We have noticed the trend of photographing opal, in particular, light opal on black backgrounds, as well as being asked by clients and some suppliers as to why we don’t use said technique.
To be honest, we feel that photographing light opal on a dark background gives an enhanced view of the opal, and for those that are still fairly uninitiated in the world of opal, it can be misleading. The translucency of Crystal Opal is so versatile, and we’ve felt for a very long time that the white background gives a more accurate and honest depiction of its play of colour.
Here you’ll see one of our Crystal Opals (just under AU$6,000) photographed our normal way, as well as on a black background. You’ll notice quite a difference.
This is not to say that the technique adopted by others is wrong; it’s more that we prefer the current format (plus, the videos we do show the play of colour accurately too).
The white background also keeps a nice, clean aesthetic to our website. If you are looking at purchasing a Crystal Opal of ours, and are interested to see it on a black backing, all you would need to do is shoot through an email and ask. We’re more than happy to oblige.
