Smashing Darling Blog

One very dedicated jewelry designer whose photos we’ve critiqued in the past is Broken Teepee Designs. Based on the feedback from our last critique, Broken Teepee has made lots of strides in her photography, and the look of her boutique has changed tremendously. She’s now using shots with pure white backgrounds, has included several alternate views for most products, and has included a few model shots as well … all definite steps in the right direction, and we applaud her for her efforts!

We’ve been in contact with this designer along the way (we always welcome contact!) so we are very familiar with her struggles to improve her photography, and fell pretty sure that many other designers out there share the same challenges. To this end (and with the kind permission of the designer herself), we’re sharing Broken Teepee’s evolution on the blog in hopes that her learning process will help other designers too.

To begin with, Broken Teepee Designs has made a couple of statements in our communication with her that we feel are particularly common. She writes:

“I fear my talents lie in making the jewelry, not photographing it.” She also writes about her camera itself (a very nice digital SLR) “I have tried to figure out how the thing works but I just can’t wrap my brain around it.”

We mention these two things first because sometimes the best answer truly is to let someone else handle the photographs … not so much due to lack of ability on a designer’s part but simply for the reason, as this designer states, that a fashion designer’s talents  naturally lie elsewhere. Creating good photographs takes a lot of time and energy, and is so crucial to selling online. If you feel your photos just aren’t clicking (or that trying to get them to click is taking too much of your valuable time) it’s definitely time to consider outsourcing.

But our Broken Teepee designer is clearly an intrepid soul, not ready to give up yet so we’ve take a close look at her efforts and have a few suggestions that we hope will be helpful. We really think that her photos are so close to being great … a little work in the details and they’ll be there! At her invitation, we’ve produced a few shots of our own to illustrate our suggestions.

(Disclaimer: we’re not professional photographers either, and these images are not intended to be construed as better in any way than what the designer has produced herself … they’re just our attempt to illustrate one way that we might handle photographing a certain product. Our equipment is nothing special … a digital SLR, all natural light, and Photoshop to manipulate the image as needed. These were done outside at our home, yesterday afternoon.)

1. Background shots
On the shots that use a backdrop of some sort, we would recommend something that adds a bit of texture or movement to the shot. A plain, ho-hum  piece of fabric rarely does anything to enhance the product … try to find something things that relate to the materials themselves and add a bit of drama or appropriate color to the shot. In this instance, we thought a piece of weathered wood with its wavy grain might be a good complement to this piece, the “Sticks and Stones”  bracelet.

Sticks and Stones, $99.50 (our wood grain background shot)

2. Pure white shots
We’ve noticed that a fair number of Broken Teepee’s pure white background shots have very harsh, hard-edged shadows. When you’re looking at a piece that you’ve set up to photograph and see those harsh shadows (very common when shooting in open sunlight), the best thing to do is either  diffuse the light falling on the product or move the shot to a different location with softer light. Here are a couple of links with instructions to create an easy, inexpensive diffuser frame:

http://www.shortcourses.com/tabletop/lighting2-10.html
http://photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/008Q2g

Another thing we’ve noticed on a number of the white-background shots are some jagged edges on the shadows that look like the background may have been selected and removed in Photoshop to get that pure-white effect (an example would be the Holly Blue briolettes.) Photoshop can be a GREAT tool for touching up backgrounds (as well as tweaking colors, cropping, and about a million other things) but it’s never a good thing when something looks visibly “Photoshopped.” So if you’re using the select tool in Photoshop to remove background areas, make sure to feather the selection to get a nice, soft edge. Or if you’re using the eraser tool to manually remove areas of the background, be sure to use a soft-edge brush.

Holly Blue, $22.50

Our white background shot below was shot outside in soft sunlight, undiffused, on a plain white sheet of paper. In harsher sunlight, a diffuser frame would almost certainly be necessary.

Sticks and Stones, $99.50 (our white background shot)

3. Close-ups
Another suggestion we would have for this designer is to get in CLOSE on at least one alternate view or a product. This is a great way to show the minute details of texture and colors that can be hard to discern on wider shots. Don’t be afraid to use shallow depth of field to isolate details that you want to draw attention to as well, like details of clasps, etc.

Our Sticks and Stones Close up

4. Model shots
What can we say, we’d still like to see more model shots. Using a model is a great way to show how a design will look on, and also a terrific way to show scale an proportion.  Choose your model carefully … you’ll want to use someone who is every bit as attractive as the piece itself and looks GREAT wearing it. For tighter shots like the example we’ve included below of the bracelet all you need is someone with great skin, and some fun clothes that compliment (and never distract or overpower) the product being photographed.

Our Sticks and Stones Model shot

Wow … this has turned into a very wordy post indeed. But there’s no way around it … we appreciate the effort that Broken Teepee has put into giving her boutique a better look, and we wanted to give as much useful feedback as possible. Keep up the good work, and we hope that we’ve planted some seeds of ideas. Congratulations on all you’ve done, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!

Anyone else struggling with the photographic aspect of selling online? Let us hear about it - we’ll try our best to help. Email julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.

So … who’s up next?

Our recent photo critiques got a little mention over at the PR Couture in their PR Tips post, which got us thinking … it’s been awhile now. Who’s the next volunteer? C’mon, don’t be shy. All critique/advice/suggestions given is truly in the spirit of encouragement and making boutiques the best they can be. As far as we know, we’ve never made anyone cry! Here’s the past ones so that you can refresh your memory:

Rutigliano Designs

GoGirlWrapperz

Ricardo Tovar

Asilomar Works

Thistle Downs

Broken Teepee

Natha Perkins

Aelisheva

Isabella Smiles

So if you’re interested in pushing your photography to the next level, give us a shout. Email julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com to suggest a store or bring your own store to the next level. We’d love the opportunity to give you our $.02. and hopefully give some advice that helps you market your designs … that’s what it’s all about!

On the same subject, we’d also love to hear from the folks that we’ve already critiqued, too. Have you tried any new things? Have the ideas helped? We’d love to hear how it’s going, and if we’ve helped to get things moving in the right direction.

You’ve been hearing us blather on for weeks now about how to improve your photographs … we’ll shut up for a little while now and let some other very capable folks do the talking.

Here are some other places where you can find great tips, new techniques, and in-depth information online. And remember, if you’re having trouble with your images google is your friend! No matter what problem you’re experiencing, chances are someone else has been there before and sought help from the internet gurus.

Here are some GREAT sources of information:

photo.net
a great online community with forums for just about any subject you’d ever want

Here’s one thread on DIY fashion photography:
http://photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/00NRTA

And another on making a light diffuser:
http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/home-made-cheap-flash-diffuser

you tube
Check out this person’s awesome studio photo tips - over 20 videos! if you’re struggling with your photography, take some time and watch every one of these clips. Very, very useful content!

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=prophotolife

http://www.diyphotography.net/
A very useful site dedicated to sharing knowlege and helping people build their own affordable photo equipment and achieve pro-level results. Great stuff!

http://news.deviantart.com/article/53613/
Nice article on setting up a do-it yourself photography studio

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/
Perhaps not the most esthetically pleasing site we’ve ever seen, but TONS of great information and tips on product photography and lighting. This may be especially useful to jewelry designers.

If you have any photo problems, questions, or comments about your photos feel free to email us at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.

All right, SmashingDarlings … we’re still seeing a ton of “photo coming soon” placeholders in the designer profile sections of your boutiques. You know what we’re talking about right, that nondescript little gray image that screams “Why would a cutting-edge indie fashionista have a generic placeholder in their boutique?”

Consider this an invitation, an admonishment, a call to action, or whatever will best get you in gear and in front of a camera. Let’s see those mug shots, people!! We know how lovely and über-cool you all are, so why not share it with the world?

As usual, there’s no cost at all to use this feature, and it’s a great way to put a personal touch into your boutiques and tell shoppers (and everyone else) more about you and your personal style. And updating your shots frequently will help keep things fresh and updated … you can upload photos of yourself, your studio, your inspirations, your newest creation, works in progress, anything at all! Have fun with it, and show people what’s going on in your world.

We wish you all the best and can’t wait to see the new shots coming in!

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a photo critique, so let’s get back into the swing of things and take a closer look at this week’s volunteer, a very cool jewelry boutique called Rutigliano Design.

Bullet Proof Shield, $440.00

To start with, we absolutely love this boutique … the jewelry is simply outstanding. The first thing that we notice about the photography is that there’s a bit of a mixed bag for the main images … some are low key, some high key, some model shots. In general, the images are very nicely done, but we feel that a bit more of a consistent approach might be helpful here. One approach may be to keep the main image as either a low or high key product shot (to keep things looking clean and professional on the main boutique page) and include a secondary model shot for every piece as an alternate view.

Plume Earring, $118.00

The low key images look great, and really make the products pop, but some of the high-key images could use a little lighting help. The designer says this about her images:

I think the main thing I always have trouble with is keeping the true color of my stones while maintaining the clarity of a picture.  For example, The Ruby Necklace, and then some of the beaded earrings.  I can never seem to get the lighting right.  It is either too grey and you can see the stone ok, but it’s a dark picture, or I get the picture to be light enough and it washes out the stones.

One approach to this problem that might be helpful is to light the background and product separately - this will allow you to tweak the lighting of each independently, getting the lighting just right on the jewelry as well as the backdrop.

In general, we think this designer is doing an excellent job representing her products … she obviously puts a lot of effort into her photography. We truly don’t have a lot of negative things to say here, which is always nice! We would certainly recommend using a few more alternate views whenever possible, as well as more model shots. Many of the item descriptions don’t give exact sizing, and the model shots are a great way to give shoppers an idea of scale. And, of course, it’s always fun to see how things look on!

Keep up the great work, and we look forward to hearing what others have to say about this designer’s photography.

Questions? Comments? Email us at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com or feel free to comment below. Thanks as always to our community for your insight and support! So, who’s next? Would you like your store critiqued? Email us at the above address and let us know what you need help on with your photos.

As you hopefully know, we’ve been blogging for some time now about tips to make your photos better and engaging in critiques to help designers improve their photos. The central idea has always been to help people make their photos (and thereby make their products) look as great as they can, and to boost online sales and marketing efforts.

With the brand new site design, we’ve added a new way to show off designers who are really doing innovative things with their fashion, as well as the photography that they produce to promote it: Chic Boutiques. The Chic Boutique designation is a special brand that we’ll be adding to those boutiques that are cutting edge in all respects: hot fashions, stunning images, strong identity, and lots of products to choose from.

Chic Boutique items will be featured prominently on the home page and item category landing pages, and will include a small “CB” graphic on each photo. Shoppers will also have the opportunity to browse through all of the Chic Boutiques as a group by shopping by boutique, so we hope this will be a great way to feature the designers who we really feel are pushing the indie fashion envelope.

As always, our driving idea behind features like the Chic Boutique (as well as the new site design, and the new look of this blog) is to help promote up and coming designers, and bring to light the hottest new ideas in indie fashion. We thank you all for your support as we continue to grow and evolve.

We’d also love to continue the photo critiques. We realize that the idea of an open critique can be scary, but the ones so far haven’t been so bad, were they? So, who’s next? Suggest someone’s store to be critiqued next week (or volunteer your own) to be critiqued by emailing me at:  julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.

We promise to always be nice and offer ideas and suggestions that we genuinely think will help take your photography (and hopefully your sales!) to the next level.

No Tie Sarong (long), $38.00

Just in time for hot weather fun, this week’s critique is gogirlwrapperz, a boutique featuring fun, summery wraps.

There’s lots of good things to say about this boutique’s photography. The images make great use of natural light, and as a whole the shots do an excellent job of presenting what we’d call “lifestyle shots” that show the wraps in action, as worn on models at the beach and gym. These kind of shots do a great job of taking the images out of the realm of simple product shots, and transforming the products into something that a person could really picture themselves in. There’s a lot of very creative framing of shots and posing here that creates some very dynamic images.

The biggest question that this designer posed about her photography was “Is there anything in or not in the photos that would prevent someone from buying my designs?”

To answer this one, we would certainly say that we think this designer is doing an excellent job with the photographs, and has a nice creative flair with the camera. The mood of the shots matches the fun, active feel of the wraps as well. We don’t see anything that in and of itself would keep a person from buying from this boutique, but as always there are a few things that occur to us that might help.

Above: No Ties Sarong (Short), $28.00

Above: Headbands, $8.00

1. Alternate views - make sure that each item shows shots from all angles. For instance, the “No Tie” Sarongs Tech does a great job of this, but some items don’[t show quite as complete a range of views. The more shots, the better!

2. More stuff! - one thing that can help with sales, and getting shoppers to spend more time in a boutique is to giving shoppers more to see. We would love to see more from this designer - eight items (wonderful though they are!) just isn't nearly enough and we would love to see this boutique filled with fun things for shoppers to peruse.

3. Descriptions - for the most part, we found the descriptions thorough and easy to read, but we did notice that there's no mention of actual lengths for most items. This is a small detail, but specific info like this can always be very helpful for a prospective buyer.

Again, we think this designer is doing a great job with photography and has a very obvious creative streak with the camera. Keep up the good work! Somehow after looking through these images, we're suddenly filled with the urge to close down the SmashingDarling office and head to the beach for the day!

Questions? Comments? Email us at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com or feel free to comment below. Thanks as always to our community for your insight and support! So, who’s next? Would you like your store critiqued? Email us at the above address and let us know what you need help on with your photos.

This week’s volunteer for our photo critique is a designer of something near and dear to all our hearts … shoes! We’re so happy to have Ricardo Tovar on our site, and wish that more shoe designers would join us as well.

To begin with, we really like this designer’s very sleek shoes but the overwhelming consensus is that we just need to see more. Give us MORE, we say! Ideally, we’d like to see more alternate views of each shoe (most only have one shot), closeups that show off details, and even model shots if possible. We’d also like to learn more about the shoes from the descriptions, too … no detail is too small to include, and the more info you’re able to give, the more comfortable a buyer will be with making a purchase. You really want to make them feel like they’re holding the shoe in their hand (or slipping it onto their tootsies!)

In terms of photo quality, the shots could definitely use a bit of tweaking. The lighting appears to be from a small source like a built-in flash, which leaves things looking a little harsh, with some hot spots bouncing off of the highly reflective leather. We’d definitely recommend experimenting with some different lighting setups to get a brighter, cleaner, and softer look. We’d love to see backgrounds that are more complimentary to the shoes, too … the wrinkled fabric in these is a little distracting and, unfortunately, doesn’t put the shoes in the spotlight they deserve.

Overall, we think this is a boutique from a very talented designer that just needs a little more attention, and a bit of an injection of the designer’s own style, imagination, and personality. Another thing to try might be to look online for some stores or designers that you admire, and pay particular attention to how they market their shoes. Almost always you’ll find some spark of creativity that you’ll be able to apply to your own work. Here are a couple of places we found that we thought did a very nice job of showing off their shoes:

Marimekko (above): http://tinyurl.com/5anwzs

Patrick Cox (above): http://www.patrickcox.com/

Anthropologie (above): http://tinyurl.com/5arw73 (some cool ideas for backdrops here!)

We’ve suggested a lot of things here (as we always try to do!) and we know it can get overwhelming. So here’s something else to consider. We’re very aware that most of you out there are first and foremost fashion designers. If all of the little details and minutiae of producing photos and writing descriptions gets to be too much, don’t forget that often the best answer is to outsource these marketing-related tasks to someone else. If your talent is designing and not showing your pieces in their best light, then let someone else do that for you. There are tons of fabulous photographers and copywriters out there who can lend their talents to making YOU look great.

So if you’re spending too much time stressing over photos, just remember that sometimes the best answer (and the one that can best free you up to concentrate on what you’re best at) is to get some help!

As always, we wish Ricardo Tovar (and all of our smashing designers) nothing but the best, and we hope that our critique will be helpful. Anyone else have thoughts or suggestions? As always feel free to email them to us at …. or comment below. We have also run out of stores to critique so if you are ready to do some spring cleaning on your store (or show everyone how amazing you are) email me at: julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.

There’s lots good to say about our volunteer for this week’s critique, Asilomar Works. First, we’d like to say (even though this isn’t related to photography) that we LOVE it when designers make nice use of the area at the top of the boutique designated for store logos … this one fills the space nicely, and the name of the boutique is clear and bold.

Asilomar Works has some very interesting and unique pieces with a vintage flair. The photography for the most part is very nice and clear, and most items give at least a couple of alternate views. The descriptions of the items are very well written, too, and very clear about sizing and other details.

Spice it up - As far as things we would suggest, one thing stands out in our minds. While the photos are overall clear and of good quality, we think they could use an injection of personality and fun. Instead of solid or white backgrounds it could be a lot of fun to experiment with images that reflect the personality of the individual pieces and inject a bit of energy in to the shots. This could be accomplished by varying the backdrops, making them relate to the jewelry conceptually, or even tying in to the designer’s love for history, design, and film (from the designer’s profile.) You should always consider keeping at least one view with a white background for clarity, but experiment with a solid style that fits what you are selling for the main images.

Models - We also think that careful consideration of models could help enhance the shots, too, and help push these beyond product shots to shots that sell. Remember that models, should you choose to use them, should always reflect the personality of the piece, and should serve to enhance the look of the piece itself. If the model doesn’t look great, then he/she isn’t doing your product any favors!

The designer also posed a question to us that we’d like to answer directly, because it deals with something that affects us all: monitors, and how photos can look different on someone else’s system. She asks:

I am wondering how clear my photos are, if they give a good sense of each piece or if they are too dark or don’t show enough detail. I adjust my photos on a laptop and they look bright enough on that screen, but I have heard some comments that they appear too dark.

The answer is not a particularly easy one because the truth is that all monitors are different, and as they age, they vary even more widely. On our monitors here (which are well color corrected and calibrated, newer Mac systems) the shots look just fine. However, someone out there in cyberspace working on a 10-year old uncalibrated system may indeed see things differently. Since we can’t control the way that viewers see our images once we put them out there, the best we can do is to make sure our own monitors are accurate. You can learn more about monitor calibration at http://tinyurl.com/ywghes and http://tinyurl.com/22zwxb

We hope these ideas are helpful and wish everyone nothing but success. Thanks again, and feel free to email comments to julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com …. or leave a comment below.

The Daisy Scarf, $112.00

This week we have the pleasure of turning our eyes towards Thistle Downs Wool Design, a very cool store featuring unique woolen items made from sheep that this designer has raised herself!

When volunteering to be critiqued, this designer asked a very specific question: to model or not to model? Specifically, she wanted to know whether or not to use models in her store’s photography. In general, our answer is a very emphatic YES!!! Models are a great way to show how products look on a real person, and are an excellent way to add an element of style to what might otherwise be just product shots.

Here are a few things for everyone to remember when choosing models.

• Make sure the models are helping, not hurting. Models should compliment the style of your designs and show your products exactly as you wish them to be seen. So make sure your models fit the products (and appeal to the market you’re trying to reach.) Is your work fun and youthful? Reflect it in your choice of models and the attitude of the shots. Designing elegant evening wear for socialites? Seek out models that fit the look to a tee.

• Keep the focus on the products. When shooting with models, be sure to keep the focus on your products. Don’t let the model overwhelm the fashions themselves. It’s a delicate balance, but the goal should be for the model to enhance your designs, and exude the the type of personality that best describes your work.

• Models have to look incredible. Ok, it may sound a tad shallow but the final hint we have for choosing models is that they have to be amazing. Your models have to be attractive, enjoying the fashions and themselves, and very comfortable in front of the camera, or they will not be working in your favor.

Wool Lace, $88.00

So, on to Thistle Downs. We think her use of models is great - they’re very attractive, suit the items well, and inject a nice human element without drawing focus away from the fashions themselves. Nicely done, and we say the more the better!

We also feel that Thistle Downs does a very nice job of shooting with natural light, and it suits the feel of the wool products very well. For the most part, there is a nice selection of alternate views for each product.

As always, there are a few areas that could benefit from some new approaches. In the handbag shots, we’re not sure that the dark backdrops show the bags in their best light. They feel a little overly heavy, and perhaps could benefit from the outdoors, natural light approach that works so well in many of the shots (the “Saddle Bag” shots do an excellent job of moving in this direction.) These could also benefit from some alternate views, perhaps inside shots of the bags that show the lining or handle details.

We also see a little bit of focus issues in a lot of the shots … many don’t seem quite as razor-sharp as they could be. This could be a matter of the camera itself ( maybe changing the image quality setting) or possibly even as simple as experimenting with a tripod. Technical issues can be very easy to overcome, and can help image quality tremendously.

As a whole, we feel that Thistle Downs’ images could benefit from a bit more consistency across the whole line, perhaps a theme-based approach that reflects the origins of the products themselves and give a bit more of a glimpse into the background and processes involved. We love this designer’s work, are fascinated by her profile, and want to know MORE!! We want to feel the coast of Maine and the scenic Litchfield hills in the photographs.

Thanks for reading, and now we want to hear what you think! Please leave your comments and constructive criticism below, and we always love hearing from everyone. What do you think about this boutique? We know you have something to say … let us know what you think by either commenting below or emailing directly at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com. We are also running out of volunteer’s for the critique. Anyone interested in being next?