New Picture Techniques

Is anyone else having problems with blogger? I cannot sign in from my main page. I have to go through my gmail account to do so. I've noticed some others have the same gobledy gook on the top of their pages too.

On to today's real post.

I read an article recently by Tim Adams on Handmadeology. I know you etsians have heard of him. He has an "empire" where he has tips and techniques for helping crafters sell and improve their shops. I found this article through My Handmade Handbook.

One of the things Tim mentions is that photography is one of the main reasons why one does or does not sell. I knew this and have been trying to improve my pictures. I purchased some items to do a diy lightbox ( I need one more desk lamp) and have been using complimentary backgrounds for my cards. This particular article talked about staging or using props for your items. Yesterday happened to be a beautiful, sunny day so I took some picutures outside. If you look at my shop, you can tell when I've made cards. The pictures outside were done in the summer and the darker pictures were made in the winter.

Here are some before and afters:



This one was obviously done inside. I had a bit of a sunnier day through my one studio window and have learned photo adjusting techniques.

This one turned out so much better! I took it outside in a bed of herbs. The herbs are such a nice backdrop for this particular card. And the lighting is just better.

I took this picture a acouple months ago inside (obviously). I edited it in picasa and used a background that I thought would show off the card. It is dark.


For this one, I used filtered natural light and some of my son's matchbox cars as props. I still have to get used to the prop idea, but I see where he is going with it.

I have more work to do with this idea and have to start thinking outside of the box when it comes to taking pictures. Overall, I like the newer pictures better. I especially like the top card in the herbs.