Saturday, February 19, 2011

Giraffes and picture woes

I bought this design on Urban Threads ages ago. I love it, and everytime I make a shirt for Skoober, I think I should finally use it. But there it sat, lonely and neglected in my computer's embroidery folder, for over a year.

Until now.

My cousin's wife had a baby on Christmas Eve, and of course the new addition to the family needed a new shirt! I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use my cleverly disguised giraffe design. But I can't just stop at one shirt...noooo....that would be too easy! I made the exact same shirt for Cobblestone Park, and naturally, one for Skoober too.



Pattern: Ottobre 2/05
Embroidery: Urban Threads
Fabric: Cotton Lycra from Bamblue Fabrics (of course!)

On a related note, I just cannot stand my pictures. I look at Etsy and there is a clear divide between those who have good pictures and those who have terrible pictures. Obviously, the former are the ones getting all the sales. But I have a couple of things working against me: 1) I live in a house that is totally shaded by trees. Natural light does not exist in this house, particularly on gray, drizzly days like today. 2) I am not a photographer, nor do I have a fancy camera. 3) I think pictures on real live kids look the best, but the models at my disposal (my kiddos) do not like to model.  So what to do? Enroll in a photography class? That would help one problem, but not the others.

I'm still pondering this. Suggestions? How does everyone else get such professional looking pictures on Etsy?

2 comments:

  1. Hey Carolyn,

    Here's what's worked for me:

    1) my sales went way up after I stopped taking photos outside and took them inside against a white wall instead. Especially with such colorful clothes (and without a fancy lens that lets more light in), I think a white wall is the only way to go.

    2) I never ever use a flash

    3) Photoshop Elements isn't terribly expensive, and it helped sharpen and brighten my photos

    4) I live in the soggy northwest where my child hasn't seen her shadow in 5 months, and we're at the edge of a giant pine forest--even here it's always possible to get some light for a decent picture indoors. It may only be for a fleeting time during the day, but I can almost always find a small patch of decent light.

    5) I've seen lots of people on Etsy rave about the Nikon Coolpix L4. It's super cheap (under $20 I think)

    Katie

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  2. Thanks Katie! I was going to ask you about pictures, because yours always look so beautiful. I think you have a real eye for getting a great shot, too. Not sure I have that! I'll have to look into that Nikon, too.

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