Photos & Photobucket & Unwelcome Changes

A few years ago I made a decision for my blog which now turns out to have been an almighty error and will take me many hours to fix. Of course, I didn't know it was an error at the time and thought it was the right thing to do. I'd read it on a blog, you see, on more than one blog, so obviously it was a good decision. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, I now discover.

What did I do?

I decided to move the hosting for images on my blog to another platform, which would then relay the images to my blog. I'm sure part of my reasoning for doing this was the battles I often seemed to have with Blogger (my blogging platform) and a feeling that a different way of managing visual content on my blog might be a fix.

And it was until now. I developed a system of editing my photos, shrinking the size, and then uploading them to the web and linking them to the blog post in question. Sorted and relatively simple.

The platform I chose to host my images was/is Photobucket, one that was often mentioned and recommended by those helpful blogs I read. Photobucket have recently, and abruptly, changed their terms and conditions, and the service of hosting images on other sites has gone up from free to $399.99 per year. Pretty much overnight. And retrospectively, meaning that all the images I've previously uploaded using their service will most likely disappear at some point to be replaced by an image like one of these.

In fact, you may well have seen this image on other blog, auction sites, craft sites, and chat forums, as I was not alone in using Photobucket for image hosting and am also not alone in finding the new cost prohibitive and the rapid introduction of it, with no warning, a little lacking in courtesy.

I'm going to slowly move my images away from Photobucket and have decided to let Blogger handle them again and see whether a few years break has given me a bit more experience and/or allowed Blogger to iron out any of those glithes I used to experience.

So if you visit one of my older posts (all posts after this one should be fine and dandy) and discover the images are looking a little typographical, shall we say, then the reason will be that I've not got around to fixing those ones yet. But I will.

A lot of people have been very angry at Photobucket for both the introduction of the change with no warning or preamble, and the price of it - from what I've read this seems to be quite a high price for this type of service. I'm frustrated and disappointed but some of the reading I've done on the topic has been interesting - a frequently held view is that we've come to expect the web to be free (I'm talking about the content here - I'm well aware  that line rental, broadband access, and the devices used to actually get online are all rather expensive and a long way from free and get slightly annoyed when some people don't appreciate those costs are not insignificant - but I digress) and yet much of it isn't and that much of it is used to generate income, jobs and wages. The theory is that advertising, which was meant to help keep things online free, isn't covering the costs companies and business need it to and that other avenues are being explored.

I can't really argue with someone wanting to be paid for a service, and if I find the cost too high, as I do here, then I can choose to walk away, which is what I'm doing. Yes, it's annoying. The rules have been changed, and fast. And yes, it is going to take me a lot of time and effort to ensure my images will display correctly. But it seems the web is perhaps a more fickle place than I previously thought and so I will bear that in mind in my future interactions with it...

This also shows how important it is for all of us who use images online to back them up and remember that they're our responsibility to look after. This also goes the same for blog posts and probably nearly anything at all you put online - it's wiser not to trust that it will always be accessible to you, with terms and conditions that don't alter and systems that don't change. If it matters to you then keep a copy (or ideally two).

If you've also been directly affected by this, then you have my sincere sympathy. Unfortunately I know of only two options - either pay the subscription or do what I'm doing and slowly and painfully move your images. After a little searching I have found a detailed post from blogger Lauren Wayne about how she's trying to deal with the problems created, which is worth a read.

In the meantime, thanks for reading this and please bear with me while I update those photos.

A Vantage Point of Light and Flowers

At this time of year light is increasingly present in the lengthening days; it feels like a balm after the long nights of winter. A sunny morning, the lighter evenings both send more natural light into our lives. And light always matters to a jeweller, whether it's finding enough to see those tiny jump rings, keeping it dull enough to be able to solder in (I had to shut a gloriously sun-drenched morning out recently as I couldn't see the flame from my torch in the light), or having bright but diffused light in which to photograph the finished creation.

Light is also the name of an internet startup whom I've been in contact with. It's also the name of their camera, which is of course so logical (since cameras are all about light) that I'm surprised no one has thought of it before now.

Along with other bloggers, from a variety of fields and interests, I've been asked to share a Vantage Point that matters to me, somewhere I find inspiring and beautiful. I've chosen gardens, mine specifically. But, in general, any one that has a profusion of plants is enough to prompt me to reach for my camera.

The photograph I've shown here is of a flower from an azalea plant that was given as a gift. When I looked through my archives I realised that so many of the photos of plants are actually images of flowers, ways of getting up close to them so the colour, texture, and the very structure of them is the subject of the photo and nothing else. I guess this fascination with the form of the small is reflected in much of my jewellery too. My creations tend to be petite and delicate-looking rather than big and bold. In both plants and jewellery, it's the detail of the tiny that interests me.

I don't have a particularly advanced camera and tend to use very little equipment so natural light matters a lot to my outside photography. Whether it's sunlight filtered through leaves or a cloudy day, natural light isn't always easy to use but it is an endlessly interesting challenge. The azalea image was taken on a cloudy day which had bursts of bright winter sunshine; some of the other images I took are a little more muted than the one I eventually chose.

When I'm next able to indulge in a new camera I will look at the Light model. It's price is pretty high-end and it is, at present, only available to those who've already pre-ordered them, although you can sign up for more information. But with the amount of features, including the ability to work well in low light and a feature that lets you change your area of focus after the photograph has been taken , fitted into a device around the size of a smart phone it is closer to a DSLR than a point-and-shoot style of camera.

So, today, my Vantage Point is my garden. Tomorrow it could be the seaside or a woodland. Quite often it's my mini jewellery photography studio. And at others times it's a snap taken from a car window that just happens, when I look at it later, to have captured entirely the mood I was hoping it would, with colours, textures, atmosphere and, of course, light, all just perfect.

Do you have a Vantage Point, somewhere you return to either to challenge your photography or to allow you just to enjoy how it photographs for you? If so, then feel free to share.

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NB. Whilst I was contacted by Light and asked to take part in their Vantage Point project I am otherwise not connected with them and the links in my post are not affiliate links.

August Break - Farewell...

August Harvest...

Okay. So the August Break theory of posting a photo a day, or near enough, hasn't been that much of a rip-roaring success, on this blog at least.

Mitigating circumstances - house guests, twice in one month = general exhaustion Some days, by the evening, it's been all I could do to just stay awake, let alone turn the computer on... and setting time aside to take photographs seemed equally impossible much of the time.

But that doesn't mean I haven't found the 'break' interesting and inspiring. For one, I got to find some wonderful new blogs via the August Break Flickr group.

And for two, I kind of figured out that a short blog post can be just as interesting, informative and 'readable' as a longer one. Now I have been guilty in the past of making my posts too long. I know this, even as I've been writing them, but have still ploughed on, saying what I wanted/needed to, thinking that because I could find the words then it was okay to write them. But this month has taught me that, at least sometimes, a few words, perhaps with a photo, is just enough...

For three, it's got me using Flickr again.

Oh, and for four. Not all my photos have to be close-ups of plant-life...

August Break - Day 19

Sometimes I go out and I have my camera and I'm somewhere interesting and yet I still find that by the time I get home again I've taken no photographs at all and am wondering just how that happened...

This has been a common theme lately, rather ironically when I am taking part in a photo blog situation...

However I am saved by a slightly earlier photo from last month today...

... I am also noticing a distinct, if unintentional, theme in my photo choices for the August Break... Nature...

August Break - Day 8

The days are creeping by and I'm not posting, nor taking, as many photos as I hoped I would. But I'm trying to relax into the month and just do what I can. Today may be a selfie but with wet hair and having just consumed, rather rapidly, a supermarket ice-cream cornet, I'm going to skip that prompt...

Here's some more nature instead...

August Break - Day 5

I've been a little slow in starting my August Break, and so far I've failed to follow any of the prompts, although today I'm a little nearer as the prompt is "close up". Flowers are a love of mine at any time of year, but a true joy in the middle of summer...

I'm also using this as an opportunity to get to know Flickr again, after spending quite a time away from it... Hope your August Break is good...

How to Photograph Handmade Jewellery - part 4

Here, at last, is part four of the How to Photograph Handmade Jewellery series. This post covers photographic styling, and where to find inspiration.

(If you fancy reading my previous posts on this topic then check out part one, part two, and part three through the links. You can also find them in my new Photography page, along with some other posts about photographing jewellery.)

Styling

Jewellery is made to be worn. So do give some thought to the idea of styling and photographing your jewellery on a model. A major advantage of using a model is that it gives the potential buyer a clear idea of how the jewellery will look when worn, and the way it hangs or lays. It’s also the easiest way to convey the actual size of a piece of jewellery. I guess if money is no object, the this is the way to style your jewellery...

I confess, I’ve not done this much and when I have attempted it, it’s never gone that well. The reason for this is probably that it’s better to find a friend to model for you while you take photos, than to try to be both model and photographer...

If you can't or would rather not use a model, then you can choose whether to lay your jewellery flat, to artfully arrange it over a prop, or to display it suspended, either on a visible hanger, or with some clear fishing-line or something like stretch magic - check out this tutorial if you fancy the invisible approach.

I tend to photograph my jewellery arranged over something in order to include some angles - I find laying it flat decreases how three dimensional it looks.

Styled with a prop...

and without

Whilst I’m increasingly experimenting with suspending jewellery for photographs, it can be quite time-consuming and frustrating to stop the dreaded swaying-in-the-slightest-breeze issue! Plus, getting things to dangle well when they’re hanging can be very awkward. Jewellery, when worn, tends to lean against something, either skin or clothing, and it very rarely lies static. Longer earrings often hang, to at least some extent, but the movement of an earring being worn, the sway as the wearer moves, is hard to capture in a photograph whilst also showing the earrings themselves clearly. I’m hoping that, with practice, my images of suspended earrings will improve.

Earrings suspended on wire...                                    and arranged flat on a prop.

Inspiration


Look at the internet and use it as a tool for inspiration. Trawl through Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda, and any other online retailer you can find that ideally sells work similar to yours. Look at online retailers that sell only one jeweller’s work, and then at markets that sell a wide variety. Spend a while on Pinterest (you could start here) and Flickr.

A few inspiring pins from one of my Pinterest boards

Create a folder of photos that attract you, try and figure out why they do so, and then see if you can integrate some of what they’re doing into your own photos. Drop someone a polite email and ask them how they achieved a particular effect. People are normally flattered by such contact. Use the web as a source of inspiration because it is also your marketplace.

Also, look in print catalogues and magazines, and see how professionals chose to show the jewellery. Be aware though that printed media is not the same as digital media but see if you can find ideas that you can translate into your own images.


The Digital Difference

People have a variety of settings on their computers, phones, tablets. Different operating systems, browsers, and screen resolutions all affect how an image looks. The image you yourself see on the screen in front of you will almost certainly not look the same on another machine because of the variety of potential settings available and the end result of any given combination. With the increase in devices to view the internet on, the chances that someone is seeing your photo the way you do, has dramatically decreased.

All you can do is take the best image you can, and display the colours and textures as honestly as possible, but it's important to be aware of the potential problems this issue raises. I had a customer who was surprised at the colour of a bead on a necklace bought from me. To me, the image I was using of the bead looked to replicate it very well. But the customer may have viewed the necklace on a machine with very different settings.

If at all possible, look at your images on more than one computer, tablet, laptop or phone. In fact, use all devices you have access to, and borrow others if you can. Whilst it is impossible to make an image render correctly on every device, with every potential variation of display, the more you understand about the common differences, the more you can allow for them when taking your photographs, and editing those images.

I hope this was helpful - do let me know!

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Part One on cameras and close-ups
Part Two on focus and lighting
Part Three on location, themes and backgrounds

Also, keep a look out for my forthcoming ebook covering in far more depth how to photograph handcrafted jewellery.

Inspiration - Winter

November and December have brought a lot of rain and a few frosty days. Christmas shopping has been hard, but it's done and (most) gifts are wrapped. I'm trying, now, to enjoy a little of that Christmas feeling, trying not to miss it in the rush and bustle and things-to-do chaos that can easily descend at this time.
  
Here's some photos I've taken in the last couple of months.

Hope you've enjoyed the chaos and cold a little this winter!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers and fellow bloggers!

Inspiration - Autumn

September merged into October, and suddenly it's November and officially autumn and cold enough to be winter. Here's a few photos I took through September and October, things that caught my eye and inspired me, made my heart sing a little, and made me laugh.

Click on the images to see them larger and in a slideshow -  it's a little slow to load, mind.




Hope you enjoyed your late summer early autumn months too.

How to Photograph Handmade Jewellery - part 3

Previously I've covered some of the basics of photographing jewellery, and how to light shots. This time I'm going to look at how location choice can save you work and time, and how creating themes for your jewellery can improve the look of the final images.

Location, location, location

A perfectly crafted piece of jewellery deserves to look its best, and so the setting up of photos is a crucial part of the process. Once you have found how to design your photos in a way that you’re happy with, then you’re well on your way to having a photography process or workflow which will enable you to whizz through jewellery photo sessions.

First, try and find a suitable place to take your photos. If you’re lucky enough to be able to leave your photography set-up in place then I envy you! Chances are you’ll need to have somewhere to store all the different elements you’ll need for each session, so try and keep them together and close to the place you’ll take your photos.

Of course, these are hints designed to make things a little easier, and most definitely not rules. If you fancy using a different spot each time you take photos then go right ahead. However, if you prefer to use one particular location then spend some time taking photos in a variety of places, for example on a well-lit table or, my personal favourite, on a window sill, until you find the best situation for you. Some people take photos outside and that can work well if you can rely on it not raining (not so tricky in the UK for much of the year ...).



Dream on a theme


Creating themes for your photographs is an ideal way of also creating continuity in your work, and a unified look for your shopfront and gallery images.

Theming your photos can be simple or complicated. I try to keep it simple by often positioning my jewellery on one or more large stones. (I have a small collection, created for this purpose.) Their rough surface contrasts with the shine of the silver, and I like the subtle colours that (I hope) don’t detract from the jewellery. My theme is the difference of unrefined natural stone with the refined silver and gemstones I use. This reflects some of the natural and organic aspects I try and integrate into my work.

I also use wood as a prop and find, again, the contrast between natural and polished surface a good contrast (see image further down page).

Some craftspeople create collections of jewellery and style themes for each collection. For example, I often use hearts in my work, and so I could, if I chose, photograph all my heart inspired jewellery on a red background, to indicate love and romance. I also create quite a few leaf designs, and so I could chose to always photograph these on the open pages of a vintage book on nature.

However, I chose not to do this for reasons of simplicity but it is a valid choice to make, and many people use the idea of theming their work to add interest to their photographs, and to create a brand identity. But that’s getting into the field of marketing and we’re just dealing with photography here.

Another alternative is to let your imagination run riot with each individual piece of jewellery you create, especially if you’re creating highly detailed and intricate works of art. If something has taken you many hours to make then don’t let it down at the last by failing to invest time and imagination into the presentation. A careful photographic study of a piece of jewellery can only enhance it.



Backgrounds


Often the simplest background is best, and the simplest choice for jewellery is a white background. This can be card or paper, or even cloth (although beware of tiny fabric threads on your work when taking close-up shots).

From personal experience I've found that black is a poor choice for a background colour. I experimented with this once and the high shine of the silver blurred against the black, and even seemed to bleed onto it. It was a disaster.

Silver photographed on a black background. Not good.

Silver photographed on stone. Rather better.

I sometimes see black backgrounds used in professional photo shoots for jewellery, but I think it takes far more equipment and know-how to make that type of high contrast photography work than I possess of either. My advice is, if you're looking to keep things simple, to steer clear of black backgrounds.


Following on from the principal of theming your photos, it can also be effective to be adventurous when choosing a background to place your work on. I use stones, as I’ve said, but some people use slate, leaves, or other natural items that contain texture. I've used pine cones on occasion, quite successfully, I felt.

Another popular trend, which I think works very well, is to use a book, either its cover or internal pages. Vintage books seem to work best, perhaps because of the texture they tend to have, and the contrast between that surface and the finish of the polished or highly-worked jewellery.

A jewellery box can be a wonderful prop, giving perhaps a vintage feel or a modern one. Make it clear in your description it’s not included in the price! And ensure it doesn’t detract from the jewellery by dominating the image. Chose large props with care.

Paying attention to the background is very important, whatever you decide to include in it. The background will always have an impact on the foreground. Either chose to make the background invisible (i.e. white), or decide on something bolder. But make the decision work for you by choosing carefully, and using with good lighting and deliberate focus on the jewellery itself.

Wood works (as a prop)

Sell your props!


Props don’t have to be purely aesthetic. Whilst it may be distracting and confusing to use other pieces of jewellery (although, for example, showing earrings that match a necklace, or vice versa, can be useful, especially if the other item is also for sale), as long as your prop enhances the overall image, then it can be interesting for the potential buyer to see, for example, the box that your jewellery will be packaged in. Including this as a prop to support your jewellery on, perhaps just in one of your photos, is a nice touch that inspires confidence in the overall buying experience.

Thanks for reading. Next time, I shall dwell a little longer on how to style jewellery, and will also look at where to find inspiration, and how to create a simple workflow to make photographing jewellery less time consuming.

~~~~

Do check out my other posts with ideas and hints on how to photograph jewellery -
Part One on cameras and close-ups
Part Two on focus and lighting
Part Four on styling and inspiration

Also, keep a look out for my forthcoming ebook covering in far more depth how to photograph handcrafted jewellery.

More items listed . . . and a first Folksy sale!

I've listed a few more pieces on Folksy today, although not as many as I would have done as I needed to take some more photos and the weather has bee so dull and abysmal that the natural light just isn't up to it. Must make one of those handy white boxes I've read about . . . although I don't know how much that'll help with the light. Hmm.

But some more listings anyway.

And my first Folksy sale came on Thursday, just before I was heading out to my silversmithing class! One of my leaf pendants, which always attract attention.



I've another finished and one, a smaller one, as a work in progress but nearly done. I've also a tiny one nearly finished, and some potential tiny ones to create. They're all individual which can make them tough to part with . . .

But I've listed one of my silver ladies



and if I can part with them then I can part with anything!

Progress is slow right now though, with Christmas shopping seeming to take several years to finish . . .

Photos sorted! Big sigh of relief . . .

Yes, my photos are looking a lot better now. Phew.

Many thanks to a couple of fellow Folksians who were generous with time and expertise in helping me figure out just what I was doing wrong. It was kind of obvious really. Ahem. But these things often are.

Anyway, check out the wonderful shops of Paperleaf and Random Hamster, both of whom are true stars and sell lovely stuff too!

More listed

More items listed now. A bit tricky getting the hang of the cropping of photos. And I'm not happy with the quality of the photos I'm using anyway, although some seem better than others.

Hmm.

I've had a go at sorting things out but it's not gone too well. Or rather, I haven't been able to get the results I want. Google is all fine and dandy when you know exactly the right words to use . . . !