Tips From A Pro – Etsy Photography Inspiration

After receiving selling tips from Renaissance Austin, an artist with a presence on both MySpace and Etsy.com, our HandmadeMarketing.org team stopped by her shop.  This sellers item photographs were some of the best we had ever seen.

We begged Renaissance to share her photography tips for handmade sellers selling online.  We were happy to hear back from this Etsy seller – and excited to share these tips with HandmadeMarketing.org readers!

“Photography is one of the most important elements on Etsy,” Renaissance told us.  “Some buyers really need to see the product from every angle possible to determine if they will purchase. Then there are more experienced online shoppers who can look at a product and get it right off without a lot of photos to explain.”

Renaissance is a professional photographer, “still growing and learning of course“.   She has been shooting for 8 years.

“When I first signed on to Etsy.com,” Renaissance tells us, “I just had a vision for how I wanted my Etsy shop to look.  I really wanted a diverse group of people representing Raghouse International. And not only that, Chico’s catalog was my favorite catalog, so I really wanted to shot in that rustic style with an online catalog feel.”

“I spent most of my teen years, or really since I could remember, looking through Vogue magazine,” Renaissance continues.  “I ended up developing a 10 year collection with magazines dating back to 1995. I would look at picture, after picture, not realizing that one day I would actually be shooting professionally.”

With studying photos, and different types of photography, Renaissance learned what work for online shopping.

“I did switch up the look of my Etsy shop about two time so far just to try things out, because I was influenced by other Etsy shops.  I recently made a decision to go back to my orginal plan of shooting and displaying my work.”

Renaissance says trying out different looks for your online shop is good. “You really learn that way,” she told our team at HandmadeMarketing.org.

She says that, in general, photographs of a seller’s items work if they have life, creativity, and emotions while still showing what the items looks like.  At the end of the day, online sellers must remember showing what the item looks like isn’t just important, it’s vital to sales.

“Your product should be shown how it will be used,” she tells us.  “It should be “put into its lifestyle”, shown how it “will live” with the life of the person who buys it.”

Renaissance shared pointers for shooting handmade products, especially jewelry:

1. Be Very Creative.  “Your photos will become the branded look of your shop. Creative, and clear photos make it into Etsy Treasuries a lot,” Renaissance said.
2. Go Natural. As other photography pros have told HandmadeMarketing.org, natural light is best.  “Use natural light as much as possible,” she said.  “Light is the key element to all photos. The normal consumer that has a point and shoot camera may not know how to use light bouncing off of a wall. Shooting by a windows is best and creating a scene for you product is best because the light is soft.”
3. No Lightbox. Interestingly, Renaissance recommends to stay away from lightboxes.  Other HandmadeMarketing.org reader articles have said to utilize a lightbox.  What are Renaissances reasons?  “Use a lightbox only if you really, really, know what it’s all about and how it operates,” she said.  “My thing with lightboxes is that usually it’s just an object that ends up on an all white background with no mood. The photo comes out fuzzy and details are not clear if you are not a professional product photographer.”
4. Watch Out For The Sun! “Do not shoot in directly sunlight. The light is way too hard and unflattering and often times you lose details in the product. If you are shooting jewelry or small objects or even a model, shoot in the shade just off the direct light. You don’t want to shoot in the darkest part of the shades, just where the shade and sunlight meet.”

Renaissance recommends editing your handmade item photographs in a photo editing program.  “I do have Photoshop CS3,” she says, “but for what I do on Etsy, I just use Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. It’s really great and basic, more of a consumer brand Adobe product.”

“Lighten photos a little more so that when you upload your photos they don’t look dull. There are settings for saving your images for web, but I just like to over expose like 1 or 2%, so that it is vibrant when I upload it to the web. Really take some time and learn your photo editing programs. That’s usually the fun part where you can get really creative with your photos. Sometimes you can saturate colors a little more so that those colors can grab the attention of the buyer or Etsy Treasury curator.”

As for her camera choice, Renaissance uses a professional digital SLR camera.  “If you can afford to get something expensive, then do so,” she recommends.  “It’s worth it in the end.”

However, if a professional camera is not in your price range, Renaissance suggests finding a point-and-shot that has image stabalizer.  “I lot of people mention the Canon Powershot. It is one of the least expensive point and shoots, but I would say go a couple of steps above that. It will definitely be worth the extra cost. Really do your research before purchasing. Go to the retailer and look at it up close, ask questions,” she says.

Renaissance shared another great tip for online handmade sellers in the market for a new camera.  “A great way to learn the real deal about products is Youtube!!” she says.  “The funny thing is when I want to learn more about photography equipment that is the first place I go because there are experts that do product reviews all the time and they will give you the pros and cons of that particular product. Youtube is definitely the place to began.”  Great tip Renaissance!

In the end, Renaissance admits it’s true that learning about photography can take many years.  Also, most cameras purchased by consumers are programmed to do all the thinking for the consumer. However, she offers advice to the stuggling item photographer.

“If you just don’t have the patience for all of the photography stuff, think about your local community college. Visit the photography or visual arts department for photography students. Many of them are very good and will shot just to build their book or for a small fee,” she says.

But why look beyond Etsy.com?  “There are many photographers on Etsy that may barter with you. They can shoot your product for a free items. Just look around as much as possible for a photographer that can interpret what you really want,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “Then if you the resources to hire and great photographer and finances are not and issue, go for it! It will be better in the end!“

Thank you for the great tips Renaissance!  Visit her Etsy shop to see more of her above and beyond photography skills!