Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Revamping My Shop

As the holidays draw near and I have a little time before things really get crazy, I thought I would take some time to examine my shop and perhaps change things up a bit.

This summer was a really busy time for me, both for my family and my shop. Due to time constraints, I let myself get into a rut of doing the same thing over and over.

Here are some of the things I critiqued in my shop:

1. I was making the same style of book, just in different colors.

2. I used the same shots for photographing the books. Again, all the same, just different colors. As a result, I think it made my shop look rather mass-produced and less handmade.
3. I had the same background in all my shots. This was a hard call for me because I've heard having the same background gives you some unity and cohesion to your shop, but for me it seemed to contribute to the mass-production effect.

Sooo....I set to work retaking photos of some of my books, trying different angles and backgrounds. This required me to break free of my little light box as it didn't allow me to get in there with the camera for special angles.

As a result of not using the light box I battled with glare and shadows. This photo of Autumn Paisley is actually more true to color than the original one. Next to it, the original looks washed out and overexposed.

Overall I'm pleased with the new photos until the time for my next critique comes around! But that's what it's all about--learning, growing, and changing for the better.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! You really did a nice job, absolutely fantastic! Congratulations:)

Emerson Bindery said...

Thanks Patricia!

storybeader said...

I think the book standing up is a great view. Admin. wouldn't accept me on 1000Markets until I made all my backgrounds the same. I kinda like the uniformity, but now, my book pics are much different than jewelry shots...

Emerson Bindery said...

Hmmm, that's interesting about 1000markets...fodder for thought.

Anitra Cameron said...

Oh, Beautiful! I want you to come photograph my things!

Linda E. Pruitt said...

You made me stop and think -- hmmmm -- maybe I should take a look at my design shop and redo photos! Thanks!

TiLT said...

fun :) Photos can be so tricky...and I know what you mean about the mass produced look yet trying to keep things unified...it's a fine line. The new pic look great :)

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