Taking Product Pictures, Part 1: The Shoot

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I’ve missed you all! I hope your Mother’s Day was as lovely as mine, and I hope you aren’t still hobbled by that half marathon you should have trained for like me! Let’s get back into the swing of things, shall we?

I’ve done my fair share of product photo shoots over the past eight months, so I thought I’d share the setup that’s working the best for me now.  In the next two parts of this little series I’ll give you my editing process and tips for streamlining your photo shoots.

 

 

For a long time I took my pictures in my sewing room.  Although it’s the most convenient, it certainly isn’t the best for light (the orange walls don’t help). I finally noticed that the big bay windows in our kitchen let in really nice light in the mornings, mostly due to the filtering effect of those sheer curtains.

 

 

I like to use an all-white background for my pictures because my fabrics are so colorful.  I use a big white project board (the kind we all used for science fair projects) as my background, and I keep a big piece of white felt on hand to lay across the table.  You can see the project board is kind of tucked into our light fixture – it just barely fits. 

I don’t turn that overhead light on because it gives the pictures a yellowish tint; I just rely on good ol’ sunlight.  On a cloudier day I set up my camera on a tripod and take pictures using my remote to ensure super-crisp pictures.  If it’s a sunny day, I can usually use a fast enough shutter speed and just hold the camera while I squat down in front of the window.

 

 

For the pictures of products lying flat (like this bib and this changing pad – the picture of it opened up), I lay that big piece of felt on the floor and take my pictures from above.  I used to put everything on the table, then stand on a chair and risk my neck by leaning in strange angles to get the best shot.  We live and we learn, right?

Once I have all my pictures taken, I sit down after the kids go to bed and tackle editing them in Photoshop Elements.  We’ll get to that next time!

In case you’re interested in the specifics, I shoot with a Nikon D40, which I looooove.  If I need a flash I use my SB600 Speedlight or O-Flash.  My tripod is just an inexpensive collapsible one and my remote was a ridiculously cheap one the hubs found on Ebay.  And just an FYI – those are affiliate links.

Reason #1 to Not Give the 3-Year-Old the Camera

Tweet In the excitement of the craft show recap, I almost forgot to tell you guys some good news!  Before I left for the show Saturday, I got an email from a big blog (like SUPER big) asking to link to my fancy burp cloth tutorial.  I think it will be sometime next month, so I'll be sure to post about it, probably repeatedly so I can bask in my almost-fame.  The best part is I didn't even submit anything - they found me somehow, which is just crazy.

I got some product pictures taken this morning thanks to the sucker-bribery technique.  So cute, right?

However, my little monster has decided if I'm taking pictures of her, she's taking pictures of me.  Evidently this is what I look like when someone says, "Look at me, mommy.  Now make a monkey face and think about butterflies."

One part I really liked about the show Saturday is that people gave me lots of product suggestions.  I've got a few things in the works that I'll share with y'all soon.  I have to squeeze in loads of sewing time because (maybe stupidly) I've decided to do the Ben Davis Homespun Holidays show Thanksgiving weekend.  The people in the Etsy forums with all their enthusiasm pushed me over the edge, so I'm sending in the application tomorrow!

It makes me a little nervous to commit to another show when I just did my first one, but I figure it can't hurt.  I've been working on getting my stuff in to some more local stores, so what will probably happen is I'll get a ton of wholesale orders, sell everything at the Irvington Halloween Festival, and have to replenish it all for Homespun Holidays.  Gee, that would be a TERRIBLE problem to have!

Open Up Shop?

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I know it seems like you just heard this whole song and dance about a month ago, but I have a super busy week this week!  Again, a kiddo's birthday party (a space theme - that's the back of the invitation) and craft night fall a few days apart, and again, I have stuff to sew for the Irvington Iris Tea Room.  You'd think I could spread this stuff out, right?

I am throwing around the idea of going ahead and opening up the Etsy store sometime this week.  According to Google Analytics, the blog has had around 850 visitors and 1200 page views over the past month or so.  While this is kinda unbelievable to me (in a good way!), I really feel like I missed some exposure by not opening the shop earlier.  Also, my empty shop has had 180 views and I'm sure only about 100 of those were my mom.  But realistically, is opening the shop a week and a half early even going to matter?

As a side note, if you have a new blog, try and get featured on a big blog.  I have no doubt in my mind that this mad surge in blog visitors is due to one link on One Pretty Thing.  I have GOT to find a way to get on more blogs if this is the result!

My big hurdle to opening the shop is the product pictures.  I think I mentioned this before, but on Etsy you can post up to five pictures with each listing.  I currently have 80-ish items made, which means FOUR HUNDRED pictures.  It makes me throw up a little just to think of that number and I really like photography.  I had yet another photo shoot on my kitchen table on Sunday and I'm still not thrilled with the results.  It was kind of gloomy that day and I think I just didn't have enough natural light.  Here's the most recent setup - it's one of those big cardboard science-fair poster things set up in my bay window.

I think I probably just need to use the darn pictures and stop being so picky.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!  I bought a domain name - bobalookids.com is now mine!  Right now it redirects to this blog.  I followed this advice and it worked like a charm.  I'll post more about it soon!

Fans and a Photo Shoot

Tweet I don't know about you, but the heat here in the Midwest is making me so sloooooow.  I haven't been to the gym in a week (so much for that half-marathon training), I can't seem to do a lick of laundry, and there's no way I'm taking the kids outside.  The heat is supposed to get a little better today so I'm looking forward to eating far too much Fair food tonight with the family and not worrying that the kids are going to melt into little puddles of Cheerios and sunscreen the minute we step out the door.

So my Facebook page is up and running!  There's a button to Like my page on the left sidebar and you should definitely go check it out.  As of this morning I have 23 fans, which excites me to no end - there are even a couple non-friends and family fans!  I'm sure I need to do something to get some more Facebook love.  I'm thinking about offering a discount to Facebook fans once the shop opens, or maybe a special preview of the shop just for those people?  Hmmm...

Kenny persuaded me to shoot a bunch of product pictures yesterday while he wrangled the kids so I have a little Facebook product catalog started.  We have these long, low white storage benches in our pool room/sewing room/office that I used for the pictures.  I just draped a piece of cotton batting on the bench and set up my camera on a tripod in front of it.  I'm not 100% happy with it - it's a huge hassle to squat down in front of the camera (probably more of a pain since I haven't been to the gym in a week) and I feel like it may not be professional enough.

I do love that orange background even though it seems to get pretty muddy when I upload the pictures to Facebook.   I edited the pictures in Photoshop and used the "save for web" option to save them as a smaller jpeg so they wouldn't take too long to load, but I'm afraid it may have compromised picture quality too much.  I'm wondering if maybe Facebook compresses the pictures and that's the problem?  I'll have to wait and see how they look on Etsy.

Etsy allows you five pictures per item and I just have no clue what those five pictures will be for every item.  I think I need to take some "in action" shots, so I'll probably try to get my nieces and nephew to model a few things for me.  I'm also considering buying a child-size mannequin.  They're only about $30 on Ebay and I think one would come in handy for both product pictures and for a display at craft fairs.

Speaking of craft fairs, I'm starting to freak out about the one at the end of September.  I have about 50 items in my inventory and I'm 100% that is not nearly enough.  I need to arrange a sitter for a couple days here and there before then so I can have some uninterrupted work time.  Our gym does a Parent's Day Out a couple times a month where the kids can go and play for a couple hours - I'll definitely be taking advantage of that on Friday.  But for now, I have an important tea party waiting for me in the living room.  Happy Monday everyone!