This is an overview of the jewelry photography props that I use while photographing earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings. By props, I mean the things I use to position earrings and necklaces so I can photograph them in the angle that I need to.

The images below were taken while working on a project for Sea Lustre Jewelry – Brooke Hartman is the lead designer and GIA Graduate Gemologist behind the brand. All of her designs feature hand chosen South Sea, Tahitian and Freshwater Pearls.

Note: the pictures in this post from a bit far so you could see the prop used when photographing the jewelry. When taking the actual photo, I would zoom in to get as close to the jewelry as possible.

How to Photograph Necklaces

I use 3 props for necklaces – one for shorter pendant necklaces, another for long necklaces and a standard bust for layered necklaces.

Pendant stand:

This stand is helpful because it has slots that can be used depending on whether you want a wide/narrow V shape on the necklace image. And it also helps accommodate for different lengths of chains.

Here is what I use but any similar stand will work. I bought this on Amazon – it was a dark brown color, which I spray painted white to avoid the dark color reflecting on the jewelry.

Photographing Long Necklaces:

For long necklaces that needed to be shot hanging, I couldn’t find a similar stand as above so I DIY’ed a simple stand. Some wood and picture nails. I use this for 30″ necklaces. These necklaces are too long for the stand above – they would hit the surface.

I could use this for short necklaces too but the other stand is more flexible. But if you can make a better stand than what I did here, then this can possibly be your only stand.

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Bowl for shaping necklaces:

When photographing necklaces flat, I use a bowl (or sometimes a can) to shape it.

How to Photograph Earrings

Studs or other Earrings with a Post Back:

For earrings with stud backs, I have an acrylic stand with two holes it it. It works perfectly for all earrings with a stud back. Or for small studs, I just lay them flat on a surface without any prop.

Photographing earrings with hook backs:

Here, I use a frame like the above but with a cut out center. And I use clear acrylic thread held together with clips. The clear thread is taken out in photoshop to achieve the floating effect on earrings.

I don’t remember where I got this from (from a small store I found while googling) but I checked a bit on Amazon and don’t see anything similar. Still, it’s simple enough to make it you are a bit handy – you can use a couple pieces of wood like the necklace prop above and instead of the bar on top, tie some clear thread or even white thread will do.

The three cards (black, gray and white) cards are used above to allow for color correction in Photoshop. I’ll put up another post soon on how to use these.

Here are some of the finished images.

Other Jewelry Photography Props

White tile or acrylic sheet:

I don’t personally use this but if you want to get natural reflections of jewelry in your photos, then a black or white glossy tile is a good option. And there are acrylic sheets like these on amazon – amazon link.

White putty or prop wax for rings and bracelets:

To get a ring to stand, I use white putty or prop wax. I prefer this white putty because it doesn’t make your fingers and product sticky. But prop wax is another option to try. Put a tiny bit of this under the ring to make it stand – amazon link.

White putty – Image from Amazon

Summary

Working with jewelry is difficult because it’s hard to get chains, ear wires and charms to sit at the angle you want it to. These props help you do that. I’ve tried several different types of props for photographing jewelry but the ones mentioned above have worked best for me.

For more tips, visit the jewelry photography page or here are some online photography courses. If you want to outsource your project, please click here for pricing.

I hope this post gave you some ideas on what props to use when photographing jewelry.

If you have a question or ideas, please leave a comment and I will respond.