peek at the next ebook in the works

Last month I mentioned that I'm working on my next ebook, and I shared my first peek from it. Over the past few weeks I've made a lot of progress on the samples for it and wanted to share of them. I am really happy with my work so far and am looking forward to finishing up the samples and moving forward with final shots for the book.

I always use an acrylic spray for my sheet music pages that I'll be gluing so that the ink doesn't run. On a whim, I decided to paint some of my clothespin samples. I absolutely love the textured look of watercolors over acrylic spray.

Finally, I can't seem to stop making paper flowers. Many of you know that I have been a huge Alisa Burke fan for several years now, and you can definitely see her influence in these flowers. In addition to the influence in the designs themselves, I also took a page from her book and used cheap supplies - Crayola watercolor paints and a Bic white out pen - to make this come together.

What have you been working on lately?

Share your thoughts with a review!

To those of you who have purchased and promoted Jewelry and Other Small Item Tabletop Product Photography over the past month, thank you! It means the world to me that so many people have been so supportive of my first ebook.

If you've ever bought something online, most likely you read some reviews first or at least checked the item or shop's star rating. I can say good things about my book all day, but it isn't the same as having a customer share detailed insights about the benefits of the book.

This is where I need your help. If you've already written a review on Etsy or Amazon, thanks! If you haven't written a review, it's never too late. Taking just a couple minutes to leave a star rating and share your opinion goes a long way toward driving more sales.

I'm offering a $10 coupon code* to anyone who reviews my ebook that is good for my jewelry shop or my photography shop. (*You must spend a minimum of $11 to redeem the code. This is Etsy's policy, not mine.) Simply send me a link to the published review, and I'll send you the coupon code.

Please note: You can only write an Etsy review if you've purchased the book on Etsy. You can write an Amazon review whether or not you've bought the book through the site.

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/221686201/pdf-ebook-jewelry-and-other-small-item

If you use the above Amazon link as opposed to any other Amazon link to purchase the book, I make a few more cents off the purchase because it's linked to my Amazon Affiliate account.

Thanks in advance for your reviews!

It's here!

I'm so proud to announce that my first ebook, Jewelry and Other Small Item Tabletop Product Photography: Tips, Tricks, and Advice to Help You Take Stellar Product Photos, is now
 for sale. In 33 pages, I explain everything that you need to know about small item product photography from buying a camera to selecting backdrops to editing photos. With more than 50 product photo examples, you have tons of visuals to help you take your own photos to the next level.

You can buy it on Amazon and Etsy.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jewelry-Other-Tabletop-Product-Photography-ebook/dp/B00THB4XU6

Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/221686201/pdf-ebook-jewelry-and-other-small-item

Please note that you don't need a Kindle to buy the Amazon Kindle version. If you don't own one, simply download the free Kindle app on any Android or Apple device.

After you buy the book, please take a couple extra seconds to share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+. This little gesture goes a long way toward supporting my efforts. Thank you!

Sign up for my new book mailing list!

I'm so excited to announce that I'm releasing my first ebook - Jewelry and Other Small Item Tabletop Product Photography: Tips, Tricks, and Advice to Help You Take Stellar Product Photos - later this winter. Many of you know that this has been a long time coming, and the start of the new year was the push that I needed to finally make it happen.

You can read more about the upcoming release, including a breakdown of the topics in the book, and sign up for my brand new book mailing list right here. I'll be sending out periodic updates about the book, including the official release date so that you can make sure to get your hands on a copy as soon as possible. Sign up today so that you don't miss out on any of the news about the release.

product photography ebook: terminology...I need some more input!

Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback thus far about my product photography ebook either on this blog or elsewhere! It means a lot to me that so many people have provided detailed input. With your continued help, I'll be able to keep pushing forward with this idea.

In my first post about the book, I threw out the suggestion of including a glossary / terminology section near the beginning. To recap, it's very easy for me to forget that a few years ago, I was unfamiliar with most basic photography terms such as white balance and aperture. I want my book to be accessible to new and veteran photographers alike. Many of you agreed that including a glossary would be beneficial.

As this book has a specific photography focus, I don't think that it's necessary to create a comprehensive glossary with every common photography term out there. Instead I want to detail terms that are relevant to product photography and provide product photo examples.

This is what I've come up with so far. (In no particular order. Bear with me.)

• ISO. What it is, how to adjust it on your camera, ideal settings for product photography. Photo examples: different ISO levels.
• White balance. Daylight, cloudy, tungsten, etc. What these settings mean, how to select the right one. Photo examples: different white balance settings. I'll also discuss how if you're shooting in RAW with a DSLR, you don't have to select a white balance in camera because you can select one post process (aka editing in Lightroom / Photoshop), which gives you a lot more control.
• Macro. What it is, how to find the macro setting on point and shoot cameras, why you should use it for product photography.
• Depth of field. As depth of field is closely related to macro and aperture, I'm not sure if I need to include separate photo examples for all three terms. Thoughts?
• Rule of thirds. There are a number of common composition rules, such as leading lines, that I don't think need a lot of discussion in a product photography book. However, I think that rule of thirds is important for certain types of product shots. Additionally, getting used to thinking about the rule of thirds will improve your photography in general, which in turn, will improve your product shots. I'll include photo examples of how I use the rule of thirds for my product shots.
• Bokeh. What it is, how you can use it when shooting with a shallow depth of field / using the macro setting. Photo examples of bokeh in product photography.
• Noise. What it is, why you want to avoid it, how to avoid it with examples of clear versus noisy shots.
• Negative space. Negative space doesn't necessarily have the same definition for product photos that it does for many other types of photography such as landscape and portraiture. However, it can be a big issue with product photos, and it's one of the easier problems to fix. Photo examples of unnecessary negative space.
• Symmetry. Or lack thereof. I'll talk about the importance of centering a product or purposely making it off center (think: rule of thirds) with photo examples.
• Aperture. Whether or not you're shooting with a DSLR and adjusting aperture settings, it's important to be aware of the concept and learn how to control your depth of field. I will include examples of different aperture settings and explain how they relate to depth of field (i.e. X aperture produces a shallow depth of field). You can see set of aperture examples at Playful Cooking to get an idea of what type of examples I'll provide for aperture.
• Shutter speed. What it is, how to find the best shutter speed for your product photography if you're shooting with a DSLR with photo examples of different settings.
• Exposure triangle. There are other names for this concept, but it involves the relationship of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. As I was putting this post together, I found a great diagram about the exposure triangle on Flickr. Learning this relationship is key to having complete control over your photos.

Finally, there are lots of editing terms. As I'm going to have a lot of explanation and advice about editing, I think that I can explain them as I come to them in the book. However, if there are editing terms that you think that I should include in the glossary, let me know.

Please leave your feedback!

What do you think of these terms? What else do I need to include? Is there anything that I need to tweak?

product photography...I need your input for my ebook!

I have mentioned a couple times now that one of my strategies for building passive income in 2014 is going to be writing and publishing a ebook. This notion still scares me a lot because it's brand new territory, and it may not go anywhere, but I need to make the plunge. I'm getting my initial outline together in a readable format that I can now develop. Before I go much further, I want to get some input.

The book is going to be about product photography, specifically SMALL items. It won't necessarily be jewelry specific even though that's what I know best because that's too narrow. But it will not cover photographing items like clothing and paintings because I have no experience with that whatsoever. So the first question is what keywords / phrases should I include in the title for a small item product photography ebook?

The very first section of the book will be a what this book is / what this book is not thing. These are my thoughts thus far.

What this book is

• simple advice that is accessible for both new and veteran product photographers
  
• advice and personal recommendations for purchasing both point and shoot and DSLR cameras
  
• basic information about shooting product photos including lighting, styling, multiple angles, and highlighting different features
  
• specific examples for props and backgrounds / backdrops
  
• easy to follow tutorials for basic editing programs, Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements
  
• tips for Etsy and similar websites include the photo format and thumbnails

What this book is not

• pushy advice about buying an DSLR and expensive software and other photography products (i.e. props, lights)
  
• advanced tutorials intended solely for DSLR users who have Lightroom and/or Photoshop / Photoshop Elements
  

As someone who shoots product photo, does this make sense? Is there anything that you would or would not want to see in either of these sections?

I'm also considering including a terminology section early in the book. It's extremely easy for me to forget that I had no idea what common photography terms like ISO or RAW meant a few years ago. If this book is going to be accessible for new photographers, I think that terminology would be beneficial. Thoughts?

From there, I've roughly outlined the following sections. I'm keeping it pretty bare bones here, not because I don't want to give anything away but because I don't want to limit the suggestions. I think that it will be easier for people to brainstorm their own ideas without my own initial thoughts getting in the way.

• Why good product photos are important, even if you don't sell online
• My recommendations / advice for purchasing point and shoot and DSLR cameras
• Getting started (learning the settings, experimenting)
• Lighting basics
• Shooting multiple angles / highlighting different features
• Props / backgrounds / backdrops / styling
• Creating a permanent shooting spot which may or may not include a lightbox with tips about building or buying a lightbox
• Cropping / editing basics
• Etsy-specific tips
• Should I upgrade to a DSLR?
• Tips for shooting with a DSLR
• Editing in RAW

I would appreciate advice about any and all of these sections and anything else that you think that I should include.

Thank you in advance!