How Do I Photograph Pearls?

Place the pearls into a light tent, which is a small, cube-shaped, semi-opaque box. Light tents are designed to diffuse incoming light and remove the appearance of harsh highlights and shadows.

Position a black backdrop behind the pearls. White pearls will show best on a black background. Use a piece of black felt, a black sheet, any black fabric or even black paper to bring out the color and contrast of the pearls.

Place an external flash unit or a standard household lamp over the top of the light tent. A single light from above will give the pearls more dimension, allowing shadows to appear smoothly over the spherical surface of the pearls.

Mount your camera on a tripod. Because you are using only a single light source, use a slower shutter speed to properly expose the pearls. Shower shutter speeds can cause camera shake from your hand movements, so placing your camera on a tripod will help to steady your shots.

Set your camera to aperture-priority mode, and choose an aperture of roughly f/5.6 to f/8. This will produce sharp focus on your pearls while causing the background to soften and blur, which will enhance the delicate appearance of pearls. In aperture-priority mode, your camera will automatically choose a shutter speed necessary to properly expose the photo.

Set your camera to approximately -1 or -2 exposure compensation. Because you are using a black background, your camera's meter will naturally want to brighten the photo, which will wash out and overexpose your pearls. Set your exposure compensation lower to tell your camera to render the black background as solid black.