Natural Images by Adam: Product Photography for a Local Etsy Shop

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Product Photography for a Local Etsy Shop

Handmade jewelry, candles, scrying mirrors, and soaps. These are some of the products I photographed recently for Rocky Mountain Witch, a small company who sells "Magickal Items for the Modern Day Witch" Please take the time to check out her page, and support her business.

I build most of the light modifiers I use for photography, and this session was no exception. I hand built a Light Cube which I use to photograph small objects with controlled lighting. I used six old aluminum photo frames whose glass had been broken. The cost to replace the glass was greater than the cost of a new frame, so I made a project out of the empty frames. I built a box using four of the frames, and then stood the other two frames tall to raise the base of the box higher for special effects that I may use in the future. Scrap silk from a fabric store is my diffusing material placed on the left, and right as well as the top of the box. Black butcher paper is my seamless backdrop, and three small flashes were used to light my box. Since the frames are empty, I use old cardboard, mat board, and glass panels to fill the space and act as a base. I have several patterns and colors of board stacked within the base so that I have choices when I set up for product photos.

The logistics of moving so many fragile pieces meant that I brought the studio to my client, rather than having her pack up her products and coming to me. This setup was in her living room using a folding table for support and my home-made Light Cube. My studio is any room, in any location that gives me control of the light. Sometimes that space is a living room, a bedroom, an office, or the shade of a tree in the park.