The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos: The Best Techniques for Showcasing Your Handmade Creations [Paperback]

Heidi Adnum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Sell more of your handmade items with better photographs

Amidst the sea of handmade jewelry, apparel, housewares, art, and other crafts that populate blogs, websites, and online marketplaces, how do you make your items stand out? The key is great photography.

Beautiful handmade items can be undermined by poor or uninspired images that fail to represent the detail and craftsmanship. With The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos you’ll learn that you don’t need expensive, professional equipment to get quality results. Get simple, practical advice presented with the crafter in mind. Learn to make a lightbox, how to use natural lighting, and how to capture the detail in your work. Broken down into specific craft areas, you’ll find tips on how to best generate eye-catching images that will help sell your items.

Boost your online crafting business with The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aimed at craftspeople with minimal photography experience or equipment, this guide offers simple advice on arranging, composing, lighting, snapping, selecting, and organizing outstanding digital images of all kinds of handmade objects. Adnum briefly covers photography basics and then goes on to address photographic issues specific to various craft disciplines, such as jewelry and fabrics. Many step-by-step photo sequences and examples of successful shots walk the reader through the process. With the ongoing popularity of sites like Etsy (on which Adnum authored a series on photography), this book is sure to be sought after by anyone who wants to sell his or her goods online." - Library Journal

"A wonderfully written book from start to finish...Words like aperture, shutter speed, ISO...they feel scary to hear at first but Heidi does a masterful job demystifying these terms with engaging examples that inspire many AHA moments in terms of creative photography." – Jenny Doh, Crescendoh.com

"This book is TERRIFIC. Paging through this book was like reading a Who's Who of craft photography. Of course, the photographs are fantastic, and the book is as gorgeous as it is informative." - Austen Gilliland, CanadianLiving.com’s Craft Blog

"This book is the ultimate reference for crafters and bloggers looking to improve their photography on a budget!" – Mark Lipinski, host, Creative Mojo

"I really appreciate the thoroughness of this book. The first section alone is worth getting the book if you want to stop using the automatic mode on your camera and switch over to manual mode." – CraftBuds.com

"This is the book that I wish was out there when I first started blogging and selling my handmade goods...I pretty much devoured the book in one sitting. It's a must-have for makers, bloggers, and sellers." - Jenny Gordy, Wiksten

"The DIY projects are clearly explained and well-illustrated. That is what makes this book so great, it is written in a way that is accessible for even a novice camera owner and photographer." – Erin Freuchtel-Dearing, Imagination Kids Toys

"This book covers literally everything you need to know about product photography in a language that's really easy to understand!" – Jenny Nguyen, Jenny N Design

"I get plenty of requests for book promos, but I don't usually accept one unless I am super pumped about the book. And this book, The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos, I am super pumped up about. It is so good." – Brittni Mehlhoff, papernstitch.com

"This book is going to be a godsend for many makers who take their own photos for their promotional materials and websites." – Rena Tom, creative business consultant

"The bottom line here: I LOVE Heidi’s book! It’s my new blogging bible." –Jennifer Rounds, See How We Sew

"First of all, this book is like candy. As it should be! You wouldn’t believe it if a book about taking great photos wasn’t filled with great photos. From the table of contents to the glossary, each page of Crafter’s Guide is full of some of the most beautiful pictures of handmade products, everything from jewelry to bags to knits to stationary. I flipped through it the first time like I’d flip through Vogue." – Allyson Dykhuizen, The Sweat Shop of Love


“If you are going to buy any book on the subject, then this should definitely be the one.” – Crafty Ambitions.com

“Many step-by-step photo sequences and examples of successful shots walk the reader through the process. With the ongoing popularity of sites like Etsy (on which Adnum authored a series on photography), this book is sure to be sought after by anyone who wants to sell his or her goods online.” – Library Journal

"A no-nonsense, nifty book that will teach you how to make the photos on your webpage look extra special." - Frankie Magazine, Australia

“I’m so glad to see that the book covers tips for ALL cameras not just DSLRs, but also point and shoot compact cameras. It shows that you can get great results with what you have, so really there is no excuse for bad photos anymore!” - Isa Maria Seminega, founder, Noisette Marketing and The Academy, Blog

“Even if you know your way around a camera this book is gorgeous to look at and inspirational on many levels. It says on the back cover ‘The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos is the ultimate reference for all crafters and bloggers.' I couldn't agree more.” – UKHandmade.com

About the Author

Heidi Adnum is a photographer, picture researcher, and crafter of Good Will Bunting®. She is also the author of a popular photography tips series on Etsy. Heidi lives with her husband in sunny Newcastle, Australia. Connect with Heidi at heidiadnum.com and on Twitter @HeidiAdnum.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Interweave Press; Original edition (January 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781596686267
• ISBN-13: 978-1596686267
• ASIN: 159668626X
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Reference

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Much needed book!! January 26, 2012

By Carolee1945

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Very specific details, with great examples. Not only did this book give me ideas of how to photograph my beadwork, but also I learned things about my digital camera in a simplified way. Very readable, really good for novices like myself. I really liked the interviews with other craftspeople.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars good for beginners, but I needed more January 28, 2012

By DuhBe

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I saw this book mentioned on blogs and was looking forward to it's release so I could improve photos of my handmade soaps. I think this book is very good for people just starting out with taking good craft shots. But for those who already know about natural light and tripods and such, I'm not sure this book will help you take your shots to the next level. There wasn't much in there that isn't already available on the web for craft photography. I actually ended up getting a food photography book which helped me immensely more than this one. I'm giving this 4 stars because the descriptions says it will be useful for people at all levels and I don't agree with that. If the description called it a book for those just beginning to learn about photographing their crafts then I would give it 5 stars. I just didn't feel this book offered much for the novice trying to get more advanced.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Photos for Success January 3, 2012

By Susan Dever

Format:Paperback

Great techniques and info on taking better product photos. Impressive! Lots of good ideas.
We already take photos of product but wanted to make photos more viewable/selling to the viewer.
This will help get the job done.