One of my biggest challenges in being a jewelry artist has been in the photography department. If I lived in a world where I was happy doing a few great shows a year (Patchwork, Uptown Village Market, etc), I'd be fine with my lack of photography skills. But, I want an active Etsy site. I want a beautiful blog. I want to show off my adventures in creativity. That's difficult to do without good photography skills.
I've read tutorials. I've experimented with my D60 and it's various lenses. I've set up light boxes and experimented outdoors. I still take awful jewelry pictures!
Now, I have a decent eye for composition. Years of art history critical thinking taught me well in that department. It's the technical stuff that gets me every time. So, bear with me as I experiment with things. I hope one day I will turn some magic corner and suddenly "get it" but that day hasn't magically appeared yet. Meanwhile, that critical eye is really doing it's job!
Too shiny!
Washed out
Unfortunate reflections.
No depth.
Maybe I should just name my pieces after my photo criticism. :)
So, here's a pile of new pieces. One day soon, I will photograph them in a way that will make me drool over them. There really are some pretty pieces here!
Thank GOODNESS there are 4 great shows coming up where my work can be seen in person.
Long Beach - November 6th
Culver City (NEW!!!) - November 13th
Santa Ana - November 27th
and
December 2nd and 3rd.
I'll be back with more bad pics very soon!
Lisa
Most of them seem to be over-exposed, though I haven't looked terribly closely, and it's sure easy to do.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what kind of thing you could drape them over, rather than have them lie flat. An artificial neck, so to speak. I wonder if that would help. Or hanging?
Good luck! Photography is loads of fun, but it can also be very frustrating.
A glance at etsy's jewelry vendors suggests a million ways to photograph these, with different lighting/focus/background/orientations galore. Copycatting your favorites may help. Good luck, closeups are a pain.
ReplyDelete