Jewellery & Watch Photography.

For an online jewellery shop, I shoot each piece on clean white, lit so the metal looks like metal and the stones keep their sparkle. Rings, earrings, pendants and chains go on one set-up, so a whole collection lines up on your category page.

Polished gold and silver behave like tiny mirrors. They show the lights, the camera and anything else in the room. I use black and white polyboards to shape what each piece reflects, so edges read crisply and the surface shows its finish rather than the studio. Dust, fingerprints and fine scratches the lens picks up come out in retouching.

Not every piece belongs on white. For a campaign or your social feed, I also shoot jewellery on marble, black leather, dark stone and textured cushions, where the surface sets the mood and the piece stays the focus. A gold ring on dark grey, or diamond drops on a marble block, tells a customer something a plain packshot can’t.

Send me two or three images you like before the day and I’ll plan the surfaces around them.

A watch photograph has to let the dial read clearly through the glass. I light the crystal so it doesn’t flare white across the hands, then cover the case, the bracelet or strap, and close details such as a skeleton movement or a chronograph sub-dial. Watches can be shot on white, on a cushion or worn on the wrist, depending on where the picture will be used.

Worn jewellery shows scale. A customer can see how far a pendant drops, how large an earring looks against the face and how a choker sits at the neck. I photograph chokers, drop earrings, hand chains and full bridal sets on models at Studio A in Kentish Town.

If you need a model or a make-up artist, I can pass on the details of agency people I work with regularly. You contact them yourself and agree their fee. Short vertical video clips for Instagram can be filmed in the same session.