available. Avoid any materials that are shiny because they reflect light; thereby, making a solid black background difficult to achieve.

Choosing the right black materials for backdrops is an important step. When done correctly, it will reduce the amount of time you have to spend post-processing your photos and videos.

• Play with your camera settings

Before photographing, play with your camera settings in manual mode. Having control over your settings is useful in ensuring that your background is as dark as possible. You may check the histogram of your camera. Histogram shows you the tonal values of your image. Light tones are displayed on the right side; hence, the more you move to the right, the lighter the tone gets. Dark tones are on the left side, so get the pixels to the left. The more you move to the left, the darker the background becomes.

Further, you can also adjust your ISO setting, the shutter speed, and the aperture until you achieve the illusion of a black background.

Capturing Jewelry on a Black Background with Eclipse

Picup Media released Eclipse recently as an add-on to the GemLightbox device. It allows jewelers to capture jewelry photos and 360 videos on a solid black background without post-processing required, using just your smartphone.

This add-on saves time, especially for jewelers with a huge inventory to photograph and jewelers who consider jewelry photography as a critical component of the online jewelry business.

Tuck away your fabrics, here’s what you’ll need to capture as many black background photos and videos as you want, in seconds.

Step 1. Remove the reflector and the turntable cover. Then, put the GemLightbox Eclipse on top of the turntable.

Step 2. Lift open the Eclipse cover using the finger sockets and rotate the turntable to lock the Eclipse in place.

Step 3. Put your jewelry inside the GemLightbox and put the reflector back.

Step 4. Position your smartphone. Go to camera mode and choose the Eclipse filter.

Step 5. Tap to focus, adjust brightness as required, and click to capture.

Just like that, you’re able to capture jewelry photos and videos on a flawless black background. You don’t need to post-process the photo or video anymore as the output is of high-quality, see results below.

Don’t forget to click save after photographing so you can send it directly to your prospective buyers by email or post it to your social media platforms.

Watch the full Eclipse tutorial below for more jewelry demonstrations.

Do you want to take jewelry photos and videos on a black background? Contact us or share more black background jewelry photography tips in the comment section below.