Spring has Sprung!

Hi there!  I know it's been a while and I promise I didn't just up and vanish.  We have been busy here at GLC not only with business to do's but with the daily tasks that starting a homestead bring.  It's Spring so we have been working hard to get the garden tilled and the veggies planted, we are working on the workshop remodel (more info coming soon), and planning the chicken coop build!  Busy...Busy...Busy.
But we did get into the kitchen and make some new Spring Soaps and Candles!
But today we are going to talk photography...

For anyone trying to sell they're wares; photography is one of the most important things in your small business arsenal.  In this day of Internet shopping, Instagram, Facebook, and twitter...a good photograph can speak a thousand words...or followers.  And we love followers!

I have this beautiful wood platform that my handy father built for me to initially serve as a soap display.  It didn't work on the table as a display so I re-purposed it into a photography prop.  It took good pictures with the natural wood look, but I wondered if I could make it even better.

I took some ebony stain and applied it with a rag and immediately wiped it right off so the light wood grain would show through.



A simple project that took me literally five minuets to complete gave me a total transformation on my prop.  Now both the light and the dark colored soap stand out with this new background, and it's much more dramatic.
 The dark wood stands out and looks incredibly rustic.  I LOVE how this project turned out and can't wait to take more pictures on it.

I also played with using some botanicals as props to add interest and depth.  I don't usually add extras to my product photography.  I tend to be a minimalist..and frankly a little plain.  I have totally been missing out!  This soap was created to be a little plain, but by using botanicals I can add some interest and portray that this soap smells like Rosemary.  Bonus that it adds that rustic look to my photography that I LOVE.  I will definitely be experimenting with more props in my photography.

Now I am cheap (I'm sorry frugal), so I won't be heading out tomorrow to the local craft store to buy a bunch of props for upcoming photo sessions.  I will wait and see what I can pick from my garden.  I think the mint would be pretty fresh, and of course I have lots of dried botanicals I use every day for soapmaking.  I will keep my eye out for shells or pretty rocks at the beach, and look for stuff the next time I go junkin.

Do you use props in your product photography?
I'm sure I will find lots of Photography Inspiration on Pinterest!
Happy Soaping!





Stay tuned for more....I can't wait to show you all the workshop we have been working so hard on!  It's been a wildly fun re-purposed ride!  That's right...most of the workshop is being remodeled with re-purposed materials! I was going to wait until it was finished to do a series of blog posts...but I may give you all a sneaky peak!!!

Great Product Photography

I love taking pictures, it's one of my other most favorite hobbies...yes, I have a lot of favorite hobbies.

I have a wonderful hubby that bought me a fantastic new camera for my birthday this year, which has substantially increased my LOVE for taking pictures and photo editing. 

I thought for today's post I would share some of my tips and tricks for taking fantastic pictures.  I am no professional photographer, so please remember that these tips and tricks are just me playing around with my camera.  The products featured on this blog post are some of my soaps and candles, and Hand Built leather accessories from Huaracha Studios.  (She is amazing)

Step One:  A Light Box.  I purchased 3 sheets of the thick poster board at my local Fred Meyer for 2.99 each, then cut each of them in half.  Using four of the sheets, put together a box (a bottom, two sides, and a back) without a top or a front.  I used duct tape to hold them together, but you could use whatever works.  You could even use Velcro, and make the entire box collapsible if you wanted, mine is not.  And now you have a simple light box.  Tip #1: make sure when you assemble your box that you get the seams nice and tight so that no light can get in between the cracks, recruit a helper if you need to. 

Step Two:  Lighting.  Lighting is crucial.  Natural lighting is the best option for taking pictures.  Going outside will give you the most bang for your buck.  I take all of my pictures outside on a nice/but not too sunny day, early morning/or late afternoon.  If you have some lamps (with natural light bulbs) I'm sure you could get amazing results inside...I just prefer to use natural light.  If you are using lights, make sure you don't have any shadows, and that the light is not in your face bright.  Tip # 2 you don't want it too bright, a really sunny day, or a light that's only 12" away from your product will make your pictures turn out harsh, we are going for a nice diffused soft light. 

Picture above was taken inside with just household lamps to show you what it looks like.  Plus she used the flash.....bad girl....see step 3.

The picture left was taken outside with natural light and no flash. See the difference.

Which brings us to Step Three:  Staging/and taking pictures

#1 rule I use when taking pictures of products:  Don't ever use the flash.  Ever.  I use the macro setting on my camera when taking pictures of products (the little flower) This allows you to focus on what you want, and blur the rest if you would like.  Take your time, and take a ton of pictures from every angle possible.  The beauty of digital...you can delete them later. 

Get up close and personal on a few of the pictures, focus in on the different textures, and colors.  When customers are shopping online...they don't get to feel it, smell it, or touch it.  A great photograph can allow the customer to see the texture so well, they can imagine what it feels like to hold it or use it.  The more pictures you have of different angles and depths...the more options you have to choose from.

Staging...remember odd numbers look best.  I like to keep it simple, but this is where it really gets to be all about your own personal style.  Some people like to add props and bit of color to make a picture pop, or backdrops to add interest to your item.  I like to keep it simple, and let the product shine through.  Just like each handmade product has a little of the person who made it's personality crafted in to it, each picture has the photographers personality built right in.  Do what feels right, and try out different things.  Tip #3 don't delete a picture until you see it on your computer, sometimes they don't look good from the camera, but can be fixed in the photo editing process.

The photo on the Left was a terrible picture...the sun caught the conch on the left cuff and gave one heck of a glare.  Because of my rule of no deleting....this picture came out as one of my favorites post edit.  With a little cropping and touching up you can remove the parts that you don't like!

Step Four:  Editing

One of the other most valuable assets is a great photo editing program.  These days every new camera comes with a program, some are good, some not so much.  Of course Photoshop is the best program out there (or so I've heard), but most of us small hobbyists don't have that kind of dough to fork out (at least I don't), so photoshop pro remains on my wish list along with the ipad, laptop, and new hardrive for my good old desk top.   I received Arcsoft Media Impression with my new Panasonic DMC-FZ35 (btw..a great camera), it has proven to be a fantastic program.  There are a few things that it does not do, and it is sometimes a little on the slow side, but it is a great all around program that is super easy to use. 

When editing I fiddle around with every single photo, yes even the blurry ones, I may be able to use it in some aspect, a close up perhaps.  Now if after playing around for a while I still can't get it to look the way I want, well then I delete it, no sense keeping a crappy picture. I always begin my editing process with cropping the photo to get the shot I am looking for.  Do I want it close up, or farther away, more detailed or less.  Editing by far takes up the most amount of my time.  Then I adjust the brightness and color aspects.  More blue...more red..more light..and so on.  Get it just the way you want it.  Remember to SAVE.   Add a watermark (if desired), and you've got a fantastic photo to showcase your fantastic products!

  It's really a lot of fun to take pictures and edit them...well at least I think it is!  But if you are reading this and thinking...wow that is just way to much work for me, well then there are a ton of highly talented photographers out there that would probably LOVE to take pictures of your products.  Worried about the cost of professional pictures, well,do your homework, and talk to a variety photographers, see if you can work out a barter..goods for goods....or find yourself a new and upcoming hidden talent that wants to get their name out there, most of the time they are super affordable. 

And of course if you have any questions at all you can shoot me an email at greenladycreations@yahoo.com, or if you live in the Snohomish/Skagit county area in Washington State and are looking for someone to take product pictures, email me.  I may be able to help you, or give you the name of a few fantastic photographers in your area!

You are eyeballing all this beautiful leather...right...I know it's amazing.  Check out Huaracha Studios online at www.huarachastudios.com  her stuff is simply fantastic, plus you can see a bunch of the other photos that I took of her amazing products. 

As always, have a fantastic Day!!

Shameless rave about my favorite Photographer

Photos by Sweetpea Memories Photography

That's right, those are my adorable children, call me bias, but they are pretty darn cute.   Besides making candles and soap, one of my other favorite hobbies is photography.  I'm not as good at it as I would like to be, but I love to take pictures none the less. There are some talented photographers out there and I just love to look at all their work. 

I have recently fallen in love with a local photographer's work and wanted to tell everyone I could about her amazing abilities.  I took my kids to her for the first time in the spring of this year, and I was blown away by the quality, especially since I paid more for my son's pictures a few years ago at Target and didn't get near the quality nor did I get the amount of different poses.

Sweetpea Memories Photography is based in Burlington, Washington.  She has the cutest studio, and does a lot of outdoor shoots as well.  Shannon is a self taught photographer and has this amazing talent for capturing the personalities of each of her subjects.  She does everything from weddings, pets, to her smash the cake one year old sessions.  (yep your little one gets to get down and dirty smashing a birthday cake, and she captures it on camera, it's adorable)  Her sessions have a mix of candid and posed moments, and she is fantastic at letting the children just be themselves. 

See..that's his personality right there, and she was able to capture it on camera for me to remember always, who needs a video camera when you have such an amazing photo!

 I loved so many pictures from the photo shoot I had trouble choosing only 20 shots (that was my package).  For my package I received 40 pictures total on a CD with 20 different poses in color an black and white.  It's a very generous amount of pictures for the price. (for more about sweetpea memories pricing you can click HERE)

Isn't she talented!  So if you live in Washington (skagit/snohomish/watcom) and are looking for a friendly and talented photographer who is excellent with kids, you should definitely check her out.  She's AMAZING!

And of course my Bragging rights as a mom.....the pictures turned out even better because my kids are so darn cute!!

 

Information about Sweetpea Memories Photography:

Website: http://www.sweetpeamemories.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/SweetpeaMemoriesPhotography