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Hello Shanu,

I work for MK Digital Direct, the manufacturer of the Photography lighting systems, and I wanted to give

you some tips in regards to your question.

The photography light boxes that we manufacture will provide you the correct light and illumination for

jewelry, by providing you photos with no glares, shadows or reflections. Our systems feature fluorescent,

halogen and LED Natural Daylight lights. The lighting makes up 98% of your photographs, therefore the

lighting is very important. Yet, the camera that you use, will be a very important factor in determining

the quality of your photos, as it is your camera the one that actually takes the pictures. Therefore,

knowing how to use your camera is the key to high quality, crisp photos.

In order to get high-quality photos, you'll need to correctly adjust your camera. Here's what our company

recommeds you to do with your camera:

1. Choose the manual mode in your camera.
2. Adjust the white balance in your camera's setting to adjust to the lighting in the light box (or any

other photography set-up) where you will shoot your pictures
3. Use Automatic Focus
4. Attach a Macro Lens (when shooting in close distance to the jewelry items) in order to get a good focus.
3. Simply adjust the shutter speed in order to get a lighter or darker picture, and choose which you like

best (while maintaining the F-stop, the camera's apperture, without change).

Hope it helps,

Jaime Nacach,
Marketing Department
MK Digital Direct

If you have any other specific questions that I can help you with at jnacach@mkdigialdirect.com

Hi Shanu, I am the senior account manager for Rembrandt Charms and have plenty of contact w/ jewelers through out the country. Many belong to "skull" groups. The main purpose of these groups are to share ideas and information. The members are from all over and meet a few times a year. Perhaps some one who belongs to one of these groups could contact Shanu and give her more information?

Karen,
If you ever find out how to get in touch with these "skull groups," please let me know. Sounds creepy and exciting! I must know! My email addess is shanu@gulianis.com.

You will find jewellers openly sharing all sorts of technical information at www.ganoksin.com , a free portal for people to share information and discuss trade issues.

Hi Shanu,

My name is Mike Atman and I work for Ortery Technologies. It is my pleasure to offer a respone to your blog. We find that people in the jewelry industry will share information when they find something very helpful. Many of our new customers come from referalls. Photography, especially jewelry photography, can become complicated. There are many variables involved in taking a good product shot for website or catalog. Our PC-controlled photogrpahy studios consist of a controlled lighting enviroment, digital camera and software that ties the system together to simplify and automate image capture and image processing workflows. By controlling the variables, our Photosimile Studios are capeable of generating shadow-free, professional results with little or no photography experience required. Photosimile products guide the user through the complete image capture process and then assist them in annotating, editing, and publishing the images for business communication purposes. To learn more about the efficiencies of Photosimile products you can view our flash demo at www.ortery.com/ebox/flash/flashlink.html. I hope this helps your readers better understand the technologies available in the jewelry industry.

Hi Shanu,

Regargding photography, there are many systems out there to choose from, some better than others. After a few years of experience with jewelry photography I've concluded that 90% of a jewelry photo is the photographer, not the equipment. We have worked with different people for years, sometimes sending out important pieces, and other times shooting in house. It takes quite a bit of skill to find the perfect angle, and time to clean up an image as well. You can find people out there willing to do it for you for anywhere from $20-$50, depending on volume. I'd also recommend asking your vendors to provide web ready images when you purchase products from them, they should have no problem taking shots, if they don't have them already. Having one less thing to worry about means more time to focus on your store and sales. Our website is www.kobelli.com, feedback is definitely appreciated! ari@kobelli.com

Where did you get your premise that jewelers do not share ?
You are flat out WRONG and almost insulting by your statement.
I refer you to www.Polygon.net
A website that was created for jewelers/pawn brokers to share information.
There are many state jewelry organizations too.
Uncle Marty

Competition darling!
Knowledge is hard won in this game.
It does get shared in intimate relationships or when it's in our best interest for something in return. Sounds mercenary doesn't it. I'm just being straight up with you.
I've learned from everyone I've had the honor to sit beside. My price for that knowledge was hard work and productivity. They would not have shared their skills with me if I wasn't going to give them my skills in return. They made plenty of money from my skills and in return they gave me new skills. This was a trade I was prepared to make.
If you want something from another jeweler, offer them something in return.
That brings dignity to the sweat of their brow gaining their wisdom.

I'm a jewelry photographer and have been shooting nothing but jewelry for over 25 years. It never ceases to amaze me, especially now in the digital age, how people think it's only a matter of buying the right equipment. Jewelry is probably THE most difficult product to shoot. I'd say it took a good 8-10 years before I became good at it. For the amount of time and money that you'll spend trying to do it yourself, you could hire a professional, AND get much better results.

Although this thread is pretty old, I only stumbled upon it today. I must say that I find the perception of sharing among competitors an interesting one, regardless of the industry. Where my interest here is based upon my two years at Sterling where I conducted competitive intelligence and benchmarking activities, and my continuing work in those areas as a consultant today.

A natural reaction to knowledge sharing among competitors is to share less, not more. That’s understandable. However, ethical benchmarking provides mechanisms for even competitors to share useful knowledge (to both parties) without divulging competition damaging information. The firm I am with today, APQC (www.apqc.org) is one of the pioneers in benchmarking, and in fact, created a benchmarking code of conduct that is widely recognized as an ethical standard for knowledge sharing.

I encourage anyone interested in knowledge sharing to review the APQC website for more information.

My husband and I have been in business for 15 years and still wish we could find the answer to this question. How is it that all the dentists in town can go have lunch together while all the jewelers are backstabbing each other? I know it's a competitive age, but it would be nice to get some help once in a while.
As far as taking pictures - we purchased a camera for web pictures and brochures. You need to look for macro capability and do a lot of playing with them. We purchased a Canon for about $500 is all and it takes good pictures. Lighting and background is also a big deal.
Good luck!

To Taylor's Jewelry--I'd love to be able to have more friends that are jewelry store owners even in the same town or city. I totally understand.

As another jewelry photographer of many years I can't stress enough how difficult it is to photograph jewelry and how much happier you'll be with a professional result versus trying to do it yourself. I see so much bad photography out there and I'm starting to realize all those flat images are the result of do it yourself kits. Yes, you may render the image to where you can see it, but is that good enough to generate sales and interest? Look at the professional jewelers who employ us for their ads and catalogs and you'll see a marked difference to those shots and the ones in the trades.

I agree! Thats why I just launched a JEWELRY PHOTOGRAPHY ONLY educational website. It is www.imagingprep.com We will be featuring weekly webcasts covering new projects as well as our current library of how-to videos. We sell NO PRODUCTS, only information. Take a look, get out of the dark, and ENJOY!

Aryeh
ImagingPrep.com

Hello Shanu,
I would think it is the fear of loss which would stop a person from sharing. I am from Mumbai, India & we see this in our country.I would belive knowledge is univeral.I am a consultant in India for gems & jewellery, Chemicals, & engineering.

Umesh--a consultant for gems, jewellery chemicals and engineering. That sounds very interesting. I'd love if you'd email me--I have some questions maybe you can answer. shanu@gulianis.com

You will find jewellers openly sharing all sorts of technical information at www.ganoksin.com , a free portal for people to share information and discuss trade issues.

I happen to know a great deal about jewelry photography. I spent $7000 on cameras, software, books, and classes. Not to mention that I spent hours at the camera figuring the right scenarios for perfect photos. This knowledge didn't come cheap or easy, you shouldn't expect someone to give you their craft for free unless you're willing to offer something in return. If you simply want free information from every experienced jeweler that you come in contact with, you're probably asking for to much. What do you offer in return? How many years have you been in the jewelry business? Are you a newbie or are you an industry veteran?

Go to www.polygon.net no better collection of sharing bight capable 1st 2nd and 3rd generation jewelers, gemologists, benchies, in the world. Cheap at twice the price,,