Camera Camera Case by Hine on Etsy
Going along with the photography theme that I am currently obsessed with, I thought I would post the top ten things I think are important when taking photos of your items for Etsy.
Here are a few things that I have done to improve my Etsy Shop Photos:
- Use Macro mode on your camera. This is usually a button with a little tulip on it, and helps your camera take better shots of small things.
- Don't use a flash.
- Set up a light box. This can be done for a fairly small amount of money. Check out this post with a tutorial on how I made my lightbox.
- Use the time delay on your camera. I usually set mine to wait 2 seconds from when I push the button to when it takes the picture. This helps reduce any movement you may cause by acutally pushing the button which can make your photos blurry.
- Use a small tripod, or prop your camera up on something stationary. Sometimes I use a little tripod I bought at best buy for 12 dollars and sometimes I set my camera on a box or book to get the shot I want. This also helps reduce the dredded blur effect.
- Crop your shot – once you have the photo taken use a photo editing software to crop your shot in an interesting way, or to get rid of unnecessary space. The "Now" photo above actually contained more of the box and even a little bit of a blue background, but it is much better cropped out.
- Adjust your lighting – Many photos, even if you use a light box need to have the lighting adjusted a little bit to improve shadows and highlights. You can see previous post on Adjusting the lighting on your Etsy photos here. I also have a Gimp tutorial of how I edit most of my photos here.
- Be consistant. Try to use a style of background and prop that helps build your brand and goes with your style. Think of how Anthropologie decorates its stores compaired to the decor in Hot Topic. Your photos are your oppertunity to get the attention of your target market.
- You don't need to spend a fortune on a Camera! The camera I use is an older Cannon Powershot point and shoot camera. I bought some aftermarket lenses on amazon that attached to my camera and they were under $30.00. You can see my post about a Virtual Lab on Photographing Jewelry here. It goes into a bit more detail.
- Don't get discouraged. Many of the sellers with excellent photos have been at it for a while, or they took photography classes. It may take time, but with a little bit of work you can get there.