Crafting Your Business--Better Photos, Pt.2

In this part of the Ineffectual Photographer's Guide to Possibly Somewhat Better Photographs :) , I want to talk a bit about the details. A shot that shows the whole item (whether it's a book, or other craft item) gives the viewer some information about what the item looks like, but it doesn't tell them the whole story. After all, when they are buying online, they can't pick up the item to look at it carefully and see all the wonderful details that make it uniquely handmade.

So, before you take photos, look carefully at your item. What features make it uniquely beautiful, or interesting, or useful? Those are the things that would interest a potential buyer, and you should highlight them in your photos.

In the case of the book pictured here, the unique features that I want to highlight are the stitching along the spine, and the hand-torn writing/sketching paper. Those things aren't as noticeable in the picture above, so I did a close-up shot, so the viewer can get a better look at those details. You may want to do several close-ups to capture everything important.

Another advantage of using close-up shots is that it gives variety to your photos. Instead of four shots taken from the same distance, you can use a combination of distance and close-up shots to make your website or Etsy shop more interesting.

When you are getting ready to take photos of your work, it might be helpful to write down a list of features you want to highlight--it can save time. You can also use the crop feature in Photoshop, Picasa or other photo editing software to get the close-ups you want.