Setting up for Sucess

Why bother to shoot your own products if your not going to take the time to be SUCCESSFUL! The point to having photo's is to showcase your images, so people can see what they are buying right? So let's make sure we have the tools we need to from this....

To this!

Product Provided by: Crafty Gal Creations

Depending on your product, and set up you need to think about how the light will hit the items, what part will reflect, what shadows can be created, and what adjustments do you need to make so you don't see shadows, as well as making sure each part is shown, and showcased the best it can be.

There are a few secrets to this.

1. Tweezers are your friend. I use these to place each stone, bead and chain in just the right place.
2. Cleaning cloth. I use my soft clothes from cleaning my lens to polish stones and remove any finger prints, fibers or dust that may be on a product
3. Cotton Gloves. These are so I don't get new finger prints on items as I am working on them. They are special gloves from the photo lab, same quality that they use when handling negatives. You can also use latex or even finger cots (found in the bandage section of your drug store). I never cared for them, but its a viable option.
4. Time. Don't try to do this in a rush
5. Stable work area. Placing product on a table that can be bumped or with a fan moving in the room can be a nightmare...please save yourself the headache.

Now, if you have been following along in this series we have covered...

Why you want to shoot with a CAMERA

Backgrounds: Part 1 Part 2 and Part 3

Finding the right location for your home studio

Finding the right light

White Balance

Setting up your DIY studio*

and now, collecting the tools to success.

Which brings us to product placement, posing, and perspective.

These will be our focus this week! Be sure to come back!

*I have delayed the release of the DIY studio available light - as well as a followup to the Dollar Store studio due to (of all things) TIME to shoot the images for them! I hope to get the images done this week and fit them back into the schedule - but I wanted to make sure you still had some great information to chew on this week! For now, you can view the First part of the Dollar Store Studio from the link above - it gives you some basic guidelines and some very helpful tips!

This and That: Easter

Good Morning! Did you miss me?




This morning is the Easter Party and egg hunt at the lil' ones school - She is SO excited. Mostly because she gets to show off her new super cute "pop star" outfit. That, was how this post should have started... last week.

Sorry about that! I had it all ready to go, and was waiting for images to upload when I got super busy... and bam... before you knew it... here we are, a week later! I even had to push some DIY studio posts back because I am missing images for them... =( hopefully we will get caught up next week for you!

This week I tried out a new recipe for the crock-pot... do you use yours? I LOVE mine! I read a post last week about doing Easter Ham in it... why have I never thought of that! So I did ours... it was GREAT... mostly because we were not cooking for a crowd.

This year, again we are away from friends and family and that makes our holiday's "small-a-days" so I picked up ham for the crockpot and made a nice honey pomegranate glaze for it. We also enjoyed balsamic carrots, and smashed potatoes... I also made deviled egg salad... rather then taking the time to make individual eggs. Again.. BRILLIANT!  


This week I wish I could say I spent a ton of time catching up on posts, and working on adding more images... did you know I average 5 images per post... but I am simply not finding the extra time. I am trying to go back and do 2 posts a day. That is my goal! So if your reading something and it makes no sense because there are not images... please let me know! I will do it the next chance I get!

This is an image of my FAB new bag from Zeeuh that I have been DYING to share with you all... she made it custom for me... it was a great experience working with Alicia.. she provided me with some great fabric options and even met me for some CRAZY good ice cream and coffee to hand deliver it! Talk about good service! Along with my new bag came a matching mug hug! EEK! Wont I look stylish going to appointments and networking meetings now! Oh, and that cute wallet (the back side is shown) that is a little goodie I picked up for myself around the holidays!

That is the mug-hug that started it all... I LOVE this color combo!


And this is an image of the cute gift card holder ... that I use for my cards - its super cute! Just look! (ok those are her cards shown... but really that's the right thing to do!)

I am telling you THAT is a woman YOU want to do business with! Great products, sweet person and really... you make a difference in her families lives directly when you make a purchase from her... so HOW can you say no to that!

Zeeuh Store

This week I also had the EXTREME pleasure of guest posting on the A-list site... I LOVE the A-list, which is really a collection of fantastic shops and people to do business with! I worked very hard on this guest post! It was a true labor of love for me. (ok... this again was last week... but I am SO happy about it I still had to share!)

That was really the highlight of my work week!


This week I have also been thinking alot about a new service I want to offer... I am having a hard time with a name - but its basically going to be my version of a product review (with a photo twist, of course!) That means if you make / sell your own products... you can contact me to be first in line! While I am still working out some details... I know it will be FREE and SIMPLE!

PhotoTrek: Butterfly Pavillion Denver

Not so long ago we took out annual extended vacation to Denver to visit friends and family. While we did several wonderful adventures there, one of my favorites was a quick afternoon trip with my mom and daughter to the Butterfly Pavilion.

Located in Westminster, if your from Denver you know this place, if your not and looking for a quick afternoon activity it's a great place to hang out!  Now, I went here maybe 10 years ago or so, and I left saying "really, thats all?" since then they have beefed up some exhibits, added in a kid play room complete with a learning maze.. cute idea! They also now have a large creepy crawly room host to loads of spiders, bugs and these bazaar things that look like sticks... I'm not big on this room - but my daughter loved it... of course. There was also a new small room which displays some fish, stingrays, and starfish which you can touch... now I know "whhhat?" - but this ties to a partnership with the Butterfly Pavilion and the Denver Aquarium - plus its a nice feature to get kids hand on with nature.In fact, I have to say the best part was the interaction with the kids. While I enjoyed it from a photographers perspective, watching my daughter interact was by far the best part!

The butterfly room is small and you sometimes have to work around other photographers and viewers in order not to have someone in your shot. But patience pays off. If you know me you know I am not a nature photographer, I DON'T have the patience for that, waiting for something to land or for the light to be right just is not my thing, much less working around other people all trying to do the same thing. However, even with my limited investment of time I found some great stock images, along with some very cute memories.

PhotoTrek Review: 7 out of 10 Camera

We went on a Tuesday afternoon expecting it not to be super busy, and while there were only about 40 people, the tight spaces made it hard to maneuver or camp out a spot. Just when the butterfly would land, someone would turn the corner causing it to fly off.

Equipment Suggested:  Macro lens, with a large aperture. No flash. I would HIGHLY recommend a camera bag as they have misters and high humidity which could cause camera damage if your not prepared.

All images are ©Verte Photography. 

If you would like to own them or use them as stock photography please contact me for options.