JEWELRY PHOTOGRAPHY FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

In this introductory lesson, Alex describes the gear you’ll need for the course. You will learn to how to shoot close-ups without expensive macro lenses, how an inexpensive TTL speedlight can help nail your shots, and even how to make a low-cost DIY diffusion sheet and DIY reflector for attachment to the speedlight.

In this lesson, Alex presents what you need to know about lighting theory

Alex dives in and provides a hands-on shooting emonstration of two rings.

Alex demonstrates in a real-time his suggestions for working with mixed lighting.

In this lesson, Alex starts by discussing a few accessories you might use when shooting. He then demonstrates why two speedlights are better than just one and shows how to make use of a speedlight's Through-the-Lens (TTL) mode. He wraps up by presenting the benefits of a true macro lens and covers additional camera settings.

Alex kicks off this lesson by demonstrating ways not to shoot jewelry before showing how he uses the DIYdiffuser and reflector to achieve the desired lighting. He explains how to create gradients and the importance of the inverse square law. Next, using a man's ring, Alex demonstrated how the position of the rings affects the final image.

Alex discusses the need for a variety of props to get interesting shots. He then walks through setting up and styling a group to achieve an attractive result. He demonstrates how the camera settings as well as the position of the camera, diffusion, and light all affect the final image.

Alex works with a new composition using the previous lighting setup, this time exploring the effects of a starburst filter.

Alex demonstrates more propping and styling with a sparkle background and shows you how to bring out the bokeh effect with a second light.

Alex shows the need and advantage of giving forethrought to your styling and compositions, shooting with one nd then two speedlights, comparing the resulting images.

Alex provides a real-time demonstration of how to work with a pearl, fabric, and gemstone composition using speedlights.

Alex explores top down compositions and adds a new DIY cone, shooting with a single light.

In this lesson, Alex explores issues created by ring position, lens reflection, background reflection and the addition of another light. He also contrasts shooting in manual mode vs. AV mode with exposure compensations.

Alex shoots rings on glossy black plexiglass and shows how various positions of background and foreground reflections affect the image. He demonstrates one and two-light results, agin comapring manual and AV shooting modes.

Alex explores shooting rings set in an open book and tries one or two light setups. He also tries shooting rings on their side on the page. He explains how the techniques shown will work on far more than just jewelry with certain limitations.

In concluding the shooting lessons, Alex re-evaluates the way the DIY diffuser and DIY reflector interact to create the lighting and discusses how understanding the laws of reflection will assist in getting the desired images quickly. He reviews the importance of composition and the benefits of using a second light source and stresses the importance of personal creativity in photography.

In the first post-production lesson, professional retoucher Artem Pissarevskiy shows how to use only Lightroom to create a finished image with his post-production techniques. Artem goes through each step in detail as he wprks on seven different images.

In this bonus lesson, Artem performs an in-depth retouch of the five separate images in Photoshops, demonstrating how to achieve professional quality images.