by admin on July 21, 2008
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.
by admin on May 26, 2008
There’s much to commend in the Broken Teepee Designs Boutique from Montana … we don’t know about the teepee, but we don’t see much that’s too broken here!
First, we love seeing this much product in a boutique – there’s lots for shoppers to see here and plenty of places to look to find something special. We also absolutely love this designer’s item descriptions. They have a very personal feel and are colorful, fun, and engaging – the perfect complement to the style of the jewelry. The photography has a good degree of consistency (especially on the main images), and the designer has made very good use of alternate views – almost every image has LOTS of alternate shots to look at.
In terms of the photography, there are a few things that pop into our minds here at the SmashingDarling world headquarters that could help to set this boutique apart:
1. Carry the style though – As we mentioned, we feel that this boutique has a great thing going with the intertwining of the style of the jewelry with the marvelous descriptions. These two elements working so well together creates a colorful personality for this boutique and lays the foundation for some excellent branding opportunities. To that end, the first thing that we would recommend is to carry that style through to the photos themselves. To us, the jewelry has a fun, colorful look with a strong connection to nature that we feel could be continued into the photography more effectively than it is. Many of the images use a gray backdrop with a fade to black that just seems a little somber for these vivacious little gems.
Our suggestion would be to really play up the personality of the jewelry in ways that start to create a unique branding for the store. Don’t weigh colorful pieces down with heavy, dark-toned backgrounds. Get them out into light, try higher key shots that are brighter and more airy. Maybe even try more earthy backgrounds that relate to Montana and reinforce that strong tie to nature – think stone, sun-bleached wood, rough-hewn fabrics, and other simple, natural elements. Remember, though, that the key with backgrounds is not to go over the top – they should always enhance the shot and create a stage for the product, not overwhelm it.
Sea Dreams Earrings
2. Show us your softer side – In terms of lighting, many of the images in the boutique seem to be just a bit of harsh side … hard edged light, strong dark shadows, and often a very angular light quality that appears to come from a small light source. While hard light and deep shadows can certainly be used to create drama in a shot, we’re not sure that they’re very well suited to the jewelry’s personality here. What we would recommend is using a large light source like a softbox (B and H Photo is a great start), or otherwise diffusing the light that’s falling on the jewelry to help create more evenness and soft shadows.
One inexpensive way to get that soft light quality without a ton of special lighting equipment is to photograph jewelry in a light dome or PortaCube. These products essentially create little pockets of soft, diffused light for you to set up your products in (almost like having a tiny, all-white studio.) Check out Calumet Photo’s products: Click here
Lady Slipper Necklace
3. Sharper Images- Lastly, we notice that a fair number of the images are not especially sharp. This could be a very, very easy fix – as simple as shooting with a tripod or making sure that you’re shooting at a narrrow enough aperture. If you find that you just can’t get those razor-sharp images that you’d like even with a tripod, you may find it’s time to upgrade your camera. All lenses (and cameras) are not created equally!
Flirtier Bracelet
Again, congratulations to the great start that Broken Teepee Designs is off to, and we hope that these ideas might really help to create a unique identity for this boutique. So what does everyone else think? Give us something good! As always, we can’t wait to hear from you and hope that our ideas are helpful. Let us know by either commenting below or emailing directly at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.
by admin on May 19, 2008
Third time’s a charm, they say, and we’re absolutely charmed by this designer’s luscious jewelry. We’d like to begin this critique with some correspondence we received from her. Natha writes:
When people see my jewelry in person and see the quality and craftsmanship, I make many sales quickly, but my web sales are really slow … I would like some ideas on what to do to make it easier for and encourage customers to purchase from me. My photography is professional but does it show the jewelry in it’s best light?
We think her comments are right on target and reflect what a lot of designers new to electronic media and internet marketing have experienced. Getting people to buy something when they can’t hold it in their hands and see it on takes a lot of work, and good photography, we feel, is absolutely key. That’s what these critiques (and the photo tips in earlier blog postings) are all about!
To kick things off, Luscious Metals is to be commended for a high degree of consistency in the boutique images, and the choice to go with clean, clutter-free backgrounds can be a very pure and professional look that brings out the best in metallic objects. The descriptions are clear and well-written, too. This boutique is off to a very good beginning, and the designer has clearly put a lot of effort into producing good photos, many with a good mix of alternate views and strong model shots.
That said, here are a couple ideas for how they could kick the imagery up a notch:
1. White it out – Our first recommendation (which is true for everyone) is if you’re going to use the high-key look, make sure the background is pure white. A number of the images in this boutique are more towards the gray, and unfortunately these end up looking a tad muddy. To make those sparkly metals pop, it’s gotta be pure white. The good news is that this is a very simple adjustment to make in Photoshop (and if you’re using a professional photographer, he/she could definitely take care of this for you easily.)
Starlight Necklace
2. Dimensionality – One of the most important considerations when shooting against white (especially with small items such as jewelry) is to be sure to keep things from looking too flat. In this case, many of the items in this boutique look as if they have been shot from directly straight-on (or overhead) angle, with the product resting directly on the backdrop. While this is great for showing detail, often this approach can lack a little bit of dimension and “dramatic” feel. What we would recommend first is to mix it up a bit … try different angles, and experiment with focus and depth of field to isolate detail. Another approach that may be worth trying would be to move the jewelry out a bit from the backdrop and make the lighting a bit more angular, using directional lighting to cast a soft shadow and add a little depth (while still keeping that high-key look that you’ve established.)
Circle and Bar Earrings
3. Get a little closer – Come on, don’t be shy. Seriously, though, we feel that the images in this boutique could benefit from a little bit less white in places, and a tighter focus on the product. Get that lens in as close as possible, and crop excess background out as necessary … don’t forget that the focus is the product and too much empty space can cause your product to get a bit lost.
Message Bar Necklace
We hope that these ideas might start some wheels turning (not to mention sales!) and we again thank Natha Perkins for allowing us to take a close look at her boutique. As always, our comments are meant with the greatest respect and we appreciate the work that you ALL put into making your boutique the best it can be! Anybody out there have more to add? 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?
