By Elizabeth
of EBL Designs
First, I would like to state that I am not a
professional photographer or claim any expertise in the field. Everything that I am sharing here is what I
have learned so far as I stumble through getting the best photos as I could for my online listings, social media and show
packets. I hope you can find a few tips
to try!
First, let’s think about your own online shopping
experience. When looking at all those
little thumbnails of items, what entices you the most to click on it to find
out more? The image of course! It’s a very well-known fact that the images you use when
selling your products are usually the first thing a potential buyer looks at
when deciding to click on your item. It
doesn’t matter if you
have the latest and greatest item known to man if the photo isn’t attractive
enough for the buyer’s
interest.
One
of the hardest things I find about my business is to photograph my finish products. I have no
problems making new jewelry and other creative items, but I always have a hard
time trying to find the best way to photograph them. Here are a few tips and tricks that I have
found along the way that I hope can help you!
1.
Hiring a Photographer: One of the first things I tried outside of my own
skill set was to trade, barter or pay a photographer. I know a few student photographers through my
day job and quite a few professional photographers. This is a great idea if you have items that
you can recreate more than once. It
really wasn’t ideal for me since about 80% of my jewelry is one of
kind pieces that I cannot reproduce. I
found that it was quite expensive, even with trade and a discounted price. Many of the pieces would sell quite fast and
I would have a need for more items to photograph. The bonus to this: I have many high quality photographs of items
that I use for juried shows and social media as examples of my work.
2.
Natural
Light May be the Best: One of the first concepts of photographing my jewelry
I tried was to photograph it in natural light.
Natural light usually will give you the closest to real life color than
using artificial light. When shooting in
natural light, it’s
best to find a sunny spot inside where the light is defused through white
curtain or sheers. Also try shooting
around the same time of day when working with natural light.
I found that it
can be really hard photographing items in natural light. First of all, you have to coordinate the
timing, the set up and the weather. I
hated that I was ready to photograph, but it would be too sunny or too
dark. For me, this also means
photographing on the weekend because I work my full time job during the
week. But in the right settings at the
right time, using natural light can really make your items pop in the image.
The above photo show
these olive green chalcedony earrings on stone photographed in natural
light. Image courtesy of Stephanie of Grace and Elegance.
3.
Using a Lightbox: A light box can help you take photos inside
with utilizing the most of your light sources.
You use it by placing your product inside the lightbox and then setting
your lights on the outside of the lightbox so the light is diffused to reduce
the glare on your products. Using a tripod, your camera is placed
facing into the center of the lightbox on the side that is open.
Why
can a lightbox be an important tool to use when photographing your items?
Because it gives you the flexibility and creativity to shoot products at any
time of the day no matter your location or lighting conditions. Not
a fan of the white background? No
problem, just switch out the white poster board for color of your
choosing. You can even use different
fabrics if you like to add variety.
I made my own
light box under $20 by using just a cardboard box, poster board, white tissue
paper, two lamps using daylight light bulbs.
Look at the list of additional resources below to find links on how to
build your own light box.
Here’s a great example of a lightbox by Anna
from The House of Mouse that is found in the article: How-To Make and Use a Light Box
to Improve Your Product Photography.
3.
Using FotoFuze (and other photo
correcting software): Ok, don’t judge me, but I use FotoFuze to help correct my photos. This product helps make my white backgrounds
really white and sharpen my photos.
According to Timothy Adams of Handmadeology,
“FotoFuze is
a product photography enhancement engine…to help your photos stand out
from the crowd, putting a professional polish on your photos with just a click.
“ FotoFuze
is a free product (with upgrades that are available) that can integrate with
your Etsy shop.
I’ve been using this product for a couple of years now
and overall enjoy the end results. It’s quick and relatively painless to use, but I have
found some downsides to using the product.
First of all, the end product is only going to be as good as what you put into it.
Blurry, unfocused photos are still going to come out blurry and
unfocused. I would just recommend
playing around with it and see how you like it.
Here’s a before and after photo:
Before
using FotoFuze
After using FotoFuze
Another
popular photo corection software is PhotoShop.
For more information on how to use PhotoShop, read How-To Make and Use a Light Box
to Improve Your Product Photography.
Want to read more about photographing
for beginners? Check out these articles.
This article was orginally posted here.
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