When I Worked As A Gemstone Photographer

It was a total God-thing. In the summer of 2017, my friend and I worked a table for Orin Jewelers at a small fair. It was a one-time thing and we had fun doing it. In the course of getting the details of that job, I was talking to my contact and it came up that I was a photographer. She mentioned that she might have a job for me but she'd have to get back to me on that. I was just thinking, "the random things that lead to jobs!"

I did another job for Orin, this time in a photography capacity. I don't remember the exact timeline of things anymore, but at some point, my contact told me that her family owned a small gemstone company. Her dad was the gemcutter and he was always behind on updating the website with photos because he hated to do it! Would I be interested in photographing gemstones?

Well, it certainly wasn't something I'd ever considered doing before, but I thought about it and it really did seem like a God-given opportunity, so I said yes. I only worked 2 - 3 days a week, for a couple hours and I made a little competition with myself to get faster and see if I could raise the number of gems I photographed each time. I think I got close to 30 gems. Oh, and it wasn't just photographing them. I was labeling them as well. There was a whole system I had to learn.

It was a good job and I learned some interesting lessons that I would not have learned other places. Different kinds of photography teach you different things. The biggest lesson I learned was how clothing can cast colors onto objects. This was my first lesson in color cast but not my last.

I no longer do that job, due to some personal problems I was having. It had nothing to do with the people I was working with; they were great! It was a season and I am grateful for it, despite some hardships that cropped up. Maybe someday I'll be free to share that story but not yet.

The photo at the top is a great example of what I did. I had to adjust the lights to get the least amount of reflection. That was the hardest part!!! I would do a front angle and then one shot from each side. The background was white though. Sometimes I had to use reflectors to balance the highlights and I would be balance things so precisely. It was definitely a unique challenge at times.

There were times that I really enjoyed it and times that it was hard but I am thankful for the opportunity and the lessons I learned.