Jewellery and the Four Elements

Earlier this fall I was challenged to shoot jewellery with the four elements for themes, earth, water, fire and air.Each peace of jewellery has its own preferred background to show it off well.
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Different pieces of jewellery photograph better under different backgrounds.   At the time I started this the leaves were turning and there was an abundance of maple leaves.   This proved an interesting beginning for the series.

heart on a leaf

I started with the Earth.  At the time it was early fall and bright and colorful maple leaves were everywhere.   I found though that they dry out quickly and tend to loose a lot of their color and brilliance when dry.   A little moisture will help revive them.  I used a black cloth background and a dark room where the only light was the flash.

 

 

heart on ice

I orginally tried to create my own clear ice.   However I lacked time and equipment so found my ice to have a lot of air bubbles in it and thus make it transluscent.   I used a glass bowl and tried to backlight it.   In time the earrings took on some condensation and became shinier then when I first started shooting.  The next time I try to photograph earrings using a water theme I think I will try to find a shallow clear brook running over gravel or rock.

 

 

 

heart on fire

The pair of earrings I was working with were not particularly well designed to complement a fire theme.    Though they may have gone better with a hurricane lamp or oil lamp as a prop and secondary light source.