Level up your photos with a clip on phone light.

I added a clip on phone light to my on-the-go  photography arsenal shortly before my VicenzaOro adventures last fall and ever since then, people have been chasing me down at trade shows to ask me where I found it. The happy truth is that it’s easy to find, easy to use, and super cheap!

Level up your jewelry photos with a clip on phone light.

If you’ve ever seen me in action at a trade show or jewelry store, you know I’ll do anything to find the right lighting. I’ll sit on the floor, I’ll lean under a table – whatever it takes. But sometimes even the most undignified contortions get me nowhere. Some places are too dark, too bright, or just wrong.

A clip on phone light solves this problem. Having an easily portable source of adjustable light makes an enormous difference. A lot of convention centers (which is where trade shows usually are) have reddish or yellowish light, which doesn’t do most jewelry any favors. The clip on phone light shines white light, which is perfect for diamonds.

We’ve talked about tips and tricks for good phone photography here on the blog before. Anyone who’s ever taken a picture knows that light is the biggest thing to make or break a shot, and when you’re working with a subject as reflective as jewelry, it’s even more critical.

See what a difference it can make? Two completely unedited photos: the first with a phone light, the second without. This fabulous necklace is by Susan Elnora.

The clip on phone light’s biggest issue is that it sometimes provides too much light, and the ring of light can be reflected in certain gemstones, especially cabochons. This particular light adjusts to offer three different levels of light.

Like any photo strategy, the clip on selfie light requires some practice to to really get things down. But I’ve found that it’s definitely worth the effort, especially if you take a lot of jewelry photos on the go like me!

I can’t tell you how many people have ordered these for themselves after seeing mine in action – more than a dozen by now, if not two dozen.

This post is for all of you who have wanted to ask how to get your own phone light but haven’t had a chance. And so that instead of giving the laborious instructions, “Go to Amazon, search for clip-on selife light’ and then look for the one that….(etc)” I can just say “Search ‘phone light’ on my website and you’ll find the exact one!”

And on that note: I have to thank my fabulous friend Hannah Becker, who taught me about clip on phone lights in the first place! I’m spreading the phone light gospel, but I didn’t discover them without help. 

This post contains affiliate links.