By Jennifer Heebner, Editor in Chief
When it comes to gemstone and jewelry photography, most in the industry know the name Robert Weldon of GIA and recall Tino Hammid (formerly of GIA and who died in 2016), but there is a newer player to the scene who’s now shooting much of the inventory of your peers: Jeff Mason of the eponymous photography business.
Mason hails from Crescent Valley, Nev., where as a kid, he and his dad would go rockhounding for Fluorite, Turquoise, and Jasper on weekends. That early interest in gemstones took root and inspired him to obtain an Applied Jewelry Arts degree from GIA when he was older, followed a year later by a Graduate Gemology degree. Afterwards, he considered pursuing studies in geology but instead completed his B.A. in Economics from the University of Nevada at Reno. From there, he thought he might go into jewelry or CAD-CAM design, but it was around the time the Great Recession struck, leaving few opportunities. He started working for jewelry stores, ultimately landing at Gold & Silver Pawn Shop—of “Pawn Stars” TV fame—in Las Vegas, where he now lives.
“I bought closeouts because I was educated in color,” he says. “I would test items to determine what they were.”
Photographer in the Making
While his gemstone education was being put to good use, another interest, photography, was simmering. “Growing up I’d watch Bob Ross paint landscapes, and his work made me want to try to capture other landscapes with a disposable camera,” he says. “I did a terrible job, but it sparked an interest.”
It was when he observed a freelance videographer shooting for “Pawn Stars” that he realized that he might be able to combine his love of gems with his passion for photography. “It’s the moment the impossible became possible,” he says.
He bought a top-of-the-line Canon and started practicing, taking pictures of everything that came through the doors of Gold & Silver Pawn. He shot for fun, experimenting with fiber-optic lights—horrible for jewelry, he learned—as a light source, but the experience served as a valuable lesson to improve his techniques. They did, and others noticed.
By late 2016, he was asked to run a local jewelry store’s social media, which meant shooting more jewelry.
“It was a fun side hustle,” he recollects. “I continued to learn and grow and was able to shoot anything in the store. I also reached out to the other jewelry photographers on Instagram, asking them as many questions as they were willing to answer.”
When he met Tino Hammid at AGTA GemFair Tucson one year, his photography education intensified because Hammid happily mentored him.
“I was able to ask him intricate questions that you could only ask another jewelry photographer,” says Mason. “For example, how do I color-correct Emeralds with a continuous light source? He taught me color correction. He and Robert Weldon really paved the way for jewelry photographers.”
Other jewelry photographers were also generous with their time and talent. Sara Rey out of San Diego is a respected peer today. “She has always been willing to talk shop and taught me how to get an entire ring in focus” he adds. “When I have questions, I’ll run them by her.”
Around 2018, a jewelry designer in Santa Cruz, Calif., poached Mason to do social media for them. He continued shooting jewelry as well as helping to fill orders and identify stones, among other tasks. It was a good gig, until it wasn’t; when COVID-19 hit, staffers were laid off, and Mason was faced with a period of unemployment.
Jeff Mason Photography Is Born
Fortunately, Mason had a good friend in merchant Jeremy Dunn of Dunn Jewelry in Seattle. Mason and Dunn had known each other for nearly 10 years, and Dunn encouraged his pal to pursue photography full time.
“He said, ‘You already have what you need to do, just take photos,’” Mason recollects. “‘This is your opportunity to start your own business, to do jewelry photography full time.’” Mason decided to move back to Las Vegas, where Dunn served as one of his first clients. “He sent me jewelry—including a Spectrum winner—to photograph,” says Mason.
Next was Stephen Silver of the eponymous boutique in Redwood City and Menlo Park, Calif. Silver enlisted Mason to drive to Redwood City to shoot some special items of theirs in store. Among them were a 22 ct. no-heat Kashmir Sapphire and a 10 ct. no-heat Burma Ruby.
The next step in his journey took place in 2022 when former AGTA staffer Kami Swinney hired him to shoot AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge winners. “She followed me on Instagram, and that was my big break,” he says.
Shooting Spectrum winners was both a boon and a bear of a task—there are roughly 100 winning pieces that require photography in a short period of time. Shooting Spectrum winners in 2022 led to shooting for specific AGTA members, like 100% Natural, Kimberly Collins Colored Gems, Tsavorite Factory, Bryan Drummond, and more. Meanwhile, pal Dunn continued to cheerlead for him, sharing his Instagram handle—@jeff.mason.photography—with many.
In fall 2023, Mason was invited back to Dallas to shoot Spectrum & Cutting Edge winners. When AGTA prepared its first-ever Gala Awards program, distributed at the Spectrum & Cutting Edge Gala during GemFair 2024, Mason was prominently listed as AGTA’s photographer.
Business Today
Mason now has no shortage of work. In fact, you may have seen or had a visit from him at 2024 GemFair as AGTA hired him once more to snap photos of member goods.
His advice for newbies? Put in your 10,000 hours. Mason’s success didn’t happen overnight; he started practicing in the late 00s. “I went through many iterations of my work,” he explains.
“I developed a wealth of knowledge of different gemstones, including ones that are doubly refractive or are color change and how light interacts with each type. I have different lighting conditions for almost every type of gem.”
For sure, lighting needs to be precise to capture the personality of the stone.
“When I look at a gem, I have an emotional connection with the stone and the way the light interacts with the body color,” he explains. “It’s an emotional connection that’s almost not tangible, but if I can capture the personality of stone, then someone else can see it, and that sells stones.”
What’s toughest to shoot? “Anything I don’t understand,” he says. That used to be Opals, until he practiced enough to master them. Even Paraíba-type Tourmaline—with its otherworldly electric turquoise hues—isn’t a challenge except when it comes to color-correcting them for print. “If printing for a magazine, it’s typical to use four-color CMYK printing so brightly colored stones cannot be represented correctly because those colors don’t exist in ink,” he says.
This is a point he was reminded of when converting the image of the Cutting Edge-winning Paraíba from Amba Gem from a JPEG to a TIFF for Prism Volume I 2024.
To date, some of his fave shots include a tricolor Tourmaline he shot for 100% Natural and which can be seen on the back cover of Prism Volume I 2024. “It had so many different characteristics,” he says. More challenging numbers to shoot include Rhodochrosites from cutter Ben Kho. “Rhodochrosites are double refracted, so they made me pull out every trick in my book to capture them.”
When looking to hire a jewelry photographer, Mason suggests finding one with good communication skills in addition to the technical knowledge. “A photographer must be able to execute their clients’ vision.”
Reach Mason at 775-934-9361 or [email protected].
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