Stock photography tips

Realizing that I have been a bad blogger. Bad kitty! I thought I'd do a little bit on tips for photographing your stock for listings. You get five shots on Etsy, and 10 on Artfire if you're a pro seller. Mix it up!

For quite some time I was using just a plain piece of ivory satin as my photo backdrop:



I switched after a bit, to a piece of white on white embroidered fabric:



But the white washed out a lot of my pieces. I started mixing things up by using a slate tile, for texture and depth:





Then I started mixing in different pieces of scrapbook paper, for color contrast:





I made an earring stand from some base metal wire and a stolen smidge of my daughter's Play-Doh:



And I got a necklace form to try to showcase a little better how the pieces would look when worn:





Because being able to coordinate with my husband to have him take pictures with me modeling pieces doesn't happen all that often:



But my favorite images have come about when I added something else into the picture:





Now that's not to say that a plain background can't still make for a stunning shot:



But mix it up! Have different backgrounds, move the piece around in different positions, take shots from different angles, or on necklace forms or draped over different props:







Don't be afraid to retake pictures, especially of older stock. Your eye's changed since you took the first set, I assure you. I go through phases where I pick one category and rework all the pictures for those pieces, and it usually does result in a spate of sales. It's a lot of effort, but it does pay off.



~