You have a Camera? Great! Nowâs Letâs Have Some Fun!
July 22, 2009 | By
In my last article, I spoke about the basics of buying a digital camera that works for your budget and your needs. Now that you have that info, let’s talk about using that new toy of yours.
Looking around places like Etsy and Artfire, you see a lot of shoppes that have great products, but bad photos of their items. You’ll notice that the shoppes that seem to have the most success and exposure have the best photos. What is their secret?
First, they know and understand how to use their specific camera. Cameras do not take great pictures. It’s the person behind it who does. You can give the most expensive camera to someone who can’t take pictures to save their life and get bad photos.
Second, they have the proper knowledge and tools. The most popular categories these days is jewelry, so I’ll use this as an example. Whether you create beaded items or are a metal smith, having these items is a must for you:
-A place that has natural light (an area near a window or even the window frame itself).
-A simple background (white is preferred to show off your items or a simple prop).
-Macro setting on your camera or a macro or zoom lens.
-A tripod.
Now, if you don’t have a good area to shoot inside using natural light, shoot outside with a simple background. You can use large white pieces of plain old drawing paper or for something different, take a brown paper bag, cut and open it up so that it becomes one large flattened piece and shoot using the inside of it. Drape your pieces using a simple branch or twig.
Remember, simple is best. You do not want to clutter up your product with too much business in the back and foreground.
If you’re like me and live in a place that gets very cold in the winter or lots of rain, but you need to get photos taken of your new items, what do you do then?
I have a special light tent that I use with lights. I do have professional strobes/lighting equipment, however, that is for a much further in depth discussion at another time. I use standard work lights that you can get at your local hardware store. Buy daylight-balanced bulbs (sometimes sold as “natural” light bulbs) for them. You will need 3 of these.
Below you see my little set up. I bought this shooting tent on Ebay, I think it cost around $40 and came with a white and black flocked vinyl background. I love this because I can shoot reflective items in it by closing everything up and place the lens inside zippered slots and viola! You don’t see the camera in the reflective item.
I cut a small piece from one of my large 9’ paper seamless backgrounds and clipped it on the inside. I have these clamps that I bought at Big Lots, 2 for $2.00 and I use them for all sorts of things. You can use wooden clothespins too.
You can build your own shooting “tent” very easily and for little or no money. Just find a regular sized box, something perhaps that you would buy paper in bulk at an office store. Take a utility knife and cut out one large window on three sides of the box. Then tape white pieces of paper or a type of white thin opaque fabric in the windows. Place a simple background paper inside and you’re good to go! You can use it inside with lights or outdoors in natural sunlight.
When shooting your items, please make sure that you use a tripod. There is a chance that your camera will be shooting using a very slow shutter speed. Slow shutter speeds means more camera shake when not using a tripod. Place your lights to create good shadow, details and depth in your item. You may not need to use all three of your lights. Play around with everything, from camera angle to lighting. Be sure to get a full frame shot of your item and close ups. If your item has multiply sides to it, be sure to include those. If you have items that would look good together as a set, be sure to add that in some way as well, either in the same photo or separately.
Remember, this is meant to be a lot of fun. Just go for it!
Photo 1 courtesy of Sherman Tan
Photo 2 courtesy of Deirdre Ryan
I am a woman of many titles: mommie, ma, mom, daughter, friend, wife, spouse, artist, photographer, blogger, designer to name a few.
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