Between cleaning cream cheese smears off the cabinets, scrubbing marker off the walls, and managing daily home life chaos, I have been thinking about photography: namely, my photos in
my Etsy shop. Quite frankly, photos are everything on a site like Etsy. Your photos need to be clear, well-lit, creative, and capture a potential buyer's eye in a second. I have the clear and well-lit part down...but creative? Not really. A smart use of props would help in that department, but, I'll admit, the idea gets my brain all frazzled. Currently, my backgrounds are paper, mostly gray tones....safe and consistent (read: boring and unimaginative).
So, I am on a bit of a quest to include props in my photos: a quest to bring life to my work: a quest to develop a bit of a storyline. Honestly, my head spins thinking of all the possibilities: rocks, gravel, rusted tools, shiny tools, fabric, thimbles, eggshells, nails. In the meantime, I would love to share some of the best (of course, this is my opinion only) prop usage and photos from Etsy.
Above is a photo from Metalsgirl's Etsy shop. Shop owner Laura has a several listing using models as props...fitting, right? The photos depicted wildly vibrant jewelry on, what I deem to be, very hip, edgy, sassy women. Photo credits go to Casey Woods...in Laura's words "her awesome photographer"!
In this photo, I adore the juxtaposition of the stark white background against the model's bronzed skin. Then, there is the pop from the vibrant pendant's displayed on her neck. Excellent use of a model!
Kathi Roussel employs odd little knick-knacks in many of her photos. This
ring is clearly the focus, but there more: a worn, pink miniature bed...sans the mattress, a blurred background of a hot pink boa, perhaps? My attention immediately focuses on the ring, but I want to know more. What's the story with this little bed? Why a flash of pink in the background? Her photos are sweetly mysterious and, when viewed together in her shop, work wonderfully together!
Another Kathi Roussel
creation...anyone else interested in what is going on beyond that settee?
Littleput Land's Scrabble tile
pendants are all photographed and propped identically. Rock, moss, pendant, rock, moss, pendant. Together on the page, the repetition translates to calmness, much like a zen garden. Ahhh. (ps...photo creds go to Joy of
Ribsmalone!!)
Annie from
Imogene and Annie photographs many of her pieces on book pages. In the
photo above, I love how the crisp text and illustration compliments her pierced designs. Romantic with a slight pinch of playfulness.
One of my favorite
photos and listings on Etsy. The balance of lighting, props, and pendant drew me in at once. I clicked and discovered even more charming photos in the listing!!
Lastly, this is one of my latest creations. I grabbed this miniature pitcher from my grandmother's collection and popped it into this photo. I'm liking this little splash of color, but I'm not convinced that mini pitchers will be my props for future photography sessions! Do you have any prop ideas for Quench's photos?? I will gladly accept all suggestions and comments!!! Thanks in advance!!
Hot off the Quench bench!! A friend commissioned this pendant a while back. Oxidized sterling silver, hollow formed and riveted, 3 bezel set diamonds, and bits and pieces from my scrap bin (sort of grunge meets steampunk...would it be called grunpunk or steamunge?).
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I've been tweaking, fluffing, and virtually dusting the shop this week. I reshot a bunch of items with efforts to creating more visually appealing listings and to change the background color to gray on many items. I still would like to add props...but what? Wooden spools, stones, rusty washers, dioramas, sewing notions? The challenge is to commit to a theme/ or story with my work. ~sigh~ Not an easy task as my work embodies vastly differently expressions from my life's journeys. Perhaps a road map or chart would be in order....hmmm.
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