Lights, Camera, Etsy! Lightboxes and the Right Camera for Etsy Success

When I go back to my first photos on Etsy I can feel nothing but shame. I am sure a 4th grader was helping me way back in 2009. At least that is what the end results of those early photos show.

Fast forward to 2011 and I am all grown up (Etsy photography-wise). My photos show it and I could not be happier.  The pot of gold at the end of the Etsy photo rainbow includes two items that are the "Must Haves" in the world of Etsy. A Lightbox and the RIGHT Camera.

At left is an early photo, with the Fuji JX250 Camera, no lightbox. AUGH!





 


 This is a link to a great "How To" on building your own inexpensive lightbox. How to make a lightbox

This is my finished lightbox made for less than $20.00. And below is the kind of photos you get with it using my new camera!

 Fuji cameras are budget friendly, and they may be great for outdoors shots of people and animals; but for close-up, jewelry photography....they just don't make the cut. After just a few months of use, they start to blur out on the "Micro" setting. So I took  my $150.00 budget and went looking for the right camera.

What I found was a dream of a camera, the Sony Cybershot DSC-W570. 16.1 Mega pixels, 5X zoom,  with white balance and a little setting called "Gourmet Food" that is the perfect setting for close up, "Oh My Gawd!", jewelry shots like this....

So don't let your budget keep you from thinking you can't have million dollar photos in your Etsy shop. Not only is it not true, but the resulting increase in sales will more than pay for that $109.00 camera and $20.00 magic little lightbox!


~ Dr Brassy

Coffins, Coffins, Everywhere-I am just dying to get my hands on them!!!

October is thrust upon me in the way that motherhood is thrust upon a first time Mom. It's HERE and I need to spend every second taking care to be sure I don't fall behind. Of course the reason October is my month of total insanity and little sleep is due to the Samhain/Halloween Season. It is the time of witches, vampires, gouls and all the dark gothic wonderment that goes with it.

So with October weighing heavily on my every waking breath. I looked around the dungeon (known as a "Craft Room", "Laboratory", "Artist Loft" and now "Dungeon" as I see fit), and discovered with horror that I had exactly ZERO coffins/caskets on hand.

A mad rush to Joann Crafts turned up  exactly nil coffins. As did the same frantic shopping spree to Beverlies Crafts, Betty's Fabrics and Michaels...So what to do?????????

My savior came in the body of one of my "A Nightmare on Etsy" teammates, Annette. She saved my bacon for sure and I am now waddling in mini-coffin heaven. For those of you even further behind than I am. Coffins can be had at Donmechanic.com and SOME Michaels stores (I had to drive 2 hours to find one that had mini coffins and I bought them out).

So go forth into the night with your mini mouse sized coffin of delight.... and tell them Dr Brassy sent you!

~Dr Brassy