Great Photography Can Help Sell Your Craftwork.

When and Why Do You Need Good Photos

• Entering shows.
• Submitting articles.
• Entering competitions.
• Creating marketing materials; business cards, postcards, catalogs.
• Publicizing your work on the web; website, Etsy, eBay, Flickr.
• Submissions for books about your media.
• Publicity photos for galleries or shots carrying your work.

Camera Considerations

Having the right equipment is essential

• SLR or Point and Shoot? If you have the funds, an SLR digital camera is the best option, but it is not always within the price range of many artists. Fortunately, for about 1/3 to 1/2 to the cost of an SLR, you can get a digital camera that will do the job.
• Macro function. If you work is small in scale, then it is important to have a good macro function on your camera. This will allow you to get in close enough to fill the frame with your item, and maintain sharp focus.
• White balance. In order to make sure your colors are true, a white balance function is important. Different light sources give off a different spectrum of light, affecting your photo. White balance control can correct for this in how it records the image.
• Pixels. Bare minimum, you need at least 4 Megapixels, ideally, you want 8 Megapixels or more. Higher megapixels will allow you to have a larger image at high print resolution.
• Zoom. Optical zoom is preferred over digital zoom. But in most csses, you will not be using the zoom function to photograph craft items.

The Rest of the Equipment Essentials

• Tripod Your item may be perfectly still, but you will probably have a very slow shutter speed to have the best quality image. In order to get a nice sharp focus, a tripod is essential.
• Lights Good quality light, ideally in the white spectrum of light, will help produce the best quality image. But you also need a way to soften the lights so that you don't have glare or hot spots on your image.
  
  I have found the best solution from tabletopstudios.com. Their EZ cube set-up, with lights, and the cube to filter the light works like a dream for me. I tried many other alternatives, jerry-rigged various set-ups with plastic bins and clip on lights, but nothing,...nothing...,has worked as well, or as easily as the EZ Cube.
  The cubes come in a variety of sizes, in some cases large enough for a chair.
• Background The gradient gray background is the "gold standard" in fine craft photography, particularly for small to medium sized objects. It allows the work to be the center of attention. The gradient background made for photography is available through tabletopstudios.com. It is easily scratched, but it photographs beautifully. There is virtually no grain, and the camera will not focus in on the paper instead of your work. I noticed a big difference when I finally got the gradient backdrop. Tabletopstudios.com also offers other alternatives to the gray background.
• Software Photo editing software is essential to creating the best quality image. From cleaning up the dust particles in the image, to making slight adjustments in color balance, contrast, etc., will bring the picture to life.
• A Model?? If your craft item is a wearable, you may want to show it off on a model. Drama students are often a good source for a model.