tinahdee

I’m back today with more tips on what works for me in product photography, specifically for jewelry. Sellers are always asking for advice about how to get more people to buy what they’re selling. Photos have to be one of the most important, if not THE most important details. You could have the best product on the Internet, but if your photos don’t reflect that, you probably are not going to be able to twist someone’s arm to buy your stuff.

Last time I talked about lighting. This time I want to share my thoughts about settings and background. In an effort to dress up their photos, sellers will place items on busy backgrounds like patterned paper, or surround the item with foliage or flowers. This rarely works well because in order to draw someone in to your shot and coerce them to click through, your product needs to be the most important thing in the picture. I heard someone say that your item needs to be the star. With small items like jewelry, that is especially true.

There should be no doubt in the shopper’s mind what you are selling. That doesn’t even mean that the entire piece needs to be inside the boundaries of the photo – sometimes it’s better if you leave a bit to the imagination. What is means is that there should be nothing else in that photograph that distracts your buyer from the item you are trying to sell. Nothing.

Simple is better. It’s good sometimes if your background has some texture, but not too much texture. Color, but not too much color.  Definitely not too much of both.  I use tumbled marble tiles for a lot of my photos. They have a lot of texture but very little color, so it works.

If you are showing your item on a human model, the rules are a bit different. If the model is attractive, this can work in your favor for getting clicks and it doesn’t matter quite as much if your item is competing with the model for attention. Get them to click and then you can show them more details about the piece you’re selling.

Renaissance Pattern Wedding Set

In the time that I’ve been selling on Etsy, I’m not ashamed to say that my product photos have improved tremendously. Could this be part of my selling success? I think so. I see a lot of items on Etsy that are not presented in a way that shows their true beauty. A clear, properly lit, beautifully staged set of photos makes your item come alive to the customer. I have some definite opinions about what it takes to make a great photo, and I’m going to share them with you. I’m sure not everyone will agree, and there are many people who successfully use techniques other than the ones I do. But if you like my photos and want to emulate this style, here’s how you do it.

Note: My jewelry business was launched with hardly any cash outlay, so another benefit to my favorite method of getting the product shoot is that it is very inexpensive.

Natural Light

The most important element to taking a great jewelry photo is lighting. I am a proponent of natural light, the kind that comes from the sky. For one thing, it’s free. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on bulbs, light stands, light boxes (even homemade ones take cash), diffusers, or any other kind of equipment. All you need is the outdoors, or my favorite, the ubiquitous window sill. No exposure to the elements required!

When I first began taking photos of my jewelry, I did what most people do. I placed the jewelry in an attractive setting like an embroidered tablecloth or a beautifully printed piece of paper, turned the lights on, zoomed in, and clicked. Unfortunately, this method produced washed out photos with a lot of glare.

Washed out, with glare

It didn’t take me too long to figure out that this style of photography wasn’t going to cut it. As beautiful as my renaissance crown might have been, looking at this picture you’d really have to use your imagination to realize it. Not only is it washed out with a harsh glare – it’s out of focus and the background is way too “busy.” (More on that in another post.)

Next, I moved on to outdoor photography. This worked OK for some things, but I was having the hardest time getting a good shot of say, shiny silver items. This was because I was setting my item in direct sunlight – not a good plan for bringing out the texture and details of your piece. The key to good lighting is to have some light and some shadows – but neither of these should be harsh or hard. Harsh light washes out or causes glare, and hard shadows obscure parts of your photo or cause a distracting extra shape in your composition. The solution to this is to use bright, but diffused light.

Bright light from the sun is perfect, but it needs to be diffused. This is what makes a cloudy day ideal for taking photos of your jewelry in natural light. The harsh glare of direct sun gets eliminated, and so does the hard shadow. Everything is softer and more subtle, which focuses the attention on your jewelry instead of other distracting elements. So when there’s a cloudy day in the forecast (for some people this is every day!), take advantage of it to get some great shots.

What if you need to take picture and it’s a sunny day? There are many ways to use the bright light of the sun while avoiding the harshness of its rays. One way is to take pictures in the shade. Make sure your shade is consistent and not dappled like the effect you get under a tree. Dappled light will just make your photo dappled. Find some good shade and then experiment with pictures. Sometimes bringing the item right to the edge of the shade will provide a good balance of light and shadow, while shooting your piece in shade that is too deep can result in a flat, dull picture.

Another sunny day solution is to use the window sills in your home. If you’re lucky, you have sills on more than one side of your home, which allows you to use different ones depending on the light levels and the time of day. Window sill photography is my favorite method for getting the lighting just right. For example, I have a sill in my bedroom that is perfect for getting dramatic shots when the sun is just coming up.

Dramatic morning light

The picture above was taken with no flash, just the diffused, interesting light from the early morning sun.

Other sills in my home give me good results in the afternoon and evening. If you have a large window that allows a lot of light in, you can even move your shots further away from the window and experiment with light balance that way. Whatever you do, don’t use your flash! Find out how to turn it off and then keep it off. If your photo comes out too dark, you just need to move closer to your natural source of light.

Next, I’ll share some of my tips for getting a good background.

I wonder why they call it a wedding ring. After all, you don’t wear it only on your wedding day, like your wedding dress. A wedding ring is something that many people never ever take off. They should call it a marriage ring. Right?

The picture below is my marriage ring. It used to be my wedding ring. It was your average domed band made of gold – I think we got our rings at JC Penney or Sears. We were definitely looking for budget friendly stuff. Nothing original about that.

But of course many years later, I have learned how to do stuff to metal and make jewelry out of it. And one day, I took my wedding ring and made it into my marriage ring. I put it on the steel mandrel and hammered it all over, creating facets and tool marks on it. Instead of a plain jane standard issue wedding ring, I now had a one of a kind marriage ring. It represents to me all the things we have weathered together in our 17 years of marriage. Each blow of the hammer makes the ring more beautiful, just like our marriage. Every difficulty we have faced has made our relationship what it is today – a beautiful work of art.

Have you ever heard someone say that? It’s in reference to stuffing something inside you – something you’re trying to avoid or deny or hide or run from instead of dealing with.  The harder you stuff it, the more like it is to “come out sideways” as some form of alternate expression.

I think that’s why I make jewelry. It’s my writing, coming out sideways.

I’ve been writing since I could hold a crayon. It’s just what I do. Over the last five years of my life I have been writing less and less. Between mid life crises and dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of adult children leaving the nest, coupled with some serious dysfunction issues from my childhood, I’ve been stuffing the writing.

You see, writing opens a channel from the depths of my heart and puts the contents therein on display to myself and to the world (should I choose to share my words that way). And sometimes, it’s just too hard to look and see what’s in there. There’s something in there that even to this day I am afraid to identify and face. And I know that the more I write, the closer I get to staring that thing down, whatever it is, face to face.

A couple of years ago, in the zenith of my despair, I put away a few things that were just too painful to carry. One of those things was writing. For all the joy and insight it brought to me and I daresay to at least one other person, the corresponding threat of pain was too risky. I didn’t realize at the time that was why I couldn’t do it anymore. But it is very clear to me now.

The jewelry making is the writing, coming out sideways. Hammering and burning and bending the metal is a non-verbal channel to my heart, which makes it easier for me to deal with then the words. The little pieces of body adornment that result are really little pieces of my heart.

One of the ways I can recognize that the jewelry-making is a direct line to my heart, is that I always end up with irrational fear surrounding the things that open up my heart. I start practicing avoidance – I find a dozen other things I need to do first, before I go out to the workshop and start creating.

And I have found a billion things to do now, before sitting down to write the things that are in my heart. Ironically, though, the very reason I find myself writing on this clear cold morning is because I am avoiding my other heart activity – making the jewelry. Funny. But hey, whatever works.

And now, because I have a commitment to the people who have chosen to put their trust in me and express their appreciation of my craft, I’m heading out to the workshop to do something I love very much.

truth

Winner of the dogtag bracelet is Kelly, who had three entries, one of which was the 6th, which is what the random number generator at random.org gave me this morning.

Kelly

Posted November 23, 2009 at 1:23 am | Permalink

I am a social worker and work with children and families who have had their child removed for one reason or another. I see a lot of pain and sadness throughout the day, and while it can be really hard, the joy of seeing family succeed is so amazing. I would choose the bracelet and get “Hope Never Dies” inscribed. All these families need is hope that life can be better for them.

And the winner of the ring, whom I chose myself, is Laura.

Laura

Posted November 24, 2009 at 4:31 am | Permalink

I would love to win the ring. If I were to win I would like MOON inscribed on it as my niece always tells me she loves me to the moon and now being on the other side of the world from her, it would make me feel slightly closer to her.

Congratulations to both of you! Kelly and Laura, please get in touch with me at tinahdee <at> gmail.com to let me know your address, and in Laura’s case, your ring size.

I love to give stuff away and it’s been a long time since I hosted a giveaway here at my poor neglected blog. So, it’s time! I’m going to give away two very different items. The first thing is one of my recycled sterling silver personalized rings, stamped with your choice of 5 letters or fewer, in whatever size you like.

Second, is one of my silver dogtag unisex bracelets:

I’ll choose two winners: one person who specified the ring, and one who specified the bracelet. Here’s how you play:

For one entry,  leave me a comment and let me know which item you’d like to choose, what you’d like inscribed, and why.  For extra entries: tweet with a link back, make a blog mention with a link back, become a Facebook fan (or if you’re already a fan let me know), and/or recruit a fan (get someone to sign up as a fan then comment and let me know who). Each one of these actions get you another entry, but you have to make a separate comment for each action.

The giveaway begins now, and ends Thanksgiving night. I’ll be choosing one winner via random drawing, and the other winner according how much I liked your inscription idea, so give me your best!

Good luck.

So glad to find out that someone says I can call what I do “art”. I’m a non-conformist from way back. I have my own “special” way of doing things that don’t follow the established rules. Lots of people out there just can’t understand not following the rules. But Chris Guillebeau says breaking the rules is an art form. In case you haven’t heard of Mr. Guillebeau, I thought I would share a bit about him and his site, called “The Art of Nonconformity“.

Guillebeau says: “My mission is to help people live unconventional lives, make their own choices, and change the world.” He has never had a “real” job, having been self-employed his entire adult life. Guillebeau sells advice but he also gives away a lot of very interesting and inspiring content, like his “A Brief Guide To World Domination”, available in PDF format. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

“You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.” Now that’s music to an artist’s ears, right?

“You can focus the majority of your time on the things you enjoy, and you can also make an incredible difference in the lives of other people while you are at it.”

“…you need to devote as much time as it takes to find out what you can offer the world that no one else can.”

“When you finally come out with something truly worth caring about, people will notice.”

I just signed up for Guillebeau’s email updates, so I’m looking forward to reading more of his stuff. He also recently published a for-pay report called “Art and Money: How to Thrive as an Artist Without Selling Out”. I’m thinking of purchasing that, and if I do I’ll write a review of it here. In the meantime, here’s a preview video:

I got the idea to make a piece of jewelry that could help breastfeeding moms from a customer who was asking if I could make her a couple of my initial rings with L and R. She explained her idea, and I thought it was a good one! She never did do the custom order, but the idea stuck with me. Finally, yesterday, I sat down at my bench and came up with what I think is an even better method for breastfeeding moms. The ring is made from #10 flat sterling wire, and holds a 5mm round stone (there are a lot of different kinds, check the listing). On either side of the stone is a small letter – an L, and an R. Each is facing a different way, so that when you’re wearing the ring, the letter on the left is right side up and the letter on the right is upside down. When you’re done breastfeeding, take the ring off, flip it around, and put it back on.

I’ve been wearing mine since yesterday, and even though my breastfeeding days are long gone, I love this ring! The tiny letters are subtly small, so this is not like trying to wear your nursing bracelet out in public. No one would know what it is unless you showed them. This attractive ring goes everywhere – to the store, out to eat, or anywhere your day takes you. You can even sleep with it on, which helps for that groggy first feeding of the day (or middle of the night).

Sterling breastfeeding reminder ring $60

You don’t have to have it all mapped out in order to create something beautiful. Especially if the lack of a concrete idea is becoming an obstacle to your creating. If you’re telling yourself you can’t sit down and make something until you have an idea, you’re probably procrastinating. See, I believe that creative people always have ideas floating around in their subconscious mind. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know that we were creative people. It is the idea that is the seed of creativity. The conscious mind acts like a sentry to those ideas sometimes – probably for myriad reasons, not all of which are valid. Sometimes, it just might be that we want to sabotage ourselves. Sometimes, we have irrational fears. Whatever it is that is keeping your inner idea from expressing itself, let’s just go ahead and ignore that.

How do you ignore your conscious mind? You bypass it. Don’t listen to the voices telling you that you have to have a plan mapped out before you can create. Go to your place – get your tools, whatever those are, and place them within reach. Get your supplies out and put them in front of you and look at them. Put on some inspiring music. Close your eyes for a few moments if that helps you relax. Clear out the thoughts of your busy day and all your troubles. Open your eyes and look through your supplies and pick out something that catches your eye. Play with it. Use your tools to play with it. Don’t try to have a certain idea about what you’re going to make. Just play.

The purpose is not to come up with something “useable” or “pretty”. The purpose is simply to let your subconscious mind bypass your conscious, strict sentry, and just create. Don’t judge whatever results from your play time. When your time is up, just put the item aside and go back to your daily routine. Your subconscious is still working on being creative, and you just gave it something to “gnaw” on. Make a practice of this, and pretty soon your conscious mind won’t work quite so hard to discourage you. Either that, or you’ll just get better at ignoring it.

Peridot and Sterling Lariat $35