Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Snapshots and Props

I struggle with the photography for the Etsy shops. It seems that it takes almost as long to get a good, clear and well-lit photograph of the beads or jewelry as it does to create the entire jewelry piece sometimes.

I have a bench set up for taking photos of the jewelry, which does help. But it's hard to get the feeling of the jewelry into a photograph.

I want the details to show up, and the colors to be true. In photos taken from far away it seems that the details are missing, but the closeups don't give a sense of the entire piece.

Necklaces seem to be the hardest for me to photograph. There's the length, for one thing. Some other creative types I admire on Etsy always have the greatest photos, gorgeous shop window looking photos, and I just keep trying to get better with the camera.

I've been re-photographing some of the jewelry, to see if I can get some better images.

The jewelry magazines like Belle Armoire Jewelry have fantastic photographers and their pictures always look so wonderful, I wish I could improve my photography abilities to reach half that much beauty.

I don't have a figure form to drape the necklaces over, but I have an idea for a project to create one.

I've gathered the supplies and if it works the way I hope, I'll take photos of the process.

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10,000 thanks to all of you. My blogcounter tells me that since April this blog has had that many visits from you one and all, as of December 1. FANTASTIC!
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4 comments:

Heather Powers said...

I know what you mean Lynn! I'll take 200 photos for 10 beads. yikes.

I don't know if it will ever get easier for me.

Can't wait to see your dress form.

Erin Siegel said...

I have no idea what you're talking about!lol! I've always thought your photos are excellent and I think you convey the feeling of your jewelry beautifully! I think you might be too hard on yourself! I know how you feel though, I really struggle with getting good photos. It's most of the reason I have not updated my Etsy Shop. I don't have any good photos to put up! And the thought of doing another photo shoot makes me cringe so I've been putting it off.

SarahKelley said...

Well-- your hard work pays. You have gorgeous photos-- so does Heather. It's good to know I won't stop worrying no matter how good my photos get:)

LLYYNN - Lynn Davis said...

You all are too, too kind, thanks for the encouragement, I get so discouraged.

Heather, your photos are always so beautiful, it's heartening to hear you take lots of photos to get each gorgeous one you keep and show, I thought it was just me! Thank goodness for digital cameras, can you imagine if we still used film? I'd have a stack at least a mile high of film canisters. I re-did all the photos in the lynndavis Etsy shop last weekend and they look much more coherent now, I think.

And I have such high hopes for the figure drape form, I hope it doesn't turn out like some of my layer cakes, where I have a vision of this gorgeous thing but the actual cake is lopsided - LOL!

Erin, for some unknown reason when I'm taking the photos I feel so stressed, like I'm wasting good creating time. But I guess you have a point, the photos are part of the creative process - I think I need to give myself a break. Thanks for the reinforcement!