dear Latin@ team members:
a couple weeks ago i e-mailed a few esty sellers whose photos i really admire. i asked for advice on taking attractive, crisp photos. among those who responded is our team member NuevaEspana & her advice is below:
"It took some trial and error but my pictures are finally getting to where I'm happy with most of them. I checked the sizes of several of them and they are mostly 1800 x 1400 pixels. I'm afraid that more than talent it takes a really good camera to get the kind of pictures that really pop. I use my Nikon L100, that I had for the past 3 years or so and I love it. There's really good tips in this article on the Etsy blog about Photoshop (my software of choice)
http://www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/shop-makeover-before-and-after-with-photoshop-11552/ "
i also received the below great advice from EstyloJewelry:
"I normally try to take my pictures with daylight and in a small light box/tent (you can get them for less than $30 on ebay/amazon). But many times I get home too late and need to use a lamp, just make sure to use a white daylight bulb. The size of my pictures are around 2MB. I choose that option on my camera and they normally turn out a little smaller. I then use Picasa to edit them a little bit. Also very important that you use your macro function and never flash. Just lay down your jewelry in a nice, sexy way and get as close as you can with your camera. Then also take a few pictures from different angles and from further to take the whole thing in one of the pictures. I normally have to take a lot of pictures and then discard the ones that are not as nice. I like using white background since it's easy to use and it makes the items look clean and also doesn't change the color of the jewelry. My best advise is:
- Get good light
- define on one or two backgrounds
- use a camera with good macro function
- practice, practice, practice
I've taken thousands of pictures and I still find that I need to improve my pictures. Just be patient and keep trying!"
here are some suggestions from raghousenternational:
"Thank you so much on the compliments on my shop. I'm a professional photographer and use canon slr camera. My photos come out very very large, so I have to size them down. I always make sure that the width of the photo is 1000pxl. I let the height be whatever it's going to be, as long as the width is 1000pxl. Most photos when uploaded are 72dpi, that is the resolution. Some people can set their camera to automatic settings so that when the photos are uploaded they are automatically 300dpi. I change my photos from 72 to 230 resolution. Hope this helps!"
and one of our team leaders, Walls2Canvas, advised the following:
"For pics i try to wait for the best light, which is an hour before sunset, but it depends on how the sunlight hits your background. Definitely no flash! ...Have you participated in the live Etsy "vitual chat"? they talk about photog a lot there -- maybe you should sit in on a newbie session. They do give shop critiques & what they want is artsy photos."
Hope these bits of advice are helpful and please feel free to add your suggestions/tips/tricks on getting the best photos of your items!
Crystal
