Crafters Guide Taking Great Photos BLAD

8/7/2019 Crafters Guide Taking Great Photos BLAD

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The Best Techniques for Showcasing Your Handmade Creations

Heidi Adnum

THE CRAFTERS GUIDE TO

TAKING GREAT

PHOTOS

ADVICEfor

CRAFTERSfrom

CRAFTERS


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G E T T I N G S T A R T E D | H o w To T e l l Yo u r S t o r y2

NEUTRAL BACKGROUNDS

If you are in any doubt as to which background

will best suit your product, always go for a simple,

neutral one. Neutral backgrounds look very refined

and professional and will suit every product. They

can be any shade of white, black, or gray and are

easily foundwalls, fabrics, paper . . . even a slateblackboard will do.

White backgrounds are perfect for a minimalist

effect and even white or pale products look great

on a white background. The effect is very airy, crisp,

and clean; stylists often employ it to convey high

quality and modern simplicity.

The best way to use black is to choose an almost-

black background, like charcoal or dark gray(see image 2). Darker backgrounds create more

of a mood, so suit strong, bold products best.

It is essential to use soft lighting to show the

texture of your product against the background.

SHOOTING IN SITU

An in situ background is a superb choice when

you want to inspire customers and suggest ways in

which to use your product. Choose locations in and

around your home and garden that show scale

and size accurately. In situ backgrounds can provide

the perfect contrast to your product and show allof the elements of a story as well (see image 3).

TEXTURED BACKGROUNDS

Textured backgrounds, such as wood, bricks,

fabric, and paper, are a real treat to work with and

can complement your product nicely. Textured

backgrounds will also fall into one of the other

categories, for example, a charcoal-colored brick

wall is a textured and neutral background. Likeother backgrounds, though, textures must not

be the first thing your customers see, so only use

textures if youre confident your product can

compete (see images 1 and 4).

Backgrounds can be wonderfully simple and easy to work

with and the right background has the potential to ensure

your product is the rst thing people notice when they look

at your photograph. Once youve found the right background,

stick with it. This creates cohesion and encourages people

to browse your product range.

Most backgrounds fall into at least one of the following ve

categories: neutral, colored, textured, patterned, orin situ.

1

Choosing Backgrounds


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[ 1 ] Robins egg magnetsKodak EasyShare C743

1/25 sec, f/2.7, ISO 160, 6mm

Jennifer Arndt

[ 2 ] Heart necklaceSony Cyber-Shot DSC-H3

1/40 sec, f/3.5, ISO 250, 6.3mm

Lauren Haupt

[ 3 ] Recycled wood signPanasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

1/40 sec, f/2.2, ISO 400, 28mm

Oh Dier

[ 4 ] Recycled wood sharkKodak EasyShare C813

1/60 sec, f/2.7, ISO 120, 6mm

John Birdsong

2

3

4

If youre unhappy with the color

of your wall, or its too dull, then

why not change it? Paint a section

of the wall (you can always repaint

it to its original color). Or, if that

isnt possible, paint a piece of MDF

and slide it into the background.

G E T T I N G S T A R T E D | H o w To T e l l Yo u r S t o r y 3


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A light tent is also known as a mini-studio. Light enters the box from the top

and bounces around inside the box to fall onto your product from many angles.

The white background is completely neutral and, subsequently, all focus is placed

on the product.

MAKING A LIGHT TENT

As a crafter, youll be delighted to know that

while camera equipment manufacturers make

and sell light tents for a range of prices, you can

easily make one at home out of a cardboard box

and tracing paper. All you need is:

a square cardboard box

(at least 1ft/30cm sq);

semitransparent white paper such as

tracing paper or baking parchment;

a roll of thick white paper;

scissors and tape; and

a light source (lamp, ash, or window).

1. Place the box with the open end facing you

and cut out the side and top panels, leaving

the back and base intact.

2. Tape your semitransparent white paper over

the side and top panels.

3. Tape a sheet of thick white paper to the

top of the back of the box and drape it out

toward you. This is called a runway.

4. Your tent is now ready to be placed near

a light source such as a window, or outside.

You can also bring light into the tent, in theform of a lamp or ash.

5. Place your product inside the tent so it is

contained within the three papered walls

and shoot.

LIGHTING THE LIGHT TENT

Identify the direction from which the light

enters the tent. If your light source is stacked

to one side, you will notice that the opposite

side is slightly darker. To allow more light into

the tent, point it toward another light source

such as a window. If you find that the light is

still not bright enough inside your light tent,

consider making an even larger one. Small

tents dont allow the light to bounce around

as much as larger ones do.

DIY Light Tent Tutorial


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3

5

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G E T T I N G S T A R T E D | D I Y A c c e s s o r i e s

Ceramic milk jugCanon EOS 50D

1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 100, 50mm,

flash triggered by radio

Heidi Adnum

WHEN TO USE A LIGHT TENTSmall products that can be

overpowered by strong light and

strong shadows look great when

photographed in light tents. Examples

include accessories, jewelry, and small

toys. Products with lots of detail orcolor look great in a light tent, too, as,

with no surrounding distractions, the

product stands alone.


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ROTATION, CROPPING & STRAIGHTENING

These techniques remove distractions and unnecessary details such as pointless

objects in the background. You can crop to show all of your product or just one part

of it, which is a great way to generate interest in your photograph or focus in on the

action or energy in it. This tutorial has been created using Photoshop Elements,

a less expensive, pared-back version of Photoshop.

[ 1 ] Before you do anything, always createa duplicate layer so that you have your original

image backed up if things go wrong. Make sure

youre on the layer you wish to duplicate (it will

show blue) and then go to Layer > Duplicate

Layer. Now turn off your orginal layer by clicking

on the eye icon next to it.

Editing Essentials Tutorial

[ 2 ] To rotate your image, first go to Image >Rotate. Choose which way you want to ip

the image. You can also manually rotate

an image. Make sure youre on the correct

image layer, then go to Image > Transform >

Free Rotate Layer. Use your cursor to move

the image. When youre happy with its new

position, press Enter.


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[ 3 ] Now select the Crop tool. In both

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, this is the

frame-shaped tool usually found on the left-

hand vertical toolbar. Drag your mouse over

the image to make it the size you want. Drag

the corners until youre sure the size is right,then hit Enter. You can also crop in a ratio that

best fits the website on which the photograph

will be published by adding a Restraint, for

example, 2 3, 4 5, etc. Find the Restraint

option on the top toolbar.

[ 4 ] The Straighten tool can be used to

straighten a tilted image or to tilt an already

straight image. Using the Crop tool, drag yourmouse over the image to make it the size

you want. Now hover the mouse at one of

the corners of the box until the cursor arrow

becomes a curved arrow. Drag at the corner

to make the image tilt in the direction you

want it to.

USING RAW IMAGES

If your camera allows for shooting in RAW

format, then you should try it out. When you

take photographs in RAW mode, you are

instructing the camera to save the image

les in their original and uncompressed

format. The les will be larger, so you will t

fewer images on your memory card than for

JPEGs, but RAW les give you more exibility

when it comes to editing the image. When a

RAW le is opened in Photoshop Elements,

the Adobe Camera RAW editing box appears.

You will see the options to make the same,

but more detailed edits.


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CONTENTSIntroduction

I GETTING STARTED1: Camera basics2: How to tell your story3: DIY accessories

IIPHOTO FUNDAMENTALSEquipment advice, Camera settings,

Composition & styling, Common

problems & FAQs, Practitioner spotlight

4: Fashion & fabrics5: Bags, purses & accessories6: Knitting & needlecraft7: Jewelry8: Dolls & toys9: Ceramics & pottery10: Art

11: Books, magazines & stationery12: Home accessories

IIIFINISHING UP &GETTING IT OUT THERE

13 : Postproduction14 : Image storage & backup15 : Business advice

Contributor indexGlossaryIndex

Acknowledgments

Sell more of your handmadeitems with better photographs

Amidst the sea of handmade jewelry, apparel, house-

wares, art, and other crafts that populate blogs, websites,

and online marketplaces, how do you make your items

stand out? The key is great photography.

Beautiful handmade items can be undermined by poor

or uninspired images that fail to represent their detail

and craftsmanship. With The Crafters Guide to Taking

Great Photos, youll learn that you dont need expensive

professional equipment to get quality results. Get simple,

practical advice presented with the crafter in mind.Learn to make a lightbox, avoid camera shake without a

tripod, how to use natural lighting, and how to capture

the detail in your work. Broken down into specic craft

areas, youll nd tips on how to best generate eye-

catching images that will help sell your items.

Boost your online crafting business with The Crafters

Guide to Taking Great Photos.

Flexibound

6.7 8.7, 192 pages

ISBN 978-1-59668-626-7

$24.95

Available November 2011

HEIDI ADNUMis a crafter and professional photographerwho lives and works in London. She has two shops on Etsy;

heidiadnum and hellodarlingvintage. She also runs the photo-

graphy and inspiration blog La Isla Blogitaand authored the

popular how-to photography tips series on Etsy Photography

Tips with Heidi Adnum.

Documents

Crafters Guide Taking Great Photos BLAD