Product Photography Gear Guide
Being able to take your own product photos is such a useful skill - I’d go as far to say it’s an essential skill to have in your back pocket. Over my 15+ years as a jewellery designer maker I’ve been obsessed with my product photography! I’ve invested in so much gear and spent countless hours trying out different shoots and editing images. I’ve now landed on a fairly minimal kit list that I love, works well, and is simple to set up and get the product shots I want at my home studio.
So I’ve put all the gear I now use in this list so if you're ready to dive into your product photography and your setup, then this guide will help you get started.
Much of the gear that I use is very old and still does a brilliant job so if you do invest in photography gear know that it will work for you for years to come. Also you may be able to pick up some of this gear second hand.
Note: There are loads of options for all of these items - these are just my personal recommendations that I myself use or have used.
Also, many of these links to the gear are affiliate links, which means if you use them, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Cameras
Sony ZVE10 mark 11 with kit lens (16-50mm) https://amzn.to/4nexiK1
Second hand Canon EOS 5D Mark111
Canon Macro lens 100mm
My smartphone - iphone XS (very old but still does the job!)
Tripods
Heavy duty tripod for DSLR camera - https://amzn.to/4gCDvx7
Portable camera tripod - Ulanzi MT-71 https://amzn.to/3W11zQD
Desktop tripod - Manfrotto mini camera tripod https://amzn.to/4pQrnge
Goose neck overhead camera holder - https://amzn.to/48Ayh2G
mobile phone grip for tripod - - some potable selfie stick style tripods already have a phone grip so double check yours first https://amzn.to/3Kh7FKk
IMAGE STORAGE
Camera memory cards - SD cards - https://amzn.to/46ADvJt
portable hard drive - SanDisk - https://amzn.to/4nJCZja
Set up kit
White foam board - A2 - from any craft store - https://amzn.to/47Ws9BH
selection of coloured A2 card to easily be able to change up the background - from any craft store
heavy duty clamps - https://amzn.to/3IphmWq
Brush or paint brush to get rid of dust
Home made flags and reflectors to move the light around on your work
Fishing line to suspend pieces - in my case earrings
Box of props to keep the look consistent
Image editing
Canva Pro (to get white cut out images - also really useful for so many other things - website layouts, branding, marketing, sales etc.
Adobe photoshop
Lighting
I prefer to always use natural window light when possible - it makes a product shoot a lot quicker and less cumbersome to do especially when you’re doing it yourself. However I do have a selection of lights which I do use from time to time so I’ve listed these below - if you do invest in light panels or a ring light these fix to a tripod so be sure to factor this in.
Light box
https://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Jewellery-Photography-Light-Box,---Small-prcode-997-1203&query=lightbox&channel=uk#description
Beamo ring light 12” from Joby
https://amzn.to/3IjgSRI
LED light panels - Raleno LED camera light
https://amzn.to/46J6XwT