My First Photo Shoot

Since I've been planning on opening an Etsy store for so long, I've been a subscriber to all its different email blasts for an equally long time. Through those, I've picked up a lot of tips on how to stage, take and produce a fun, effective product photo. But learning how to do something and actually doing it are two different beasts. So armed with as much information as I could remember, I set up my first photo shoot last weekend.

I knew the lighting inside my house was not the best, so I staged a little area outside. I waited until late afternoon to have ample natural light without it being too bright. I do, after all, live in the Sunshine State.

Since the grass is mostly dead, I needed a backdrop. I had doors off some old furniture stashed in the garage, so I dragged one out to use as my background. The dark wood contrasted nicely with the black and white cards.

While I was setting all this up and planning my shots, Lola, my husky mix, was bounding about the yard. She became very interested in what I was doing and came to check it out. I took a chance while she was sniffing around and asked her to lay down. Surprisingly, she did. (Side note: It took me three years to teach her to lay down. For most of that time, she knew how and simply refused. She's very independent.)

I was able to snap a few shots of her with cards. They aren't the best, as she had her outside collars on and showing in most of them, but I was very excited to get even one usable one. Because she makes me smile, I posted one of the pictures of her with a card in the shop.

Then my aunt called with a great suggestion. Why not have a featured item each month or week as Lola's favorite? Yes, yes, yes! It will help highlight an item and provide some fun with Lola. So from now on, in each pack of cards, we will feature one as Lola's favorite. She might even be gracious enough to include a signed photo with each purchase. We'll see if I can get her to agree.