Learning Craft Photography

Discover how to stage, light, and photograph your handmade items in a way that maximizes their appeal to viewers and customers.

Introduction

• Welcome

1. Getting Familiar with the Camera

• Understanding aperture value and f-stops
• What is shutter speed?
• Using shutter priority and aperture priority
• What is ISO?
• Achieving the proper exposure
• Using depth of field
• Using point-and-shoot cameras

2. Basic Composition and Staging Tips

• Using the viewfinder to frame the image
• The power of negative space
• Creating lines to make compelling compositions
• Using and recognizing the rule of thirds
• Creating clean and zen images
• "How'd they do that?": Taking process shots
• The benefits of using models
• Shooting your crafts in the great outdoors
• Creating a "habitat" with site-specific shooting
• Anthropomorphizing: When, where, why?

3. Equipment List: Making and Buying Helpful Tools

• Tools for diffusing and reflecting light
• Getting resourceful with lighting options
• The joys of tripods and remote controls
• Project: Making a tabletop light box
• Project: Converting your kitchen into a studio
• Project: Converting your car's trunk into a mobile studio

4. Image Editing with Photoshop

• Cropping and rotating images
• Refining tone with Curves
• Correcting color balance
• Giving brightness a boost
• Removing clutter with the Clone tool

5. Compressing and Uploading

• Compressing images
• Using the cloud for image storage
• Tagging images for search engine optimization
• Sending high-resolution images

6. Uploading Images for Blogging, Selling, and Printing

• Selling your crafts
• Selling your shots
• Images for blogging
• Images for exposure websites
• Images for print
• Future scope and happy crafting