Welcome to the first post in the Taking Pictures for Etsy series. I decided to start doing these posts after noticing how many people had questions about how to make the pictures of their items on Etsy look better or how to process them to make a background white or enhance the color of their items. Having been a photographer for a couple years now I have some pretty good ideas on how to help, so here we are. In our first post, we are going to jump into the basic gear you are going to need, but first, a little bit about myself.

Who Is This Cliff Guy Anyway?
My name is Cliff Johnson and I live in Salt Lake City, Utah with my beautiful wife and awesome son. During the day I’m a computer programmer but in my spare time I’m a photographer. I deal mostly in fine art prints that I sell on Etsy and at the local Farmer’s Market, but I also do some stock photography. I’ve been selling my work professionally with my brother as Lazy Day Photography for about two years now, but I’ve been taking photos (lots and lots of photos) for about 10 years now. I shoot most of my work using a Canon Rebel XTI, although that really doesn’t matter (but people want to know anyway.) You can find my work on Etsy and Flickr. Alright, now that you know a bit about me, lets get this party started!

Basic Gear List
This is the stuff you are going to need to start taking great pictures for your Etsy store:

• A camera (point and click or DSLR)
• A tripod
• Some foam core (I’d get one black and one white minimum)
• A couple pieces of bright white posterboard
• Some lights
• Some props
• A nice, quiet place to take the pictures

Now that you know what you are going to need, I’ll go into the specifics of each item. Next week, we’ll put it all together and get a basic shot done before we dive back into the specifics.

Camera
Alright, this might seem like a bit of a given, but we are going to go into a bit of detail anyway. You are going to need a digital camera, either a point and click or a DSLR. The majority of stuff I’m going to discuss will work with a point and click, but trust me when I say that it’s going to be easier to get great shots with a DSLR. But it doesn’t have to be a brand new one and it doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars. You can get a Canon Rebel XS or a Nikon D60 new for just over $500. Ebay or Craiglist is also a great way to go if you don’t mind buying used and if you do your research. You can also go with a camera like the Canon S10 that bridges the gap between a point and click and a DSL for about $360.

With all of that being said the main thing is to have a camera and to know how to use it. I really, really suggest you read the manual and get completely familiar with how your particular camera works. Take it and your kids to a park and shoot a couple hundred pictures of them or go to a place you like to hike or walk and shoot the scenery. The more familiar you are with your camera the better your shots are going to be and the easier it’s going to be when you start shooting your product.

Tripod
A tripod can make or break your photo shoot. Not shooting on a tripod is the easiest way to make your pictures look awful and blurry. That being said, you don’t need a super expensive one. Something like this will work just fine and you can pick them up at almost any store like Walmart, Target or Best Buy. I do suggest you stay away from the table top tripods though. They seem like a great idea, but they have a terrible habit of creeping down under the weight of the camera as you try and shoot. The floor is also most likely more stable than your table.

Foam Core
If you don’t already have a couple full sheets of this stuff lying around run to a craft store and pick up at least two sheets, one white and one black. It makes great backgrounds and is also perfect for using as a reflector to light to go where you want it.

Posterboard
While you are at the store, grab a couple pieces of bright white posterboard as well. We’ll use this to make seamless white backdrops. If you are feeling plucky, feel free to grab a couple other colors and maybe a black sheet as well. We’ll find something to do with them.

Lighting
There are a couple of ways to go with lighting. If you are using a DSLR and don’t mind spending a bit of money buy a flash. If you really don’t mind spending some money buy two or three. I personally like the Vivitar 285HV because they are relatively cheap and they work pretty dang well. If you get a flash (or three) you are probably going to want some other stuff as well, but we’ll talk about that more when we get to our Advanced Gear post.

If you don’t feel like dropping a large hunk of cash on flashes, that’s ok. We are going to do just fine with… shop lights. I bought mine at Walmart in the automotive section and they cost about $10 or so. You are going to want at least one, three if you want to shoot your items on a white background. You are also going to want to get daylight incandescent bulbs for them. These are light bulbs that have the same color as daylight, which is going to make your pictures look a lot nicer. Get the highest wattage your shot light can handle.

Props
I’m going to leave this up to you. These are the things we are going to put in our shots to make your items look a bit more interesting. Do you sell vintage jewelry? Maybe some old postcards or letters would make your pictures more interesting and enhance the idea that your items are vintage. Do you use a lot of big, natural stones in your handcrafted necklaces? Some large slabs of marble or other colored (but probably not patterned) rock might be what you are looking for. Either way, make sure that your props enhance the items you are shooting and that they aren’t so busy that your items get lost.

Your Photo Studio
Now that you have all your stuff together, you are going  to need somewhere to use it. I really, really recommend that you find a space in your studio (or garage or spare bedroom) where you can set this stuff up and not have to take it down all the time. It will make your life a lot easier. If that isn’t possible, your kitchen table will work in a pinch. I personally have a card table that I have setup in my office and it works pretty well. Also, make sure where ever you are you have a good amount of electricity handy (or a extension cord and a power strip). Your are going to need it for all the lights we talked about earlier.

The Wrapup
Whew, that was a bit longer than I’d hoped it would end up. If you are still reading, I’ll try and keep it shorter going forward. Next time, we are going to use all the stuff above to setup a couple of shots and I’ll show you the basics of how to start getting great shots. Have a great week and may the Etsy Gods smile upon you.