Jan 28, 20202 min read

Etsy Gift Guide - Tuesday Tips: Photography

Hello friends!

I'm here again with another edition of Tuesday Tips with the blogging group from Etsy Gift Guide. The topic today is photography.

Now, I'm definitely no expert on product photography. I'm constantly improving and updating my photos for my products, but I do have a few tips that I think are useful.

1. Use natural light whenever possible. This helps to get a more true-to-color photo of whatever you are taking photos of. If you can't get outside, try to set up your items/backdrop near a large window that lets in a lot of light.

2. Use a consistent, clean background. This is one that I find very important for giving your shop a more professional, cohesive look. Some people recommend using all white backgrounds, but I think those are boring, and I could never get good photos when I tried that. Instead, I found an awesome white woodgrain posterboard at Hobby Lobby for $2 and use that for all of my photos. It works great, and I love having the clean look in my shop.

Here's a photo of one of my journals with my background. Doesn't it look nice with the woodgrain? :)

3. Edit your photos. This is another key thing. I always edit my photos, even if I'm just changing the brightness and contrast. It helps the images to be brighter and more crisp, which will make buyers more likely to click on your listings in the sea of listings when they are searching on Etsy. I'm sure there are programs that you can use to do the editing, but for now I just use the photo editing capabilities on my phone when I take my photos. I should probably look into finding something that will help me step up my game even further. Like I said, I'm always finding ways to improve my photography skills.

4. Keep improving! This is hugely important. Don't just take photos once and then never look at them again. If a listing isn't selling, look at your photos critically. Are the images clear? Are they bright enough? Do they show your item at all angles? Does the customer get an idea of what you are selling by what you have included in the pictures? I have updated shop photos many times, and I'll probably keep updating them. :)

Here's an example of what I mean by always improving. The photo on the left is my old photo of this headband; the one on the right is the one I just did today. See the huge difference? I know this is still far from perfect, but it is a big step in the right direction.