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One that worked out in the end...I think!
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Earlier this week I was feeling a little disheartened. While I love what I do, with my craft, my online shop and this blog, there are a few sides to it that are quite challenging for me. One particular side being the photography of my handmade products. And really, what is an online shop without awesome product photos? My customers cannot pick up the items, turn them over or feel them, and so they need to be able to see the detail in the photos, to help them imagine what they feel like, and see the real colours and textures. But with some of my products this can be really hard to achieve.
I am not in any way a photographer, I have never been taught how to take photos, and I don't know a lot about the many functions my wonderful camera is capable of performing. The camera was bought by my husband a few years ago, and I had barely picked it up before I started selling on Etsy. And then, all of a sudden, I needed to know as much as I could about taking great photos. But I also needed to learn what I could about Etsy...and Blogger...and flickr...and pinterest...and oh my goodness!! AND not forgetting the most important thing I needed to spend time on - MAKING THINGS...or there would be nothing to photograph anyway!
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| I like this pic, and have used it on Etsy, but it is still lacking in colour and detail |
So even now, after 10 months, I still haven't learnt a lot about the camera or photography. I am busy with making and blogging and trying to keep up with all other things 'online', and what I want is to be able to set the camera to auto, point and shoot, and instantly get the shot I want, without having to edit! (Surely that is not too much to ask!) Sometimes it actually does work, because some of my photos turn out great and I am happy with them first go. But others just won't turn out no matter what I try, and this gets me down, as I feel that this is what it's all about.
Earlier this week I was struggling to get any decent photos of some of my gift tags, and my fold up tote bags. I tried over and over again to achieve clear detailed photos, but it just wasn't working. So I took a break, from the photography and most of the 'online' stuff I do, and just spent a couple of days hanging out with Miss A, playing toys with her, and doing kids craft. I came back to my own crafting with a simple project - a card for our friend's new baby boy.
Taking photos for Blogger is so much easier as the photos can be more natural.
Miss A and I made cute wrapping paper for Baby's present. And a gift tag to match. How cute is the elephant?
And then after all of this I had another go at the photos for Etsy....and lo and behold....they turned out ok! Obviously still not as good as what I could achieve if I took the time to learn more, but they are photos that I can be happy with. I think with any creative project that isn't working out, putting it aside for a time, having a change of scenery, maybe working on another less complicated project, and returning with a clear mind, can really help. I still think the photography is going to challenge me for a while to come yet though!
What do you do if a project isn't working out?
Are you an Etsy shopper, or do you take photos for an online shop?
Are photos 'everything'?
