Photoshoot!

[Former_Member]

I am just so very excited at how this shoot came out! There's a whole bunch more photos to go through, but this is a sample and I love it so that i just can't wait to share.

Do you guys ever do professional shoots? I don't usually, but I feel like I end up getting a whole lot of attention from the ones I do. Maybe I should do them more often? I don't know.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150700963965735.397854.189438320734&type=3

[Former_Member]

The photos are beautiful! I wouldn't even know who to contact for a professional shoot, but after seeing yours, I'd love to give it a try :)

[Former_Member]

Thanks! Honestly, I wouldn't know, either- all of mine have been arranged by other people- so far, mostly the photographers themselves approaching me, though there's an upcoming one that's in the hands of the model (she's good).

[Former_Member]

That's fantastic ;)

We're working with a couple of folks at the moment and have a shoot set up in Whitby this halloween. It's always nice to see someone elses take on what you do, plus extra promotion for everyone. Our problem is that we're in the UK and most of the requests we get to borrow items come from America which means taking things off sale for months potentially.

[Former_Member]

that's funny! Most of my requests come from France, and I've even had a couple from England. Perhaps the lure of the difficult? Who knows. If I get any more from the UK, I'll drop them your link.

[artisanmaskers]

The shoot went extremely well, I'd say! Those pictures are a great mix of impressive and whimsy (just like your masks!), so I think they fit your shop very well. :)

We've only ever done an exchange with one photographer (I made her a couple of masks and she took photos of several others for us in return). It was a good experience, but I've found it's not generally worth it for us. Our masks are all one of a kind and also fairly inexpensive, so they turnover quickly enough that the awesome pictures often don't make enough difference to be worth all the shipping/unlisting hassle. (I know that it's VERY effective for some mask-makers, though... TomBanwell, anyone!?) That being said, because I have some photography experience, we started doing our own shoots and have borrowed some things from other Etsy vendors to make them more awesome. :) Good pictures do make a difference in shop traffic, which can lead to eventual sales, so I think it's worth it to most people to at least give it a try once or twice to see.

[Former_Member]

mine are one of a kind, too, and for all the reasons you stated, I generally shoot all my photos myself, but I find that these occasional shoots are great for marketing/banners/etc. This one, in particular, has been really great at generating conversations with customers/stockists/stylists. We'll see if it ends up playing out into actual money.

[artisanmaskers]

*fingers crossed* for you!!! It's certainly turned out some great and VERY marketable shots!

[Former_Member]

Thankyou Kest, that's very kind of you :)

fingers crossed for the elusive actual money :)

[Former_Member]

thank you both! We'll see ;)

[beadmask]

Kest, your new photos are really nice and I think they help to draw people in more. As Karen (or Rich?) stated, it's pretty cool to see someone else's take on what you do. Others often have the distance/objectivity to see and present our work in new and exciting ways.

Photography isn't my strong suit, but I can't afford to hire a pro photographer. I recently put out a call on my FB fan page asking if anyone might be willing to do photos for trade, and received 3 replies. There were pros and cons with each one, and the costs varied greatly; but overall, I'm very happy with each interaction. ALL of the photos are nicer than I could have done, I learned quite a bit from each shoot, and made some new friends as a bonus :)

Just throwing that out there as another possibility for those who might be interested in trying to do photoshoots. Obviously there are some inherent risks with this approach, but I had good luck with it.