I’m Babs from Fiery Phoenix, I play with color in fiber and fabrics. I create patterns and kits for sewing, knitting, crochet and quilting along with video tutorials. I struggled to take professional looking images for my tutorials. Just finding a clean clear space to use for a photo was difficult in my child filled, busy house. I would spend a long time cleaning and then try to get the light to make the relevant item look pleasing on the table top, or in the kitchen, on the bed or laid out on a clean towel as backdrops.
It all felt so hard, and the resulting images seemed too random and I couldn’t get the brightness of the images to match.
Nothing really worked well for me, the backdrops all looked messy and took a long time to prepare. It felt demoralizing as my work deserved better than that.
Imagine my joy at finding Mini Backdrops!
Now I have a selection of easy to clean, quick to set up and take down backdrops for my photos. The fact that the vinyl backdrops are so easy to clean is an extra boon as I have kids and an inquisitive puppy ‘helping’ me.
My first photo took about 30 seconds to setup and take. I was overexcited and so keen to try the new backdrops. I simply dropped the crochet triangles and piece work onto the backdrop and there was a perfect photo!
All you need is space to lay the backdrop out, even with surrounding clutter the image on the backdrop will be clean and very usable. As you can see from the example below I can throw down the mini backdrop on a messy table then crop in on the elements I want and apply an Instagram filter for consistency. The before is simple to create, the after so impressive!
The difference in my product photos for my shop and website are significant. You can see a huge difference in my Instagram feed from before to now. There is a standard overlay and background to my images which gives a theme to the feed as a whole which I find very pleasing. So much that I even felt it looked dare I say… professional.
Others clearly also feel this way as my followers have increased significantly since I began using the new backdrops.
I use the delivery tube for storage… don’t throw yours away. Now I am able to take the easily stored backdrops with me when I travel if I need to take photos out and about.
I have more time to think about the extras, the setting pieces to create more interest in the images. Simple fake flowers, some leftover Christmas decorations or a tea service all can make a stunning setting for the photos. I really enjoy experimenting with different elements to showcase the subject of the images.
I have begun using the brick backdrop along with the whitewashed floorboards to create a 3D series of images for taller items. As you can see I simply drop the bricks over the footstool and use a Harry Potter box set to hold it in place. You could easily use some blutack or similar to hold against the wall if you have free wall space. I prefer not to make holes in mine for pins.
I also use my backdrops for my tutorial videos. As you can see my setup is fairly basic, fling the backdrop onto the table and camera-phone into the tripod and I’m all good to go.
In summary, my top tips for professional photos are:
- Find space for your backdrop, don’t worry about clutter elsewhere
- Keep your delivery tube for easy storage
- Look out for cheap/affordable props for your photos
- Be consistent with your Instagram filters, find one and stick with it
- Remember you can crop in to remove other items so take the photo from an angle to avoid your shadow falling into the image
Hopefully, this has given you some inspiration to create professional looking photos easily yourself.
Author Bio:
I am a full-time Mum to a couple of reprobates and I love being able to fit my work around them. I have worked in IT in an office for many years and would much prefer to be free to play with colors all day.
I am passionate about creating easy to follow patterns and tutorials for beginners and the nervous crafter. Everything I create takes simple techniques and applies them to create stunning items. To give even a beginner that amazing “I made this!” feeling.
I provide video tutorials through my YouTube channel and run beginner groups for knitting, crochet, and sewing in facebook.
