Please help – advice for jewelry pictures

[gejmond]

I need to take quality of pictures of jewelry in consistent conditions for a business I am trying hard to set up (in the UK). Hence my budget is limited and I will have to do it myself, though I am inexperienced.

I have a digital camera (and photoshop which I intend to learn) but need a lighting set up that will be easy to set up and use, and not too big. Natural light can be great but far too unreliable and variable. Apart from getting myself a little tripod, I would be extremely grateful for advice on kit for lighting - what to get, how to use, and where from. I want to take pictures on a white background which I will use on a website and for marketing material. If you can help - in 'layman's terms'! - it would be really appreciated. Thanks!

[Chunk]

Here's a good site.
http://lapidaryart.com/projects_2.html
Here's another.
http://www.abrasha.com/misc/photography.htm
There is also some good info at the ganoksin.com tips pages

[Skyman]

I know this is very late, but what size Jewelry are you shooting. My favourite "on the cheap" set up for Jewery is a large styrofoam cup a small velvet matt (several colours for different items) and a Lightbox. Basically put the mat on the Lightbox (you may need to cut down the mat's size) and place the jewelry on the matt. then cut the bottom out of the cup and place it upside down on the jewelry, allowing a roughly uniform amount of overhang, that is the matt needs to be a bit smaller than the diameter of the top of the cup. Turn the Light box on, stick the camera on top shooting through the hole in the cup and there you are perfect even studio lighting for jewelry and other small objects. The idea is that the light from the lightbox seeps into the gap between the matt and the edge of the cup and bounces off the sides of the cup to uniformly illuminate the jewelry without producing harsh hot spots etc as a flash would, and giving lovely white highlights. the advantage of this is that it costs little more than the cost of a lightbox, as most fabric stores will let you have off cuts very cheap, and styrofoam cups cost almost nothing. you may need a tripod though.