Saturday, 23 February 2013

Taking photos

When an email went round at my day job saying there was going to be a photography club I got really quite excited as I thought I would be able to learn more about taking better pictures of my jewellery.  Nearly a year on I can honestly say I have learned loads about taking photos and how important a good photo helps sell a product.  Here are a series of photos I have taken of a pair of earrings that I have made.


This picture has been filtered with Instagram
Before I go through my earring photos this picture was was the original photo I took with a Canon Powershot A400 (3.2MP, 5.9-13.2mm 1:3.8).  This was given to me by a dear friend and I will always appreciate this.

 I was then given another point and shoot by a family member, this was a Nikon Coolpix S210 (8MP, 6.3-18.9mm 1:3.1-5.9).  The following photos were taken with my Nikon.







This was taken outside.



I am not entirely happy with these photos, but they are not the worst one I took.

 Then just before the Olympics I made the decision to buy a more powerful camera.  I had the chance to hold and use a DSLR from Saol Photography and know I wasn't ready for a DSLR and settled for a bridge camera.  I am now owner of a Fuji Finepix S4400 (14mp
f=4.3-120.4 1:3.1-5.9)  What sold this to me was the macro settings of 2cm and the 28x zoom.  The next set of photos were taken with my Fuji.








I am happier with these photos as I think they are clearer, the detail is more prominent & they look more professional.  The best piece of advice I have been given is to use as much natural light as you can, along with a tripod.
There is still a lot of learning to be done but I am really enjoying my photography journey.









Monday, 18 February 2013

Decisions

Hello there.

I have been deciding what to do with a number of things.  The first decision I made was to get an accountant to do my self assessment.  Some crafters probably think the money could be spent elsewhere but as a dyslexic it's was one less thing to think about.

Another decision I have made was to cancel my current Eshop website, this was for financial reasons.  I can't believe it has been a year since I set it up.  It has been good experience to learn about html, taking good clear photos, selling online & what doesn't work.

Before Christmas I bit the bullet and did my first craft fair.  It was good fun, successful and a learning process.  It was a big decision for me to make but I am glad I did.






Another thing I decided is to incorporate my love of Basketball with crafting and made some cufflinks.  I also have been experimenting with Polymer clay, so watch this space for more handmade beads.




www.poppybead.co.uk will be back as soon as I make a decision I am happy with.