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Case study 08 · Concept · Consulting · Studio design · Photography

They hired me to build the studio. Then they kept me to shoot in it.

Ralph Mueller & Associates brought me in as a consultant to design a studio lighting space for their product photography. The deliverable was the room — the thing other people would work in after I left. They saw the results and kept me on to shoot some of it too.

Which is the whole argument for why the room mattered. Jewelry is the hardest common subject there is: small, wholly reflective, and it shows you the entire room back. Every flare, every stray edge, every light you did not mean to include. Metal reading as metal and a shadow that sits on the surface are not retouching — they are the lighting space, working.

A wide white-gold ring photographed on white seamless with its reflection beneath: a square citrine in a pave diamond halo, a Greek key motif cut into the shoulder, and the maker's name engraved along the shank.
white seamlessI shot it; the piece is a designer's. A citrine in a pavé halo, Greek key cut into the shoulder. Polished metal against white is the case where there is nowhere for a mistake to hide.
A pair of pave diamond hoop earrings resting on a black reflective surface, each hoop set with rows of small brilliant diamonds, mirrored below.
pavéHundreds of small stones, each one its own highlight.
A round brilliant diamond solitaire in a six-prong white gold setting, photographed close on black with the facets fully lit.
single stoneOne stone, no setting to hide behind.
A loose trillion-cut pink sapphire, unset, photographed on black with light passing through the facets.
unset stoneNo metal at all — the light has to come through it.

My role — consultant: studio lighting design, then product photography shot in the room I designed.
Client — Ralph Mueller & Associates.
Deliverable — the room.