Want to Photograph Gemstones?

Who doesn’t, eh? Some say it’s difficult, others just do it. Here are several tutorials and articles on taking pictures of gemstones, jewelry and other reflective items. Looking for resources on how to take close-up photographs, specifically of gemstones generates quite a few tutorials and other sources.

Online Resources for How to Photograph Gemstones (or Close-up Photography)

• TheImage.com
• Table Top Studio, How to Take Photographs of Jewelry
• Amy O’Connell Jewelry’s, Lapidary Art: Basic Jewelry Photography
• The Online Photographer
• Gem Photography
• How to Photograph Opals

Lighting for Close-up Photography

• Van Rossen
• Fetch Freebies?
• Gem Journal
• Gem Select
• Photo Gallery of Gems
• Crystals
• Gemstone Photos
• Tutorial on How to Photograph Jewelry
• Build Soft-lighting Tent
• Alternative Lighting Techniques for Close-up Photography
• This set up can either give ideas or if you aren’t the build-it-yourself type, it’s probably a real time saver
• Lighting Systems for Jewelry Photography
• Lighting Plexiglass for Jewelry Photography

The ISC (International School of Gemology) Student Forums Board has a great thread on the subject.

Know of any other resources? Post a comment, and let us know too!

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Close-up photography of gemstone material is a popular topic, so when I came upon John Koivula’s Micro World of Gems and their series called PhotoAtlas Inclusions of Gemstones I was hooked on sight. Koivula graduated from Eastern Washington State University, and since I live in Washington State that makes him practically a neighbor!

The second volume in the Photoatlas series complements Photoatlas, Volume 1 with greater depth and scope, featuring inclusion specimens from localities discovered after 1986 and examples of treatment techniques and synthetics that have appeared in the gem market in the last two decades.”

There are three volumes in the PhotoAtlas series. Check them all out and see if you aren’t just a wee bit excited to get your hands on a copy.

Paul Reiser from Paul Reiser and Assoc. has an interesting inclusion shaped like the Space Shuttle over at Jewelry Eduction at Images Jewelers.

Internal World of Gemstones has, “The internal world of gemstones reveals mineralogical clues to trace a gemstone’s origin and what has happened to it on its way from the mine to the jeweler…” They have an excellent example of faceting a needle in quartz. Another faceter who does this very well is John Bailey of GemStoneArtistry.com.

See also Inclusions in Gemstones for their detailed examination of gemstones.

Have you found other examples of web sites with photos of gemstone inclusions? Leave a comment and let us know!

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