Tips for Taking Good Pictures of Crafts

[ErintheRed02]

I figured this was the place to post my question.  If not (or if it's been asked before), forgive me!

I was wondering what tips everyone has for taking good pictures of their finished crafts.  I've tried many different methods for taking pictures of the things I make (I predominantly crochet), but can never get them to look "professional" like other people do! 

It probably doesn't help that I don't have a fancy camera (it's a point and shoot, but it's really good quality) or know a whole lot about photography, but I figure there are some tricks that I don't know really know that could make my pictures look much better without getting a better camera (tips for good backgrounds, adding lighting specific for the photos, or camera settings maybe?)

Thanks in advance to anybody willing to offer some tips! 

[Ami_Mommy]

I used this tutorial:
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

After starting to use the light box I saw an instant difference in my photos with a few year old Nikon Coolpix point and shoot, often using the macro setting.

Heres a couple of my images for reference in the quality difference.


Before

After

[ErintheRed02]

Oooo!  That looks very helpful!  Thank you!

Only thing is I make a lot of hats and hat-sized objects so I'm either going to need a very large box for those items or will have to figure out another way.

[Ami_Mommy]

I understand that feat, since I too make hats. The box size I have is about 2'x2'which makes hat photos near impossible. I've been thinking of screwing together some 1x1s to make a box size suited to me since the sides need to be removed anyhow. I first attempted this project with a larger box nearly 3'x3' and after the cutting, the sides collapsed! x.x

I am in an apartment, so just the difference of the daylight mocking bulb made a big color difference! 

[jungrrl]

There are a couple of light box tutorials floating around...

Here's something probably too small for your items:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=279446.0

this might be too big:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=370453.0

Here's one targeted toward smaller items but still helpful
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=51642.0

This interview has links to all of the lightboxes that were on Craftster at the time, even those without tutorials:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=349514.0

This tag might also be helpful:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=tags;sa=showtopics;tag=product_photography

[itscribe]

I was reading an article before my computer crashed this morning, might have been the one already suggested and in the comments section someone mentioned using PVC pipe to create the frame of their light box. He didn't glue the joints so he could break it down for transfer. It would be a bit more pricey than using a cardboard box but it would have the added benefit of being storable if space is an issue.

[ErintheRed02]

Thank you everyone for the great links/ideas!

I'll definitely have to figure out some sort of large (and probably small as well) lightbox it looks like.  The PVC pipe thing is a great idea so I'm going to try and come up with something along those lines

[CrafterJames]

A lightbox is definetely the way to go. You also need the right kind of lightbulbs in them. They have to give off the right kind of light.

Use lightbulbs similar to these - http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/day-light-cfl-bulbs.aspx . They have a unit of measurement to measure the kind of light they give off and you want the ones that are daylight bulbs or 5000K, they simulate the light given off by the sun which is best for bringing out the true colour of an object. They will stock them in your local hardware store.

If you really want to go the extra mile you can get someone with photoshop to make the background pure white for you, as in the same colour white that shows up on a computer. I did this for my online craft store and the results are amazing. The images really do look professional. If you cant find someone with photoshop you can check out www.elance.com or www.odesk.com where you can hire someone to do it for you. Shouldn't cost more than a couple of dollars an image.

[unanimous_craft]

A friend of mine recommends setting up a lightbox and then pointing the lights up onto the top of the lightbox instead of shining it directly on the object - especially if the object you are trying to photograph is shiny.

This reflects the light down onto the object you are photographing but it won't show those white flash marks on your photo. This works great for objects that are shiny.

[ArtChick]

I recently saw a great blog post on creating some simple studio lighting that imitates natural light:
http://eyeballsbydaycraftsbynight.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/creating-a-simple-studio-for-photographing-your-crafts/