I’ve been spending a lot of time with my photos for Etsy. Cutting each bracelet out in photoshop, from each angle mind you, that equals five separate pictures. Then creating a background etc. I feel like I spend as much time with the pictures as making the actual piece.
Many people have pieces that lend themselves to soft backgrounds or they are just great at picture taking. I want to clay…..not spend hours trying to get ready to sell.
I had this digital collage that I worked on awhile back and it was back and white checks with the saying , “treat me no differently than you would the queen” When I made my “Alice in Wonderland” bracelet, I thought of it and printed it out and used it as the background.
I thought it really worked for this bracelet. So I tried a piece of fabric that I had for the next bracelet that day.
And this wasn’t bad either. At least I didn’t have to spend the time preparing it for Etsy. But we’ll see how it’s accepted by my customers. Translation…will it sell????
I have a really great big book of clip art and I found some pretty neat backgrounds and will be trying some of them as well. I liked the words in the background of the “Alice” bracelet, maybe I’ll play around with that some too.
If you don’t have clip art, you can make your own background with regular copy paper and markers. I’ll be trying that too I think and I’ll let you know.
Alice you aren’t the only one spending more time on photos than actual production time. I know I struggle with it and many other do to.
I like the patterened backgrounds,
after a while the soft white gets boring.
Looking forward to what you do next as always.
I’ve found that the hardest part of selling online is getting pictures that truly show your finished piece. I’ve used different backgrounds but what I’m finding works best for me is a plain sheet of white paper and good lighting. I can then do a brightning layer — I use Paint Shop Pro but it works very similar to Photoshop — to lighten the background further if necessary. So far I’ve only done this on a tutorial that I’m working on so I don’t know how well my customers will respond to it. I like being able to use the layers function to lighten just the background without affecting the actual item. Good luck with your testing.
Hi Bonnie and Arlene, I knew I wasn’t alone and you’re both proof. I wish there were an easy answer. Arlene, you way sounds easy too. We’ll all just keep plodding along and hope our customers and see the piece and not the background. Thanks for the conversation.
It has been a while since I’ve dabbled in polymer clay and I wish I had continued after seeing your wonderful works.
I read a lot of art blogs and visit art jewelry sites and realized how much of a difference the background makes in showcasing a piece. I believe there is a fine line between competing with and allowing the art to take center stage.
Your examples here definitely do the latter and I love how you’ve incorporated the digital collage with your ‘Alice’ bracelet.
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Hi Karen, Thanks for the nice compliment, it’s appreciated. I really enjoy your blog, you share lots of artists that I would never find by myself. Glad you stopped by and I’ll be seeing you soon with One World, One Heart.
Love this bangle and its Alice theme too. Ha ha!
Lovely to meet you, I hope to pop back again soon.
Elaine
Elaine,thank you for the compliment and taking the time..look forward to talking with you.