Behind the Scenes: Etsy Photoshoots

I've always loved self portraiture; more than 90% of my photography portraits are of myself. There is an aspect of control to it, which is great when you want to get across a particular message, and you have to think of solutions to how to set up the camera to get the shot.

The most challenging form of photography however for me is product photography. When my mother (Nancy) and I opened our Etsy shop, ObscureGems, it took a long time (and lots of help from this team) for me to get the look of our product photography up to snuff and somewhere around where we'd like to be. And I'm still working on it. 

A typical shoot where I need to model a scarf or bag starts off with a day with enough sunlight to keep a shutter speed quicker than 1/30 of a second, and an ISO about 200. Then I coordinate an outfit (this is the bonus perk of wearing neutrals and blacks a lot) to let the item pop out, and make myself presentable for the camera. Then I lug out the tripod, fish one of the adapters from my draft desk drawer, and set up the camera.

Cohesive vibes is the name of the game for me, and now that I've got down the basic ins and outs of shop photography on Etsy, personality is starting to seep into it. In a photoshoot I might shoot twenty to thirty photographs and pick out the five best to clean up for the internet. My favorite times of day to shoot are early in the morning and in the evening, and while the reflection of light off of the deck outside our studio room is nice in the wintertime, I definitely prefer shooting in fall or summer.

Thor in the lightbox making more work for me

I work with a lightbox for our smaller jewelry and crochet items and then the wall of our small and cramped studio/storage space to model everything from our jewelry to bags to scarves (and even a belt) with one of my two tripods. Our four cats (Tugger, Edgar, Thorbert (Thor for short), and Demitri) tend to mill around when I'm photographing, and for some reason are infatuated with the lightbox. 

In fact, ever since my cat Edgar decided to lick the insides of an empty frosting can and run around the house for a couple hours, the lightbox has been a little worse for wear. So, come Tuesday, I've made it a goal to fix it up a bit.

I love doing these sorts of things, meaning photographing, modeling, and editing the photos. It is a welcome change from my usual style of photography and a reminder to remain versatile artistically. As with everything with ObscureGems, I love sharing the process with my co-owner and mother Nancy.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share them. Also, tips about photography are always welcome, and I'd love to see some of yours if you are willing to share!