07 January 2009

103. I Put on Lip Gloss and Blow-Dried My Hair

Come on now, it's a start.  Baby steps.  This time it's a carrot in my hand, not a pretzel.  :)  And I'm sitting on my son's chair.

The shirt is my ruffled collar tuxedo shirt refashion from last summer.  I wore it once in August and felt like the high collar was strangling me in the sweltering heat.  In early January, it feels A-O-K.  Really, I wasn't trying to capture any detail here, just wanted to get more comfortable in front of the camera and get a little more experience with the camera remote.  But if you care to share any observations or ideas about how to improve these shots, do let me know.

Speaking of taking photos, OnePrettyThing posted a link to Craftblog in Australia yesterday -- an article on taking photos of items for sale, i.e. for an Etsy shop.  Several of the tips are good for me to read as a sewist, such as being extra-careful about lighting and always using natural sunlight to show the product's colors as accurately as possible.  

Tina at Glam.Spoon mentioned in a recent comment that good photos are the key to good blogs and good etsy shops.  Interestingly, it seems that some very popular independent designers sell clothes because of their choices in photos and styling, and not nearly so much because their clothes are interesting, innovative, original, or fashion-forward.  I totally find myself drawn to some misses wear designers almost exclusively because of how they sell me their product!  Photos are the key...  

7 comments:

  1. Genius photography is exactly why so many Japanese dress pattern sewing books sell! OK. I care to share . . . Photo #1 on far left has a couple of DON'Ts you might want to consider. Ummm... try not to sit with your bottom on the edge, legs out and wearing fitted pants. It might work with black pants though. With light grey plus bright light, the wrinkles are accentuated where they are not flattering. Keep the shine away from your forehead. Photos #2 and #3 are much better, if only you were a little more coy. The whites of your eyes stood out too much.

    It's not my habit to be critical of photos. Of writing, yes. A habit since college. I'm not saying that I'm good at it, nor am I any good at critiquing photos. But you asked . . . and I tried to be helpful!

    You may tell me, "Go, rip a seam, Diana." Okay, okay. And I'll back off, so we can stay as blog buddies.

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  2. Thanks for your comment on my new coat. I tried specifically to take photos that would show off the seams, exactly because I too found them really interesting!
    I also loved reading that guide to better photos, thanks for the link. It's really frustrating tying to take good pictures, as there are always so many things to consider, but blogging actually forced me learn most of these things by trying, failing and trying again.
    Good luck with your resolutions, but I see you are doing quite a good job already!

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  3. Oh wow do I agree about the photo thing. & in winter, without a light box, you better believe I list fewer items because I can't get decent photos except on weekends.

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  4. Diana, really good point about the Japanese books. I have a few of those and was def. drawn in by the photos. The patterns don't seem complicated. BTW, maybe we should try a sew-along for pants from one of these books? Yes, blog buddies always, pinky shake on that. :) Thanks for the suggestions on the pictures. I can pay more attention before the shot to everything you mentioned, but the enormous shiny forehead is part of the package and must be photoshopped out. LOL

    Lopi, you always take good photos. I have to somehow capture that youthful "I don't know how gorgeous I am" vibe that you so effortlessly pull off. Maybe I had it 10 years ago?

    Ambika, where do you live? I have seen blogs that don't post a lot of winter photos b/c of lack of light. Not a problem here in Texas. Instead, we don't want to go outside in summer to take photos or else we'll sweat too much. Talk about shiny foreheads...

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  6. I like # 3 on the far right. nice relaxed face, casual pose. lighting could be better but that's hard to control. And this is totally my quirk when it comes to photos - I prefer the subject to be off center somehow, and include something interesting about the background. but you are definitely doing a great job of coaxing your inner model. :)

    by the way... the good news is, I sell more at the boutiques than I do on etsy, which means that maybe seeing the innovative, original, fashion forward piece in person is way better than looking at a photo.

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  7. Hi Clevergirl, I just noticed that you signed up to follow my blog this afternoon. THANKS! I really like your blog, its so fresh and young! I'm not much into photography, but I really like your middle picture - looks like you are deep in thought.

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