Photographing Frenzy

A week after starting my new Etsy.com store, I'm still photographing all the merchandise I've stockpiled over the years. I have 40 new listings at the store with about 21 more queued up to add next week. Over the past 2 years I haven't focused on the selling aspect of making art, just the creative process. I'm frankly a little shocked by how much I've made. With Mother's Day around the corner, hopefully someone will browse the shop and feel their Mom can't live without a necklace or scarf.

I've transformed the living room into a temporary photo booth. The furniture in front of the picture window is shoved back and I hauled out some grids from my craft show booth structure for a three-sided booth. Add a bolt of black silk, another of white, and "voila!" Instant photo shoot. Depending on the item being shot, I flip the black fabric back to expose the white, or vice a versa. It's not perfect, but it's the only spot in the house that gets a decent amount of light. Seems to be working out OK.

Photo booth set up to shoot a scarflet

Since the exposures aren't ideal, I spend a bit of time with iphoto and Gimp manipulating the shots. I'm getting pretty good at it. Marble Man and I are competing for computer time now. Hey...this is FUN!

The 2nd day of my store being open, I got a love note from Etsy.com congratulating me on my sale. (What? I got a sale already?!? Let's go to Disney World!) Hugely excited, I contacted the buyer, thanked her and explained when I'd ship her purchase. Then she emailed me back to say she'd clicked on "BUY" by mistake; she thought the item was beautiful, but she didn't want it. Bummer, man! After that I decided I won't get that excited again. What a let-down. In the meantime, I click "refresh" and enjoy seeing the number of hits climbing upward. At least people are looking.