How to photograph jewelry with your phone.

What you need

The kit (you probably have it already)

• Your phone, lens wiped clean with a soft cloth
• A window with soft daylight
• A sheet of white paper or card for the background
• A second white card to bounce light, and a black one for edges
• A small tripod, or a stack of books
• Blu-Tack or putty to stand rings and earrings upright

Step 1

Use soft window light, not the flash

Set up next to a window on a bright day, out of direct sun. An overcast sky or a north-facing window gives the softest light.

If the sun is coming straight in, tape baking paper or a thin white curtain over the window to soften it. Turn the room lights off so their colour doesn't mix in.

Never use the phone's flash. It makes hard glare on metal and flattens stones.

Step 2

Pick a plain background

White or light grey paper is the safest start, and it is what most marketplaces want for the main image. Curve one sheet from the wall down onto the table so there is no line behind the piece.

For lifestyle shots, try one texture at a time: linen, marble tile, wood, velvet. Keep it simple so the jewelry stays the hero.

Step 3

Bounce light back with a white card

Stand a sheet of white card or foam board on the side away from the window. It fills in shadows and makes metal look brighter.

A black card does the opposite: placed at the edge of a polished ring it adds the dark lines that make metal read as shiny instead of flat white.

Step 4

Keep the phone steady

Small objects show every shake. Use a small tripod, or lean the phone on a stack of books, and set a 3-second timer so tapping the button doesn't move it.

Step 5

Get the focus right

Tap the screen on the most important detail (the stone, the clasp, the engraving) to focus there, then slide the brightness down a little so white metal doesn't blow out.

On newer iPhones, Macro mode switches on by itself when you move close. On Android, look for a Macro or Close-up mode. Don't zoom in digitally: step back and crop later instead.

Step 6

Control reflections

Polished metal works like a mirror and will show you and your phone. Shoot through a small hole cut in a white card, or wear dark clothes and step slightly to one side.

For more on this, read our guide to reflections in jewellery photos.

Reflections in jewellery photos →

Step 7

Shoot the angles buyers look for

Front view, a side or three-quarter view, a close-up of the detail, the back or clasp, and one shot that shows size: on a hand, an ear, or next to a coin.

Five or six photos per piece is plenty. Keep the light the same across the whole set so your shop looks consistent.

Step 8

Finish: white background and the right size

Even good phone photos rarely come out pure white. Run them through a background tool so the ground is a clean white, then resize to what each marketplace asks for.

Check the colour on another screen before you list. Gold and rose gold often shift after upload.