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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I know what you mean Lynn! I'll take 200 photos for 10 beads. yikes.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it will ever get easier for me.
Can't wait to see your dress form.
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.
ReplyDeleteWell-- 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:)
ReplyDeleteYou all are too, too kind, thanks for the encouragement, I get so discouraged.
ReplyDeleteHeather, 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!