Another New Background and Taking Pictures

Since I last posted, I bought some desk lamps and a clear plastic box to act as a makeshift light box to take photos. The pictures are still not coming out as bright as I would like, so I still have to edit some on the computer, but I think they're a step up. The bracelet above is the first picture I took using my new "light box". The bracelet reminded me of a day at the beach because of the sky blue of the beads and the pearls (yeah, they're freshwater pearls, but let's go with it, ok? Hehehe). So, I borrowed some seashells my daughter had to use as a prop and took some pictures. Here is the listing on Etsy if you'd like to see the other pictures.



Another issue with the light box (at least the set-up I have currently) is that artificial light is no match for sunlight. I find that purple, in particular, is a hard color to get to look right in photographs. I tried taking pictures of this necklace with my light box, and even switched to using a light box my husband had made a while back out of cardboard and tissue paper, but the light turned the purples too red and no amount of photo editing would get the colors to match the actual colors of the necklace. So, I took the fabric I used from the last pictures I took prior to getting the light box, held the necklace on the fabric in my hand next to a window and took some pictures. Since I wasn't in direct sunlight, the pictures were still darker than I'd like, but the sun did the trick and the colors in the photograph matched the colors in the necklace.

The pendant is made by the wonderfully talented KanYoFuse on Etsy. He makes fused glass pendants that are absolutely stunning. I've bought several of his pendants and love every single one of them. His work is gorgeous and his prices are VERY reasonable. At a quick glance, this pendant looks to be brown and white swirl. However, in certain light, the brown really, really wants to be purple. I had some muddy purple cats eye beads that coordinated well, so I added those to the mix to bring out the pendant's desire to be purple. I was really pleased with the necklace and the pictures. You can click here to view the full listing and see the other pictures I took.

I still have some work to do with lighting (I'm going to try CLF bulbs or possibly some bulbs that claim to be similar to sunlight if I can find them next), and I think I could still use some work on backgrounds and photo composition, but I think I've definitely improved from the photos I took in some of my first listings.