by Mo on August 8, 2011
We hope you made it to the McQueen exhibit at The Met. In our minds, it was one of those NY moments not to missed. Lee (Alexander) McQueen was the epitome of independent fashion; he elevated our craft to it’s highest level. To be in the presence of his handmade creations made our jaws drop at moments in awe. He is one of the greats that will be inspiring young designers for years to come. For a quick moment from our experience click on the image below and watch the shadows dance….
If you couldn’t make it, do yourself a favor and set aside some time to scroll through the curators selected images here.
Watch the shadows as she spins, click here
by Mo on May 17, 2011
by Mo on December 14, 2010
We met the fabulous Samantha Pleet back in September at the Yesterday’s News eco-fashion event in NYC. Last week we saw some familiar landscape images rolling before our eyes as Samantha uploaded photos from her recent trip to Iceland. We oooh-ed and ahhh-ed over these beautiful captures of her moments in that magical land of fire and ice – so inspiring. We know you are all out there working hard, so we wanted to make sure you also had a moment of inspiration. Samantha graciously agreed to share with us her photos, as well as her top five tidbits of advice on life as an independent fashion designer. Please feel free to comment and share any of your own mantras with us as well.
1. Be an individual. Its important to do your own thing so you will stick out from other designers.
2. Start small with an edited collection you don’t want to overwhelm the buyers.
3. Work really hard, if you are planning on starting your own line you should know that it will consume every aspect of your life.
4. Make sure you have ways to relax, take the time to do things like yoga, gardening, or cooking healthy foods.
5. Surround yourself with creative people such as photographers, stylist, artists and musicians you feel inspired by.
by admin on May 5, 2008
We are starting out our critique with a store called Isabella Smiles, a very cool boutique from a talented jewelry designer. We feel that this designer is doing a great job with the photos in their store. We always prefer to stress the positive, so here are a few pluses about this store:
Claire Earrings
Moonstone Bracelet
1. Well-chosen primary images - this designer consistently chooses their strongest shot as the primary image (which is important because the larger-sized primary are the ones we use for the homepage spots)
*see more about making your images homepage worthy in this previous post:
Homepage worthy post
2. Good use of scale and proportion – the designer indicates the size of the piece by having a hand in one of the alternate view shots (as well as having clear numeric descriptions in the text.)
3. Lots of shots – with every item there are a good variety of close up shots to show details and different angles. As always, the more shots, the better.
4. Nice drama and look – many of these images display a really nice use of selective/soft focus, with the background in these photos dropping out of focus, giving nice emphasis to areas in the foreground. This is a great way to isolate details!
*see more about focus in this post: Looking Sharp post
5. Good lighting and color – the images are for the most part very nicely lit, nice and even without any harshness or hot spots, showing nice consistency without any distracting color casts. Great work, and a good use of what appears to us to be natural light!
5. Great backgrounds – for the images that use backgrounds, they are very well chosen and lovely … interesting and complementary, abstract, simple, and not at all distracting.
The only suggestions that occur to us would be to possibly use at least one shot of a model wearing the jewelry for each item. A couple of images may be just a little soft on the focus, and the images of the Emma earrings are just a tad too backlit … a little more light falling on the front of these little beauties could really help bring out some detail and bring them out of the shadows.
All in all, Isabella Smiles has a very high level of quality in the photography that she chooses to represent her items, and there are lots of good things to learn from here … we think you will be seeing this person very soon on the homepage, and hope to see lots of new items from her very soon.
So, what do you think? Any comments or suggestions on Isabella Smiles? Would these images make you want to buy from this store? Is there anything that you as a consumer would want to see further that would help her out? Please feel free to let us know by either commenting below or emailing me directly at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com.
The idea of an open critique can be scary, but that wasn’t so bad, was it? 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.
by admin on February 11, 2008
It seems like a simple enough concept to grasp, but we’re amazed at how many photographs we see that are just plain blurry and out of focus. No matter how great your fashions may look in person, if your photographs are soft and blurry you won’t make sales … there’s just no substitute for a good photograph in web marketing!
Example…the images below are from the go robot! store. Notice how nice and sharp the first one is, and how much detail you can see. Doesn’t it just make you want to run and get your credit card? As compared to the second image where you can barely see it because it’s blurry. Who would want to buy that? They don’t have enough information to go from as to how fabulous it really is.
The core principles of focus in digital photography are just the same as they were on the old film cameras that those of us who have been around long enough used to use. Sharpness depends on three things: focus, shutter speed, and aperture. In the old days, these functions could be set manually (and with many digital SLRs still can be), but many digital cameras handle exposure and focusing automatically. For those of you using fully automatic cameras here’s how to get sharp focus every time:
1. Make sure you’ve got plenty of light. Most digital cameras rely on autofocus, which needs plenty of light to work properly, so make sure your products are well lit. At the same time, more light will allow your camera to use a faster shutter speed, which will also help keep your photos sharp. More light will also enable your camera to use a smaller aperture, which will increase the depth of focus in your shot (called depth of field.)
2. Use the right focusing mode. Many digital cameras offer a range of focusing modes, designed to function in different ways depending upon your type of subject, how close or far you are from it, and your lighting situation. Learn what your camera can do, and make sure you’re using the appropriate focusing mode.
3. Try a tripod. You’ve gone to great lengths to set your shot up and style your product so the image will look great. One of the easiest things you can do to ensure that your photo will be sharp is to simply mount your camera to a tripod. Blurry shots due to low shutter speeds will disappear, guaranteed!
Manual exposure settings
Go manual! If your camera has the capability for manual exposure control, you will have even greater flexibility to make sure your shot is in focus every time because you’ll be able to set aperture and shutter speed yourself. Shutter speed describes how long your camera’s shutter stays open to take the photo. It is expressed in fractions of a second. In general, it is difficult to hand-hold a camera at shutter speeds longer than 1/60 second without the image appearing blurry. Aperture is the term for the size of the opening that exposes the image, and the rule here is that the smaller the opening is, the more sharp your photo will be throughout the image. A small aperture allows more to be in focus in all areas of your photo, both in the foreground and in the background.
Check out your camera’s instructions to learn more about manual exposure and focus, and experiment LOTS!
by admin on January 28, 2008
Back again with more tips on making your digital photos look their best. Once you’ve gotten the resolution thing down (see last week’s blog post) it’s time to think about the thing that truly makes whatever you’re shooting look smashing … LIGHT, both how it falls on what you’re shooting, and how your camera sees it.
The first thing to consider is where your light is coming from. There’s no substitute for good, bright, lighting to show off every detail of your products. The first challenge may be getting around the little, tiny, light source that that most digital cameras have called the FLASH. The built-in flash on your camera can be absolute death to your shot … it produces an extremely harsh light that can blow out all details (we’ve all seen those “hot spots”), make harsh shadows, and create a very unflattering effect on your shots, especially close-ups and reflective or metallic items.
So get to know your camera … read the manual, and see if there is a way to turn off the built-in flash, or if your camera has a shooting mode that works without it .
So what’s the best way to get good light? Almost always, indoor lighting can produce objectionable color casts (most notably, fluorescent lights look green and tungsten lights look yellow or orange) and if the color in your shots just doesn’t look good sometimes the easiest answer is right outside your door in the form of natural light. A nice sunny day outside can be great for shooting.
Setting up the shot
Another huge consideration is how to best position your products in the light that you have to work with. The most important thing to remember here is that you want the light falling evenly on your product to show the most detail. Usually this means that your source of light should be to the front, or slightly off to one side. Side lighting can create some drama and add a bit of dimension to your shots, but be careful … the side that is receiving less light can fall into dark shadow, obscuring detail and creating a harsh contrast.
One thing you’ll generally want to avoid is backlighting, where the light is coming from behind what you’re shooting … this situation will generally result in your product being darker than the background. Never a good thing!
NOTE: As with all our tips…this is a very simplified and basic approach. We are in no way saying that this is exactly how everyone should do things. This is just a basic starting point. If you have any specific areas you would like to know more about for your photos please feel free to email us at: trishandjulie(at)smashingdarling.com
