Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Couple Of Updates

Ok first off, I am sooo sorry for not posting the continuation of my story. I promise to get back to it soon, probably this weekend. This is how it is for me. I don't have writers block I have lazy block. I WILL finish this story though, in a timely manner.

The other thing is that I finally got my order of push-up style sticks for putting body butter in them. Solid butter that is, like cocoa and mango butter with a bit of massage oil and some scent. Just in time for the winter, so look for that to pop up in my store window over to the right of your screen. In case you didn't know that is a clickable link to my Etsy store and you may go there to puruse my online store.

Until Next Time!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Trying Something New With Pics

Okay so I have been thinking about trying out something different for my pictures. I have been taking them on a light wood surface using only natural light. I like the outcomes but find that I am limited in the angles I can take pics at because my other "scenery" isn't flattering in such pictures. I take them in the kitchen and no one wants to see my microwave clash with the soap! So here are a couple pics of the Almond Biscotti soap that isn't yet ready for sale. The first ones are with the natural light:

I like those pics because they are clear. What I don't like about them is that you can see where the table meets the wall in the background. I think this brings the reality out of just where I am taking these pics at which is what I don't want. I think a good product shot makes you wonder just how and where a shot like that can come from. The other thing that hit me about the pictures here is that this particular shot does not render the true soaps color. Here it looks strikingly similar to my White Ginger and Amber soap, and the two are quite distinct from one another. They do not look alike at all.

So I decided to make a real quick bootleg light box. I already had some foam board that I bought a while ago that I cut into four pieces. I took a small lamp and took its shade off and somehow got it to prop up against the microwave that it also on the table out of view. I had to go edit the pics to get a truer color and make it look a little better. Here they are of the same soap.



What I like about these shots is that the color is more true. It would be perfect if not for the fact that the "seams" where the two pieces of board meet are still visible. This is easily remedied by getting one piece of white poster board and propping it up to achieve the seamless look in so many nice photos. This is my really quick version of a poor man's lightbox. I guess it came out okay. I'll have to see how my other soaps photograph before I implement a change like this. If I do change one I'll have to change then all accordingly. There's nothing I hate more than an Etsy shop who pics are not tied together via a common theme. Be it background or whatever. I NEED consistency in my shop. I think especially with bath and body pictures, they need to be congruous with each other, not mixed up.