Be sure to join the Julip Bag fanpages on Ravelry and Facebook!
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Be sure to join the Julip Bag fanpages on Ravelry and Facebook! |
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| “Larger Than a Breadbox: Photograhy for Medium-to-Large Objects” Etsy Virtual Lab, September 30th, 2009 Photography Series: First in series of three workshops about photography for your Etsy shop, tomorrow: -Photography for 2-D Art by Jen Kiaba at 3:30pm EST -Jewelry Photography for Etsy by Rhonda of Prolifique Jewelry at 4:30pm EST Photography is the #1 most important element for exposure AND sales on Etsy, all the way from grabbing the attention of a browser in a lineup of thumbnails, all the way down to sealing the deal with a potential buyer. a. You can have witty detailed descriptions, competitive pricing, free worldwide shipping, but bad photographs will limit your sales, bottom line b. Buyers cannot pick up/try on/turn over your item, the photos have to provide that visceral experience Bad/sloppy photos (blurriness, no detail, unprofessional staging) will LOSE you sales (buyers can’t see what they’re buying! may imply you’re sloppy about customer service and your product!). Tips to improve: i. BUY A TRIPOD ii. BUY A SHEET AS A BACKDROP iii. ZOOOOOM IN! FILL THE FRAME! iv. DON’T USE THE FLOOR, COUCH OR BED AS A BACKDROP v. USE PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE 2. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/ 3. http://windowslive.com/Desktop/PhotoGallery?ocid=TXT_FTP_Rookies_PG_022009 vi. DON’T SETTLE FOR GOOD ENOUGH vii. REJECT ANY AND ALL BLURRY PHOTOS Good photos can always use improvement! viii. TAKE PICS FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES, POST MORE THAN ONE PIC ix. SHOW POSSIBLE USES x. USE YOUR MACRO SETTING/ZOOM IN xi. TAKE PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE TO THE NEXT LEVEL! 1. Marie from BluePandemonium: http://mytutorlist.blogspot.com/2009/09/photoshop-tutorial-replacing.html xii. CUT CLUTTER! ITEM PHOTO VS. PLACEMENT/USAGE PHOTO xiii. INDIRECT LIGHTING IS YOUR FRIEND! EMBRACE SHADE AND CLOUDY DAYS! xiv. GOTTA USE LIGHTBULBS? http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/TTS_LIGHT_MYTHS.htm 1. "Daylight" or "natural" light bulbs 2. Set the white balance on your camera xv. READ YOUR CAMERA’S MANUAL REGULARLY! TAKE PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES OR EDUCATE YOURSELF! xvi. CREATIVE BACKDROPS FOR YOUR PHOTOS 1. BLANK WALL 2. NOT-SO-BLANK WALL + PHOTO EDITING 3. SHEET OVER DOOR/SHOWER ROD/STRING 4. MANNEQUINS/DRESSFORMS 5. LIVE MODELS…YES OR NO?!? a. Use your friends! Pay them in product! b. Use coworkers! c. Chop their heads off! Buyers want to "project" themselves onto a product…just like buying a house! d. Make sure the backdrop is clean and doesn’t distract, but don’t be afraid to have fun! xvii. Battling common obstacles a. USE A TRIPOD!!! b. DON’T USE A FLASH!!! c. At work when the light is right? Shoot on your lunch break! d. Save up your items and shoot them all on the weekend, then space out the listings throughout the following week e. Got a talented photographer friend? Pay them in product! i. Find a new photographer looking for models/subjects = win/win situation!!! f. Not sure how to stage? Look in similar-product catalogs! g. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Q&A c. Photographing baby items? "This may be one item where people DO want to see it "in action," don’t be afraid to use a baby-and-mom model shot for subsequent photos!" d. How to deal with indirect lighting, e.g. coming in through a window? "This can add some great visual interest to your shots, and you can even it out in your photo-editing software later. If possible, position the light source/window BEHIND your object!" e. What’s the best color backdrop? "There’s no one perfect answer, I use white but my mom uses different color backdrops in her Etsy shop. Pick up some colored posterboard (the kind we used for presentations in school!) and use that as a backdrop. Experiment and see what looks best with your items!" |
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(c) 2009 Julip Bags |
