Photography of color-change gemstones

Any gemstone photographer will tell you that color-change stones present a particularly difficult challenge. Unfortunately, many photographers and vendors take the easy way out by using Photoshop, as it's much simpler to change colors using a color hue slider than with proper photography techniques. The best way to tell if a vendor uses Photoshop on color-change gemstones is to look closely at both of the photos used to indicate color change. If facet patterns and reflections are exact in both photos, it's likely that only a single photo was taken and colors deliberately manipulated in Photoshop. I have photographed gemstones for many years and have never been able to change out a lighting source without a telltale difference in the facet reflections. Photographing color-change stones admittedly takes a lot of time, but I believe it's the best way to accurately showcase them.