10 Photography Tips For Selling Handmade Crafts
Learn how to improve your photos without the need for an expensive camera to help you sell your crafts online
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Prep your craft space to take inspirational pictures at home. Use our exciting ideas to blog and sell your projects with ease!
We're huge fans of Sarah-Jayne Fragola of www.bellacococrochet.com so we spoke to her to find out how she creates such stunning photos for her website and social media. Read on for her top tips and inspiring examples of her own photography.
How do I take good pictures of my crafts?
We all know how much love goes into creating handmade crafts, be it papercrafts, yarn projects or hand-sewn designs - we all want the best when it comes to sharing our work, or taking it to the next level to sell! We're sharing our photo tips and advice for creating inspiring images to get the best interaction!
The Right Light
Some artificial light can distort the colours in a photo, if you don't have access to professional lighting – sunlight is free and it’s perfect for creating pretty pictures! Indirect sunlight is best so that you don’t get too many harsh shadows, so a south-facing window is perfect.
How to create a DIY light box
Alternatively, you can create a small set up to get those clean background shots with ease. Follow this super quick and easy video from YouTuber Miaira Jennings showing you how to whip up a cheap light box from a regular cardboard box to help to elevate your projects to the next level!
Perfect Palettes
There’s an easy way to cheat your way into a fabulous colour palette for a photo – let someone else do it for you! Take something you love like a pretty notebook and pick out the colours from that to style your shot for example.
Design Seeds is a great resource to help you discover colour palettes to base your projects on, and to help you shoot your work for blogging or selling! Search by focal colour, occasion and season!
Stay ahead of the curve when it comes to colour with the industry leaders - Pantone! Used by the fashion world, graphic and interior designers, the Pantone Institute’s colour trends are a resource for predicting palettes that might prove popular with consumers. This influence then filters down into the world of art and crafts and can sway home décor, wedding colour schemes and much more!
Click here to read our blog post about the Pantone Colour of the Year 2021!
Symmetry
The eye loves symmetry, so if you can line your shot up to create a symmetrical image, you’re sure to get a brilliant picture. You can cheat your way to this by using furniture or other backgrounds to guide the framing of your photo.
Simple Details
Sometimes the best photos are the simplest. Don’t be afraid to just concentrate on small detail and really let your gorgeous yarn and stitch details shine. Find a simple background.
Basic Props
You don't need to have much to create a scene for your crafts, but it helps to have a few basic items which are timeless to create shape and colour in the background of your images. If you have space at home, think about setting up a space which works for photos, plants and books are ideal for neutral colour and texture.
Get more detailed by including some of the materials used to create your crafts for a co-ordinating vibe. It's also interesting from the buyers perspective to see how your beautiful crafts have been made!
Wonderful WIP
Don’t wait until you have a full finished project to share it – your fellow crafters will love to see your WIP (work in progress).
Get Involved
Don't be afraid to take images of your project using yourself or friends as a model. If you're selling your crafts, it's much easier for the buyer to imagine themselves with your wonderful make if they are shown on a human!
Matchy Matchy
Sometimes it’s fun to go with a theme for a shot and gather some matching props. You don’t need to shell out (pardon the pun) on anything expensive – just keep an eye out for things around your house to play with in photos.
Photo Editing
There are lots of free apps out there which will help you to edit your images with filters and adjustments with just the click of a button! More advanced software can help you to collage and schedule uploads to create a diverse range of images for your audience to interact with!
Have fun!
The most important thing to remember is that this is supposed to be fun! If you’re not enjoying it, take a break, do something else and come back to it!
Happy snapping!
Natalie
Click here to read our post about Angel Policies for Craft Brands
Click here to read our post about Selling Handmade Cards
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