Wondering how jewelry photography works? Fret no more. Here are some guidelines on how to take effective pictures of jewelry.

Focus - Before starting, let's have a rundown on things that you might want to consider before going on a jewelry-snapping frenzy. One is getting to know your camera's "spot focus mode." You see, the normal focus mode of digital cameras is an "average focus mode." That means the camera will focus on a "a wide area of scene" and focus on that wide area. However, since you're going to do jewelry photography, you want your subject to be the center of attention, and not have it share the limelight with anything else. You're going to need a digital camera with a "good manual focus capability." In this "experiment," the digital camera used was a Canon Digital Rebel.

Lighting - Another thing you might want to keep in mind is lighting. According to our source, soft lighting works well with jewelry, and daylight balanced compact fluorescent bulbs are recommended for lighting. Also, the camera's flash doesn't work well with jewelry, so you'll really need good lighting to get the best pictures.

Exposure - You might also want to review your camera's exposure compensation controls (known as "EV" for Exposure Value). Setting your camera at +1 is recommended, but you might want to try other values that suit your picture just right.

Lastly, having a tripod, studio lights and an EZCube are recommended, as they are used in all techniques.

To add sparkle to gems, you're going to need three lights: two for both sides of the EZCube, and another for highlighting a gem's sparkle (to do this, you must position the light directly on the gem). Remember, the third light should be weaker than the two side lights. After that, you're ready to shoot away!

Another technique is using a white or clear high gloss acrylic platform to show the jewelry's reflection. Just place your subject on top of it and try taking pictures of the piece in different positions to see which angle is most flattering.

You could also use a black acrylic platform for a dramatic effect. Remember to also place a black piece of paper on top of the EZCube to remove all unwanted reflections.

And to make your accessories (such as pendants) stand upright without the help of a bust, get a bead of wax and place your subject on top of it.

So, snap away and let's see how you'll manage to capture your very elegant (not to mention expensive) pieces of jewelry using these techniques discussed.