Is A Macro Camera Lens Worth It?

Hi ya!

Is it hot enough for you? We most certainly are in the midst of summer. It is hot outside! By the time I was done taking pictures this morning for my blog, I was dripping wet. This week’s blog was going to be about drusy’s, thus all the druzy pictures, however I am taking a bit of a detour this week and am going to talk a bit about jewelry photography.

As a self-employed jewelry artist with the goal of having my art support me and my family, I am constantly redefining and looking for ways to improve not only my art but also the necessary evils I must do to help support that art! Being I am a one person business I wear a lot of different hats and have become a bit of a jack of all trades!

One of those necessary “evils” and trades is being a photographer. I actually like photography, except sometimes when it comes to taking pictures of my jewelry! When I first started making jewelry I knew that I was going to need to be able to have good pictures of my work, for countless reasons. At that time I decided that I was going to invest in a good camera and learn how to do it myself. Partly, ok, mostly because I am a “do it yourself” kind of gal, but also because I did not have the funds to hire a photographer. At the time, almost 10 years ago, I purchased a Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera. It was a HUGE purchase for me! Well worth it though. I still love, use and continue to learn how to use more of its features today!

From the beginning of learning how to use my 60D to get crisp, clean, pictures with a white, white background I struggled primarily with getting the white, white background but also with getting crisp, clean detailed photos of my jewelry. Every time I took pictures, I would spend hours, experimenting with settings, lighting and background. Many times ending up completely frustrated! I would get mixed results sometimes even under the same lighting and same settings, which was extremely frustrating! But with practice and research I was continually getting better pictures, but yet not quite as professional looking as I would have liked.

I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel quite yet, as I still have a great camera and I still did not and don’t have the funds to hire a “professional.” With the current COVD situation it was becoming even more important to have an online presence and be able to sell my work primarily online. I was on a mission to get great looking photos!

After much research and continually fiddling and playing with the settings on my camera I came to both a conclusion and a decision! The conclusion was that it was nearly impossible to get a white, white background without photo editing. Wish I would have discovered that years ago! I can not tell you the hours and hours I have spent trying to figure it out! I have always been using the photo editing software that came with my canon camera. That was starting to become more and more unpredictable whether it would continue to work on my computer after this last time of upgrading my computer. My husband kept telling me I needed to learn something else. I broke down and splurged on Adobe Creative Cloud. I now have software to be able to do just about anything I should ever need to in my business, including, photo editing, designing jewelry, videos for social media, you name it! Only problem is learning how to do some of this stuff! A couple years ago I bought Corel, but never really learned to use it. While I am learning I did find a quick solution for getting white background for my photos. Check it out, https://www.creativehiveco.com/how-to-edit-product-photos-for-a-white-background-in-one-minute/ easy, peasy and FREE! I may just continue to use this even after I learn how to use Lightroom and Photoshop. I’m not sure even what the biggest difference between using Lightroom and Photoshop is! Anyone have an opinion for one over the other. I have both!

The other conclusion I came to was that a macro lens could be quite beneficial in jewelry photography. So I made another HUGE splurge and invested in a macro lens. It is a canon EF 100 mm f/2.8L. It cost almost as much as my camera did, so I am hoping I don’t regret it.

The 3rd thing I got was a tripod. I have one, but never use it much as it is sort of a hassle. I figured I had a pretty steady hand. Everything I read however, said tri-pod, lighting and macro lens were essential to getting professional looking photos. I went for broke!

I am having fun experimenting with the macro lens. Already I am seeing the possibilities of getting really creative and getting some cool photos, not just in my jewelry. Practice, practice, practice! I will get there!