Catalog Shots

On the side of school, I also run an online craft and accessories business. I call it In-skein Designs and I have had the hardest time in the past making the photos look like the item was free standing instead of sitting on a dark and dingy coffee table or book shelf. I think I may have succeeded!

I was commissioned to do the web development and catalog for a local businesswoman's yarn and fiber store. Because it is a catalog, the only things I wanted to show up were the products themselves.

Here are a few shots I took yesterday for her site.







The full descriptions of these products are found on sheep2shawl.net

Now, the kicker in this experiment and success of this experiment was the white box I created...for less that $7.00.

I took a simple cardboard box from Wal-mart, one of the ones that folds into a nearly perfect square, and I cut off 1 whole side, folded in the bottom and taped it. I took a basket I had laying around, this could be a small box, or Tuperware container or something of the sort, and I placed it in the middle of the larger box. While you are at Wal-mart, pick up 1.5 yards of the brightest white fabric you can that has nice drape and is thick enough that you can not see through it. Then drape the fabric over the back and both sides of the box, pushing it down into the box so that you can put things on top of the basket inside.

I had a great setting for my light, I took my tripod and stood in front of the kitchen window with the kitchen light on. I had a low ISO and a small aperture to balance the light. (I just figured out how to change these on my new camera...)