Absolutely First, go get a real tripod - for jewelry a table top one is nice but a full-sized tripod with adjustable legs will work. Get one that is sturdy, not flimsy & it will last for years....
A cable to the camera that enables you to take a picture w/o touching the camera IF you can not get a steady photo, is helpful....
I am sending some links for "how-to's" for jewelry photography - this first one USE as GUIDELINES - while the set-ups are nice, the equipment is expensive & they are pushing their own products - however, the advice is great.
http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/jewelry_photography.htm
This second link shows a very good basic less expensive & home-friendly set-up (it's a video)
http://www.ehow.com/video_2381485_setting-up-jewelry-photography.html
A friend of mine who has been selling jewelry online for years, just has a large piece of white posterboard, two small lamps similar to the video, an inexpensive digital camera, and a tabletop tripod set on a small table in her shop - she takes good photos....
I am self-taught at photography & commercial photography is a tough beast to tame. I am still learning at it! My Biggest Problem is finding plenty of time to devote to doing a bunch of items to photograph - rushing through photos just does not work!
If you don't have a good photo editing program, Picasa is a good beginning program. It doesn't have "everything" but it is very user friendly & it is FREE!
Will keep track of your comments to see if anything helped...
Deborah
