PHOTOGRAPHY LIGHTBOX
I thought it would be a great blog post today to show you what on earth has been keeping me so busy that I have neglected my Blog..... No Excuse, mind you, but I was having so much fun creating "unique handmade treasures for your pleasure" to start selling on Etsy, soon. Watch this space!
My latest project has had me creating beautiful unique handmade cards, as seen in the images, and preparing them for marketing. For the purpose of marketing, I needed good stock photography, but the lighting in my home constantly caused many issues. Why? Well, I have so many large windows, producing far too much light and casting shadows throughout the day and outside is way too bright and mostly windy. Leaving me with only one choice.
My solution a Lightbox, but Lightboxes are so expensive :-( and this lead me to do some research, which is when I discovered:
The Lightbox they shared was so easy to make for my intended purpose of photographing cards. I made it so quickly though, that it is not perfect, however, I will make another, neater version when I make my next project, which will be to a make a bigger one to photograph my Mixed Media Crafts.
The Tools needed to produce these images where the Lightbox, my Nikon D3100 with a Tamron 16-300mm lens and tripod, different backgrounds and of course the cards. For the backgrounds I used beautifully designed serviettes, (I have collected so many for creating Mixed Media Projects) different coloured papers (who doesn't have enough of those) and even some prepared canvas (for future artwork). A handy tip is to attach your papers with Washi tape and let the papers drape to form a curve. This way your photos will have a seamless background and a white background will give the image an illusion of floating.
I mostly shot with the Macro setting and no flash, as I sat with my back to a large window. As the sun moved overhead, I had to beware of shadows that my body created, but that was easy enough to rectify by just moving to the side. I used a LED strip light attached to the top of the tin foil, (reflects the light) creating an even light on the cards and no additional shadows to contend with. The Result: These stunning images which I will be proud to showcase for my products on Etsy.
Next step: Cards photographed (check). Produce packaging for them (not checked). Etsy store is set up and almost ready to go live (check). I have registered with a Courier Company (check).
I must admit that I am becoming both very nervous and excited to start my next chapter, which has taken me forever..... And the reason why I'm ACTUALLY starting will be in my next Blog Post: I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson Stanfield The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion
