Etsy Tips: Photos

Lots of Etsy sellers struggle with photos. You only have to do a quick search on Etsy to find the good, the bad and the ugly. Yes, there are ugly ones! I thought a quick overview on photos would be useful and I will probably expand further on this topic in future post.

Photos are what sell your product, a customer sees your photo before anything else, this is what will make them click on the item to find out more! It needs to be enticing! Good photos also open up a world of opportunity in promotional terms – treasury features, blog features and media interest!

There are two key things, camera setup and staging. You don’t need a super snazzy camera to get good product shots, you just need to be aware of the different settings your camera offers you (it’s worth getting the manual out and having a good read through of what options your camera has). For smaller products, I recommend using a macro setting, as this will pick up more detail.

As for staging, there are many options and you need to find the right one for you. White or patterned background? Using a model in your photo? Close up or far away? Personally, I have gone for the clean and crisp look of a white background, but this isn’t something you definitely have to do. There are plenty of other options out there and I’ll point some ideas out to you from my favourite shops further down. First though, if you do want white backgrounds for your photos, then I recommend making/buying a light tent or a white blackout blind and some daylight lamps if you can’t stage in a light and shadow free setting. Also, get to grips with some photo-editing software, as this will help your photos become top-notch. There are plenty of free ones available, so no financial outlay here.

The consensus for taking photos for jewellery is no modeled shots, however, I disagree, there are some amazingly beautiful modeled photos on Etsy. These earrings are a great example of a modeled shot:

Also, as I said before, white photos are not necessary to sell your product, as long as the background does not detract from the product. White products generally look better on a textured background, like this bag:

Staging is another consideration, if you feel it is required. This fruit bowl is a great example of good staging, it also gives the impression of the size of the product:

I hope this has given you all something to think about in relation to photos. Feel free to ask question and I'll try to answer them in due course.