Monday, March 24, 2008

Farewell, Dark and Blurry Pictures!

Whew!
I just spent the whole weekend rearranging my tiny workroom so I could fit in a permanent photography corner. I have tubs of supplies now stacked to my ceiling but I don't care as long as the pix are better!
AND here to the left is an idea of what it looks like! In my traditional ghetto fabulous style, I used a clothing rack (that my boyfriend actually trash-picked for me-that is true love there!) and used it to hang a large panel of muslin that I dyed a pale gray. A second, smaller piece covers the floor and the base of my dress form. Then I went nuts at home depot and bought a bunch of clamp lamps and 100 watt bulbs so I could place them above, in front and on each side to minimize shadows. My next project will be to make diffusers for the lamps to reduce harsh shadows.
So my picture taking possibilities went from this (red) to this (gray).
I am pretty happy with the results at the moment. I still think I need a lot more light though.


And while I am on the subject, how about a peek at my ever-so ghetto fabulous light box! I made this baby out of a mid-sized card board box.
The sides and top are sheets of velum and the back to bottom curved sheet is watercolor paper-I wanted the toothy texture on mine. You can see my lovely clamp lamps in action-just remember not to leave them on long or unattended-this is a fire hazard from all the heat generated by the lamps and it must be watched when in use! I know it is not pretty or super professional, but it really does get the job done. My jewelry pictures are sooooo much better now than before I made it-see the difference in the two pictures here of my aquatic potion bottle necklace: on the left is before and on the right is after. Yikes!
Good pictures are uber important, that cannot be emphasized enough. They are your calling card, how your customers recognize your work and your self-representation all rolled into one little package.

2 comments:

Athena's Armoury said...

Look at how busy you've been! I loved getting a look at your big old dress form picture taking set up. I love the texture from the red fabric, but you're right, the new way makes it much brighter. You're right again, I think diffusing the light a bit will help even it out, too.

Your ghetto fabulous light box rocks: huge improvement on those pic's!

Picture taking and editing is probably the most tedious part of selling online. I know it's an area that I'm constantly working on, too.

Mixed Species said...

WOW! What a difference in photos. You have the proof of why the hard work and patience pays off. Nice job!